Arthritis Services for Cats & Dogs

The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis which can be due to wear and tear on joints from overuse, aging, injury, or from an unstable joint from a ruptured ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) in the knee. The protective cartilage between their bones is wearing away, leading to the rubbing of bones against each other. To learn more about arthritis, please contact us at 403-342-5200.

What else can cause arthritis?

Other causes of inflammation can be infectious. Septic arthritis is caused by a bacterial or fungal infection. Lyme disease or ehrlichia infection can also cause arthritis. Auto-immune diseases, or what is now called immune-mediated diseases, such as Lupus can cause swollen, painful, inflamed joints. Tumours can also lead to arthritis in rare instances.

How do you treat arthritis?

Treatment for arthritis should be directed to the inciting cause if possible. Surgery may be needed to stabilize a joint. Degenerative joint disease (DJD) may be treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID's), pain medications such as Tramadol, cartilage protective agents such as glucosamine or Adequan, acupuncture, or steroids as a last resort. In general, it is recommended to use medications specifically developed for pets, as the ones designed for people can likely cause ulcers in dogs and most cannot be used in cats.

At what age do pets usually start developing arthritis?

The chronic form of this disease is called degenerative joint disease (DJD). It is estimated that 20% of dogs older than one year of age have some form of it whereas one study showed 90% of cats over 12 years of age were diagnosed with DJD.