Meet Molly, a 17 year old cross-breed who loves Vetilea.
Meet Molly, a 17 year old cross-breed who loves Vetilea. Before starting Vetilea support, like many older dogs, Molly was starting to slow down on walks, sleeping more throughout the day and looking stiff and sore when getting up from lying down.
Her owners were able to notice these symptoms and suspected that Molly may have changes in her joints. They contacted their vet for an appointment who examined Molly and confirmed their suspicions of joint disease with a diagnosis of osteoarthritis (or OA).
Osteoarthritis is the medical term for inflammation of the joints where two bones meet. It can affect any joint, but in dogs we most commonly see it affecting the joints in their limbs eg elbows, hips, knees and wrists. In healthy joints, a smooth layer of cartilage covers the surface of each bone, providing shock absorption and pain free movement of the bones in relation to each other. In most cases of OA, gradual wear and tear results in inflammation of the joint and erosion of this smooth cartilage, causing the joint to become hot and swollen and movement to be painful.
Over time, the inflammatory process worsens, quickening the erosion of the cartilage and promoting the development of nerve endings and boney spurs in the joint. This all compounds to make normal, everyday, movement painful. However, dogs can be pretty tough at hiding their discomfort and joint pain can be shown through lots of different ways. Below are some of the ways that dogs can show joint pain.
- Slowing down on walks
- Limping on one or more legs
- Reluctance to jump eg onto the sofa or into the car.
- Reluctance to flex their spine eg slow when climbing up or down stairs, no longer jumping into the car, yelping when you touch their back.
- Licking at their joints
- Stiff gait when rising to stand
- Stiffness the day after a long/active walk.
Although many of the symptoms of OA are seen naturally with old age in dogs, there are lots of things we can do to keep them comfortable so that they are able to keep doing the things they love. It’s important to discuss your options with your vet as they can offer prescription medications to help relieve pain. At home some of the changes which you can instigate include starting your pet on a supplement such as Resolmega which is high in good quality DHA and EPA omega 3s. These work to reduce the pro-inflammatory chemicals which infiltrate the joints, reducing inflammation and easing pain, heat and swelling in joints.
Molly was started on pain relief injections by her vet in Autumn last year and since then she has been a lot more comfortable. However, with the inevitable progression of her OA her owners noticed she was walking more slowly and asking to go home after 10 minutes. They looked for additional support to keep Molly comfortable and as a result they started her on Vetilea Resolmega and Vetilea Joints in September. Since adding in the Resolmega and Joint support, Molly’s owners have seen a big improvement in her comfort and activity levels. Molly is now excited for her walks once more and even having occasional zoomies again. Her owners think that sometimes she forgets she is nearly 18 years old!
Another way that Molly’s owners have helped to manage her OA is with exercise modification. This includes avoiding ball throwing and fetch, as the sudden stopping and sharp turns can increase the strain on struggling joints. They have been encouraging her to swim more often. Swimming allows pets to exercise and play whist reducing the weight carried by their joints. Molly’s owners also try to be consistent with her exercise, avoiding very long walks on the weekend as often pets with OA can be stiffer after overdoing it.
Just like us, including regular physiotherapy or massage can really help improve mobility in older dogs. Vetilea Veticream is packed full of soothing ingredients which help to ease tight muscles and stiff joints when massaged in. Getting into a daily routine of physio and massage can be a real benefit to older dogs.
If you think that your pet could benefit from additional support like Molly then all of the vetilea products can be found by following this link.