Joint pain is a common issue found in the canines. It is usually referred to as arthritis in pets and could strike at any age. Even your dog is vulnerable to joint pain and can experience the pain just like any other animal.
Well, the challenge is in identifying the joint pain as it doesn’t have clear symptoms until you realize that your pet is having some trouble.
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How to Know If Your Dog Is Suffering From Joint Problems
Pets can’t express themselves, so it’s the job of the pet owner or the guardian to keep a look at the signs for the joint pain. This way the joint pain can be detected in the early stage itself making the treatment easier for them.
So, what’s the way out?
7 Easy Signs of Joint Problem in Dogs
Here are the sure quick signs that would tell you if your pet has a joint problem or not:
1. Limping
With the growing age, the dogs can development slight inflammation in the joints that can lead to stiffness and make the walking difficult for them. Dogs use the limping as a protection mechanism to save from the pain of the burden while the movement. The wear and tear of the day to day movements is the reason for the hip joints becoming stiff.
If your pooch is limping around, it’s the main sign of the joint problem.
2. Change in the Appetite
When dogs are in pain, they may overeat or just nothing at all. It’s true that old pups sleep a lot, however, the joint pain could make the movement more tough for them. They will just lie all curled up at one place with no desire of getting up.
As a result, the dog may gain a lot of weight with fewer movements and eating the same food all the time. Or they may start losing weight with the loss of appetite.
3. Tiredness
When the pooches go through joint pain, they will tire out more easily. Old dogs sleep a lot, as we discussed in the previous point. However, if you find your active pup getting tired after normal activity, then it’s a matter of concern. For example, a simple walk getting your dog tired up within minutes can be related to the joint issue or the arthritis pain.
You can check out medications like dog joint supplements that are specifically made for this purpose.
4. Refusal to Jump or Climb the Stairs
Is your pup refusing to come out during the play hours? Is he not interested to jump like he used to do before? This could also be a sign of joint pain. Even the routine of climbing the stairs may be deterred due to the fear and pain of the joint inflammation.
5. Back Pain
Arthritis is not necessarily leg-joint pain. This discomfort can also travel towards the spines and give a back pain to your pooch. Also, the pain can reach up to the neck making the pet walk and sit in a strange position. They may adopt a different position in a way to soothe the pain. This can produce a hump on the back side of the pet.
6. Irritating Behavior
How do you react to things when going through any sort of pain? Yes, we get irritated for no apparent reason so do dogs. Even the pets can get irritated or angry when they are going through serious pain. They may growl and get aggressive on all the possible things that fall by on their way.
Instead of letting go fo such passive traits and signs, you should try to study them and look at the matter which is bothering your pup. You can gently poke on your various parts of the canine, and the moment they react harshly to a particular point – you have made it!
Once you got the spot of pain, you can plan the next course of actions accordingly.
7. Depression
High-intensity pain in the joints can affect the psychological state in the pets. They may start feeling sad and begin hating themselves. You may find them clueless, gloomy or sad all the time – which are some of the clear signs of depression. If your pooch is going through some sort of sadness or depression, then get health check-up done for them.
How to Ease the Joint Pain in Dogs?
Well, I do know how much hurting and painful it could be watching your pooches suffer. Don’t let the sadness overpower your emotions, and plan out the steps to cure the condition of theirs.
Following are certain tips on how you could alleviate the pain:
- Glucosamine, these are the natural substances present in the dogs that provides mobility to them. But with age, they may have a deficiency of it. You can add the glucosamine health supplements and feed them along with their diet.
- Encourage them to exercise. It will be painful for them, however, can ward off the sadness they are experiencing.
- Medications and needful medications. For this, you can get in touch with your personal vet and get better guidance regarding the natural remedies and the health supplement suitable for relieving the joint pain.
That’s it, guys! All the tips listed above should probably work out right for your pooch. Joint disabilities are common, but you can tackle out the issue more smartly by checking out the signs.
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