Why manage your pet’s joint health?
Managing your pet's joint health is essential to ensure it leads a good quality life. There are a number of reasons why pets require extra help for their joint health. These include if the pet becomes old, is overweight, or has trauma or an injury.
In old age, your pet is likely to experience joint stiffness. Dogs are more susceptible to joint stiffness than cats. Even so, young dogs also develop joint stiffness, with some large breeds of dogs being more prone to developing joint stiffness than the smaller breeds.
Some of the indicators to look for when you pet has joint health issues include the following:
- Difficulty walking upstairs.
- Irritability and aggressiveness.
- Resting more than usual following exercises.
- Sleeping a lot and not playing or going out as much as your would expect.
- Avoidance of performing certain tasks, such as jumping into the vehicle or onto a chair.
- Seeking such warm spots around the house as sunny areas, heat vents, or near radiators.
How to manage your pet’s joint health
The mobility of your pet’s joints could have a dramatic impact on the quality of life. It could affect the pet’s sleep as well as other daily activities. When you manage the pet’s joint health, you ensure it has an overall good quality of life. Here are some tips on how you can manage your pet’s joint health:
- Take care of the pet’s weight
Excess weight could put pressure on your pet’s joints and trigger joint health issues. That could develop into arthritis. Pet Lab Joint Care has advised that pet owners aim to reduce the weight of their pets and keep them at a healthy weight for their breed and age.
Accordingly, pet owners should be careful about the diets they put their pets on because some could make the pets become obese, which puts pressure on their limbs. It is always good to speak to your vet before starting your pet on a diet so that they can offer your advice on the way forward. If you have a cat and would like to put it on a diet, for example, the vet could recommend to you the best cat starter kit to go for so that it does not cause your cat more problems than what you sought to alleviate by putting it on a diet.
- Ensure the pet exercises
Pets require regular exercise. That helps them avoid joint stiffness and muscle wastage. For dogs, make sure several short walks are planned throughout the day. Avoid long or infrequent walks because all the dog requires is little and frequent exercise to keep their joints mobile. For cats, engage them in playful activities that ensure the mobility of their joints.
- Comfort
Ensure that your pet is kept warm and far from cold, drafty or damp conditions. These aggravate joint health problems. Also, make sure you provide enough room for your pet to find comfortable positions at any given time. That includes adding extra bedding for senior pets as well as shorthaired pets so as to help pad their joints. It is also advisable to limit stair use as well as jumping onto or off furniture.
- Diet
Feed your pet a good-quality diet. Always review the pet’s diet in consultation with your vet. It is also advisable to raise your pet’s water and food bowls so that your pet doesn’t have to bend down to access the water and food provided in the containers.
- Employ ramps around the home
Pets love jumping on and off furniture. Continuous jumping on and off furniture is, however, dangerous because it could cause injury. To avoid this, install pet-friendly ramps to reduce the jumping and any activity that could cause damage to the pet’s joints.
- Joint and muscle supplements
Work with your vet to provide dog arthritis supplements to your dog or cat arthritis supplements to your cat. Your vet may recommend that you regularly provide your pet with supplements that help deal with joint stiffness as well as support the natural systems that control inflammation.
- Regular visits to your vet and employ alternative joint health solutions
Ensure that you regularly take your pet to the vet for joint health monitoring and advice. Follow the vet’s advice, including on alternative joint health solutions such as physiotherapy and hydrotherapy, to help increase circulation and mobility in your pet.
Need more information and help with pet joint health management?
Should you require more information or help with pet joint health, reach out by clicking here so that you can talk to a pet joint health specialist today.
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