Helping Arthritic Dogs
Arthritic dogs can sometimes be in a lot of pain, but most of the time dogs tend to hide pain quite well. Many dogs that suffer from a small amount of arthritis will not show any signs of pain, until it becomes too much for them to bear.
You can help your older arthritic pet in a number of ways. First of all you can keep your pet at a healthy weight. Overweight dogs put a lot of weight on their joints, and simply by helping your pet lose a few pounds you can take a lot of stress off their joints.
Second, you can give your dog some joint supplements. There are many on the market these days. Most include chondroitin, vitamin C, and other things like shark cartilage. It is dubious if some of these products work as advertised, but you can try a bottle and see if you see any improvements.
Third, putting your dog on Rimadyl, which is an NSAID to relieve joint pain can really help improve the quality of life your dog experiences.
Fourth, is by giving your dog a nice heating pad, or heated pet bed. Heated dog beds provide heat to painful joints, which helps to relieve pain and increase blood flow to the areas. One of the better selections of heated dog beds can be found here: Therapeutic Dog Beds.
