7 Symptoms to Spot Arthritis in Dogs

A dog with arthritis is one of the most common ailments that usually occur in middle and old time of life. This can affect any joint, producing pain and degenerative changes, not just inflammation, as is commonly thought.

This disease is degenerative and irreversible.  Learn to control the factors that aggravate and cause pain in your pet.

Pain is often associated with several of the major symptoms of arthritis, such as those listed below:


You will see that your pet picks up a leg when walking and that favors some of its legs, depending on which joint or joints are being affected by arthritis. In some cases, the limp is more intense after your pet gets up and starts to move. Once it gets warm, the lameness usually subsides.

Difficulty moving

You will see that your pets become reluctant to perform activities they used to do normally. In principle, your dog will cost more than before to get in and out of the car or have difficulty climbing stairs. As for cats, they will stop climbing the furniture as often as before because of the pain in their joints.


Arthritis affects not only the legs but can also affect several areas of your spine. This can be seen reflected in neck pains and abnormal postures, such as a hump or limp.


You will notice that the energy of your pet is not the same as always. For dogs, this can be seen in shorter and more painful walks and for cats in less activity. Both will spend more time sleeping or resting.


Animals that suffer from arthritis tend to become more susceptible and irritable with things. They may bite or snap when someone approaches them, particularly if it increases the pain they are already feeling.

Muscular atrophy

Generally, an animal with arthritis will atrophy the muscles or even muscle tissue may degenerate completely due to inactivity. This can be seen in one leg thinner than the others.

Licking, biting, chewing

The symptoms of arthritis will cause your pet to bite, lick or chew the affected areas. This should be taken seriously as it can cause inflammation, wounds and even hair loss in those areas.

Usually, the most affected joints are the knees, hip, shoulders, and elbows. At first, arthritis has no worrying symptoms, but as it progresses, joint enlargement, pain, lameness and loss of movement can be observed, among other discomforts.

Arthritis is a chronic condition and to date, there is no single treatment to treat it, it will depend on the case of each patient. For example, if the dog is obese, it should be investigated if there is another underlying disease, such as hypothyroidism or diabetes to control your health.

If your pet suffers from arthritis, the veterinarian may recommend some anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics, joint protectors, and antioxidants. It could also suggest you undergo surgery or physiotherapy, depending on the severity of the case.

The advances of medicine do not exclude our conceited ones. Veterinarian generally comments that the use of stem cells is also used to treat various types of arthritis in animals. Although they do not achieve total reversion of the disease so far, this treatment can improve their quality of life.

In addition, the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects with this treatment are longer than those offered by regular medications and do not cause secondary complications.

Patients with arthritis need special care. For example: performing a moderate exercise, do not climb stairs and, very importantly, should be kept at their ideal weight to prevent joints from supporting those extra pounds.


Medication: Some remedies can cause gastritis. Vitamin supplements should be recommended and dosed by a veterinarian. Never self-medicate your pet. Chondropaw® is not intended as a prescription medicine. Product indications are based solely on Homeopathic materia medica per individual ingredients.

Stations: In the cold month’s patients with arthritis have more discomfort when getting up or moving after a long rest. In summer the annoyances are minor.

Differences: Arthritis is not the same as osteoarthritis. The first is the inflammation of the joints that join one bone to another. Osteoarthritis is a consequence of chronic arthritis

Dogs: Dogs of large breeds are prone to develop arthritis. It is estimated that one in five adult dogs are suffering.