In my last two columns on pain control in pets, the focus was
primarily on degenerative joint disease
– i.e. arthritis – as well as how weight control can improve the
length and quality of your pet’s life.
In my last two columns on pain control in pets, the focus was primarily on degenerative joint disease – i.e. arthritis – as well as how weight control can improve the length and quality of your pet’s life.
This time I want to address some of the specific diets, supplements and medications you can use for these purposes – specifically, over-the-counter medications and ethical supplements.
“Over-the-counter” means the medications are sold at various retail outlets such as pet stores, health food stores, pharmacies and grocery stores. “Ethical products” are generally those sold in more controlled environments such as your veterinarian’s hospital, where someone is actually looking at the quality of the products and helping you screen out those that may be ineffective.
In a study released in 2001, a comparison was done between ethical and over-the-counter products to treat dermatology and arthritis. The study looked at fish oil fatty acid products and glucosamine joint supplements. Because there were no official health or nutrition claims made for these products, no one was monitoring the quality of the ingredients. The Food and Drug Administration cannot control or monitor them.
In the study, the ethical products were all consistently within 5 percent of exactly what they said they had in them. The over-the-counter products often varied by more than 50 percent from the ingredient list – even from capsule to capsule in the same bottle.
The point here is you want to be able to trust your source. This is an especially important issue with products that act as slowly and subtly as most nutritional supplements.
Glucosamine supplements have been shown to get into joints, and have a positive effect on joint function and pain. The cartilage supplements do not show any such benefit.
The fish oil fatty acid products that we have used for allergy control over the years have come into favor for pain control and increased function of the joints, proving superior to glucosamine for this use. Given in the proper ratio, these products play interesting roles in the body – they act as free radical harvesters. This means they slow down oxidative activity in the body (fire, rust and degenerative joint disease are all oxidative processes) and slow the degenerative processes that cause arthritis. The net effect is less pain and better function of joints.
Hills, the scientific specialty side of Science Diets, has developed a diet for joints called J/D – or Joint Diet. It provides the equivalent of three to five capsules of fatty acid supplementation in every meal at a fraction of the cost of using the supplements in capsule or liquid form. The previous application of fish oil fatty acids for allergy relief will be served by using Joint Diet also – again, at a fraction of the cost of using supplements separately. This one diet, available through your veterinarian, can address two of the biggest chronic suffering issues we face in the dog population: arthritis and allergies.
The other great medical tool we have is the non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. These are the ibuprofen-like drugs that have become available to us over the last 10 years. There is a real and substantial difference in the chemistry and metabolism of the veterinary drugs and those available for humans. Ibuprofen is poison for dogs and cats. Aspirin is much more dangerous and much less effective for dogs than the drugs designed for our pets. Tylenol is ineffective and more toxic for dogs than for people. Aspirin, ibuprofen and Tylenol are practically a death sentence for cats. Do not use them.
What we do have for dogs are drugs such as Deramaxx, Rimadyl, Etodolac, Metacam, Zubrin and others. Over the years, these have proven themselves to be both safe and effective for pain control in dogs. They are used for post-operative and other soft tissue pain as well as for chronic pain and inflammation of the joints, which we call arthritis. They are of very limited use in cats because cats cannot metabolize them well.
Safety studies have shown that the incidents of serious side effects in dogs using these drugs daily for years is substantially less than 1 percent. These side effects usually disappear if the medication is stopped. The fact that serious side effects can occur means that your veterinarian will only prescribe them carefully, after examining your pet. The cost can run from 50 cents to $3 per day, depending on the size of your pet and the indicated dose. The resulting enhancement in quality of life is priceless.
Dr. John Quick is a 25-year resident of Morgan Hill. He owns and operates the Animal Care Center in Morgan Hill. He is a founder of the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center as well as the Furry Friends Foundation, which does pet facilitated therapy throughout the county. Reach him at
jn*****@st******.net
.
