» chiropractic

Youth Is Where Life Extension Begins

John Simon — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:47:46 +0000

Most pet lover do not become interested in the idea of anti aging until they first notice their dear puppy or kitten has grown old. Unfortunately, by that time the greatest opportunities for extending their pets life has been missed. So caregivers should begin thinking about life extension when their pet is very young and all organs are strong and healthy. Keep in mind that from birth pets are exposed to food and environmental toxins that slowly t steal their health and shorten their life. If you wait until your pet becomes a senior citizens before becoming concerned with the concept of anti aging then irreparable damage has already been done and all that you can do is protect what ever cell still exist.

From the beginning of life free radicals in the form of airborne, food and water toxins begin to destroy healthy cells and tissues. Providing healthy air, food and water may require extra work but will greatly reduce toxin and free radical damage. The most healthy diets are free of toxins, provide nutrients that support liver function and detoxification, and avoid nutrients that lead to a leaky gut syndrome. Broadly speaking dogs and cats should be fed a homemade, rare/raw meat, no grain diet. Ideally, the meat should be organic and grass fed while veggies should b e organic, colorful and steamed or grated. If homemade diets are not an option for you then feed a high quality commercial diet that is over 40% meat by dry weight and contains a minimum of grain. It is impossible, even for a veterinarian, to determine the percent meat in a commercial diet by simply looking at the bag. You must call the company and ask the nutritionist this question, “On a dry matter basis, what percent of the food is meat protein”. Understand that grains and veggies also have protein so the percent protein on the bag does not tell you how much is meat protein. Finally, adding supplemental digestive enzymes, probiotics, trace minerals and omega fatty acids to either a commercial or homemade diet will plug many of the nutritional holes resulting from poor farming practices and commercial processing of food. Regretfully, because of space limitations we can not go into all of the other factors that must be considered when choosing the optimal commercial diet. Therefore, you may want to go to my website Doc4pets.com and click on the nutrition heading for a much more comprehensive write up on pet diets.

Next to good nutrition regular dental hygiene is the most important thing owners can perform in order to provide their dog or cat a longer healthier life. Because tartar is a breeding ground for bacteria, by keeping tartar to a minimum fewer bacterial toxins will get into the blood stream and damage the liver and kidneys. Daily home dental care combined with a yearly professional dental prophylaxis will make a hug difference in the health of your pet during his or her senior years.

We all live in a toxic world and as hard as we may try we can’t elimininate them all. However any effort we make to minimize our pets exposure to environmental toxins will pay off big time in terms of extending their life. Environmental toxins involve such hazards as household cleaning products, lawn pesticides, radon, cigarette smoke, paint fumes, fumes from no stick cooking utensils, automobile fumes, poisonous plants, rat poisons and spilled antifreeze. Keep in mind that pets are much closer to the ground than we are and therefore more exposed to many environmental toxins. Bird owners should know that their feathered friend is much more sensitive to airborne toxins and therefore every effort should be made to keep them away from fumes resulting from paint, no stick cook ware, tobacco smoke, house hold deodorizers and even fireplace fumes. If you must apply weed and insect killer to your lawn try to use organic products keeping in mind that if you apply non organic chemicals than pets that get outside will walk through the grass and then lick the residual chemicals off their feet or ingest these toxin when they nibble on the grass. There are now a number of companies that manufacture non toxic home cleaning products that can replace those toxic products you many now be using. Once again space restraints limit this discussion on environmental toxins so if you have further interest to learn more please visit my website Doc4pets.com and go to my blog and look through the archive of articles till you find the ones involving environmental toxins and detoxification.

Avoiding toxins is one thing but getting rid of them once already in the body is a whole different issue. Toxins accumulate in our pets body slowly and without producing symptoms until the concentration of toxins destroys enough tissue to produce outward disease. Of course the idea is to be proactive and get rid of these toxins before symptoms become obvious. The process of detoxification can be accomplished in several ways ie. homeopathy, herbal, and nutritional. I recommend all my patient go through a homeopathic detox twice yearly. Most toxins are also free radicals that steel electrons and damage vital tissue. Adding a number of antioxidants to the daily diet will help neutralize these free radicals, prevent cellular damage and provide additional years of normal function for important organ systems. Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Selenium, Alpha Lipoic Acid, and resveratrol are examples of nutritional antioxidants. Milk Thistle, Burdock root, and are herbal anti oxidants.

The process of detoxification is enhanced by supporting those organs which are most instrumental in removing toxins from the body. Of those organs the liver is the most important. Dimethylglycine, SAM-E, MSM, Detox Kit and liver glandular are a few examples of nutraceutical which support the liver.

Constant emotional stress can steel years from Excessive emotional stress is truly a toxin in that stress stimulates the sympathetic nervous system which inturn causes inflammation, tissue damage and free radical damage.. Early obedience training will go along way in reducing emotional stress because a well behaved dog is a contribution family whereas a dog that misbehaves, bitesl, barks excessivel or destroys family property will result in repeated reprimands and in family upsets and discontentment. If behavior training has failed we can provide homeopathic, herbal , and nutraceutical s that will calm the dog hopeful end unacceptable behavior.

Regular exercise is an important part of maintaining good health because it not only helps to main a slim muscular appearance it also relieves boredom and allows the pet to get rid of pent up energy that otherwise might be vented by destructive behavior such as chewing on shoes, furniture or lamp cords. Walking or jogging with your dog is great for both of you. Playing fetch the ball or Frizbee are other fun activities. Agility training, hunting and visits to the dog park are additional approachs to getting rid of energy and reducing unwanted behavior. Exercising with your pet is a great way to strengthen the human animal bond

Chiropractic care is something most pet owners never consider until their pet is lame or injured. However semi annual proactive spinal adjustments are important not only in maintaining a healthy neuromuscular skeletal system but is also very effective in keeping internal organs functioning properly.

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HOLISTIC CONCEPTS ABOUT ARTHRITIS, LAMENESS & STEM CELL THERAPY

John Simon — Thu, 06 May 2010 01:08:23 +0000

Arthritis is probably the most common of the chronic diseases that progressively steels quality life from our senior dogs. Osteoarthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that can effect any size dog or cat but is seen much more often in larger breed dogs. Arthritis often starts with stiffness and is first noticed when the older dog has a hard time rising in the morning. In time the owner may noticed that their dog is slower going up the stairs and may be reluctant to jump into the car.. A dog with hip displasia or hip arthritis tends to run like a rabbit using both back legs at once. As the arthritis progresses the dog may begin to hold up or favor one limb. He or she may walk with short stiff steps and the dog’s gait may show a hind end instability (swaying). At the end stages of arthritis the pet may not be able to rise without the owners help. It is a sad thing to see otherwise healthy animals euthanized because their caregiver is undable to lift them up in order to get them outside when they need to eliminate.

It is my opinion much of the arthritis our dogs experience could be eliminated by changing their diets from a grain based food to a more meat based recipe. Just because the first ingredient on the ingredient list is meat does not make the diet meat based. The only way to distinguish if a food is meat based is to asked the company’s nutritionist (not customer support person) “what percent of their food is meat when measured on a dry matter basis ?” Judged on this basis, most pet foods are no more than 20% meat. Grain based diets are hard for carnivores to digest and the poorly digested large grain protein molecules act as allergens which damage the intestinal lining and result in a “leaky gut syndrome”. This leaky gut allows grain protein molecules to get into the blood stream where they can migrate to the pet’s joints and set up an inflammatory reaction. Feeding a meat based diet helps to prevent the above sequence of events. Supplementing the diet with digestive enzymes, fish oil, and antioxidants will help reduce the likelihood of arthritis.

If your dog has already developed arthritis there are a number of ways to help slow the progression and reduce the discomfort from the disease. Injections of “chondroprotective” substances which increase joint fluid production and encourage cartilage repair can be very effective arthritis remedies. Personally I am not a big proponent of using non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) to reduce inflammation and pain because their long term use may result in gastro intestinal, liver, and kidney disease. It has also been shown that long term use of NSAIDs in humans actually results in cartilage degeneration. Providing glucosamine, chondroitin , MSM, Gerizyme, Adequin, Legend, Zeel , systemic enzymes, hyaluronic acid, Comfort Zone and antioxidants in place of NSAIDs can help restore joint integrity and, in my opinion, is a much preferred approach.

Other ways to treat advanced arthritis include physical therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, “infra-sonic therapy”, “pulsed magnetic therapy”, prolotherapy, gold bead implants, cold laser therapy, Electro Crystal Rebalancing and massage therapy. Teaching pet owners how to massage their pet and provide passive range of motion can be very helpful in extending and enhancing their pets quality of life.

Finally, I want let my readers know about a very exciting advance in arthritis therapy. Adult stem cell technology is now available to help treat advanced arthritis. The stem cells are harvested from the patients own fat. These stem cells can be injected intravenously or directly into joints. These injected primitive cells will develop into connective tissue and cartilaginous cells which will help to rejuvenate the damaged joint. This technology is has already been used successfully in hundreds of dogs and horses and although still on the expensive side is now available to the family pet. Presently I am one of the few veterinarians certified to provide such therapy.

Detecting the early signs of arthritis and instituting early treatment can make a huge difference in the success of therapy. Providing a high quality meat based diet, with omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants along with weight management can help prevent the onset of arthritis and help extend both the quality and quantity of the pet’s life.

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Woodside Animal Clinic sees pets from all over the greater Detroit Michigan area including Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Detroit, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Warren, Centerline, Clawson, Troy, Sterling Heights, Southfield, Birmingham, Bingham Farms, Franklin, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Wixom, Brighton, Livonia, Plymouth, Commerce, Ann Arbor, Ortonville, Waterford, Union Lake, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Utica, Romeo, Windsor, White lake and Toledo

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Back Pain & Hind Leg Lamenes: Ruptured Disks and Other Spinal Cord Disease

John Simon — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:14:06 +0000

There are a number of diseases involving the spinal cord that produce paralysis, weakness and incoordination and consequently are easily confused with each other. These diseases include inter-vertebral disk disease, , degenerative myelopathy, Wobblers, lumbo-sacral stenosis, spinal cord tumors, and fibro-cartilagious infarcts. On initial physical exam all these diseases have a number of symptoms in common. Diagnostic tests which help further define the problem include radiographs, myelograms, and MRI’s. All of the above diseases can cause hind leg weakness, incoordination and gait abnormalities. All cause a break in communication between the brain and back legs such that the head does not always know what the back legs are doing . Such a communication breakdown results in the paws knuckling over, the hind end swaying or collapsing, the dog having a hard time rising or going up stairs and the loss of bladder control. Of these diseases, we can expect that pain may be present with only 3: disk disease, wobblers and lumbo-sacral stenosis. Of the six diseases mentioned, inter-vertebral disk disease, wobblers and fibrocartilaginous infarcts usually have the a sudden onset. .

Intervertebral disk disease in the dog is an all to common problem especially in breeds with long backs and short thick legs, aka. chondrodystrophoid. These breeds include dachunds, bassets, beagles, welsh corgis, Lhasa Apsos, Shih Tzus, American cockers, and French bulldogs. In these breeds the problems may occur as early as 1 to 2 years of age. IVD may also occur in non chondrodystrophoid breeds but usually at 6 to 10 years of age. The most common symptoms of disk disease are pain, weakness, loss of coordination, and paralysis. The disease can also affect bladder control. However in very early stages of disk disease the dog may experience only pain and display an anxious uncomfortable attitude and decrease in activity. As the condition advances the pain commonly becomes very severe and the dog may cry out when he or she moves in a particular way. The next stage of disk disease is often hind leg weakness, incoordination and/or paralysis. At this point the pain may or may not disappear. Commonly this progression happens within days but can extend to weeks. If the disk protrusion occurs in the dog’s neck the pain is often more severe. Just petting the dogs head may cause him or her to cry out. The dog will hold his head and neck in a rigid head down stance and will will turn his whole body instead of bending his neck. Cervical (neck) disk disease can cause neurological problems in both the front and back legs whereas disk disease in the mid back will affect only the back legs.

It is difficult to distinguish cervical disk disease from a disease commonly known as Wobblers. Wobblers (aka cervical vertebral instability) is, as the name implies, a result of an unstable joint in the neck producing pressure on the spinal cord. Wobblers is usually a disease of large, fast growing dogs. Great Danes usually develop the disease as puppies where as in Dobermans the problem occurs more often in adults. The disease most commonly presents as a dog with severe neck pain and gait abnormalities in both front and back legs. To distinguish this disease from a ruptured disk or a spinal tumor requires either a myelogram or an MRI. Of course it is possible for the above symptoms to be caused by a blood clot in the spine or spinal tumor, neither of which occurs with any frequency. Finally, if the breed of dog is correct for disk disease, and if there has been no sudden onset or trauma then there is approximately a 95% chance that a disk rupture has occurred.

Another disease that can easily be confused with inter-vertebral disk disease is Degenerative Myelopathy. Degenerative myelopathy is a slow progressive disease of large older dogs, most commonly the German Shepherds. In its early stages the dog owners often mistakes it for arthritis. Degenerative myelopathy is an insidious, inflammatory, autoimmune disease that develops slowly over years. It is a result of degeneration of the fatty myelin sheath that surrounds most nerves and acts as an insulator. The first sign of degenerative myelopathy is the dragging of the top side of the nails on the back feet. This dragging can be detected either by the sound of the gait or by examining the top side of the back nails for abnormal wear. As the disease progresses the hind limbs become weak and an obvious incoordination develops. The hind legs may cross with one another and the dog may look drunk in the hind end. He or she may stumble. If you place the dog’s foot in a position where the top of the toes are on the floor, the dog will often not return the foot to the proper position or take a long time doing it. This is because there is a loss of “conscious proprioception” which means that the brain does not know the position of the back legs. If a dog has Degenerative myelopath then pushing on the dog’s rear end from side to side often causes the dog to fall over or have a hard time keeping his balance. In the later stages of this disease the hind end will become so weak and uncoordinated that the dog will be unable to get up. If the dog does manage to rise he or she will quickly fall down after taking only a few steps. The only good new about this disease is that there is never any pain involved. It is important to rule out a chronic disk disease before accepting degenerative myelopathy as your pet’s fate. Unfortunately that requires an expensive MRI or myelogram to make such a decision.

Lumbo Sacral Stenosis is known by a number of names such as lumbo-sacral instability, lumbo-sacral malformation, lumbo-sacral malarticulation, spondylolithesis, and cauda equina syndrome. All of these describe arthritis involving the last lumbar vertebrae and the sacrum which is a part of the pelvis. This disease often involves the disk as well. Together both problems progressively narrow the spinal canal which in turn puts pressure on the spinal nerves and causes pain and dysfunction. The most common symptom is pain which involves the back, both hind legs, and the tail. Dogs usually have trouble rising. Defecating and urinating are difficult because of pain. Dogs with this problem find defecation and urination difficult due to pain on squating. They may become incontinent and may be seen biting at their rear end.

Blood clots and fibro-cartilaginous infarcts can also cause similar spinal cord disease but they are quite rare and so I will not discuss them at this time.

Now back to intervertebral disk disease (IVDD). Conventional treatment for IVDD involves medicating with steroids, antioxidants, muscle relaxants, cage rest and surgical decompression. If surgery is indicated a myelogram or MRI must be performed to pin point the exact location of the lesion and confirm the physical diagnosis. These tests commonly can run into many thousands of dollars and should only be considered if the owner is planning to follow through with any surgery indicated by the information these tests provide. Disk fenestration surgery or a vertebral hemi-laminectomy are the surgeries performed to reduce pressure on the spinal cord. Both surgeries can run into the thousands of dollars and the diagnostics plus the surgery could easily run between 4 to 5 thousand. If you have a dog that may require these surgeries you should know that the surgeries are not always successful in restoring function and on occasions dogs can come out of surgery in worse shape than when they went in. You should also be made aware that these surgeries especially those involving the neck require long periods of recuperation.

Owners who are hesitant to put their injured older dogs through anesthesia, surgery, and an extended recuperative period may want to consider holistic modalities as an alternative. For those who cannot afford the expense of high tech diagnostics and surgery I also suggest you take a look at alternative or holistic modalities. The holistic therapies I am talking about include electro acupuncture, cold laser therapy, infrasonic therapy, pulsed magnetic therapy, chiropractic, electro crystal rebalancing, nutritional therapy, prolotherapy, bio identical steroid therapy, antioxidant therapy, megavitamin therapy, and systemic enzyme therapy. Please understand that there are no guarantees with any one or a combination of the above alternative therapies, each case being unique in its own right. We have, however, had some excellent results with these alternative approaches and can offer testamonials to their effectiveness.

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Woodside Animal Clinic is a unique, very personal, one doctor practice where, for over 35 years, Dr. Simon has been healing dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, rodents, and reptiles with both conventional and alternative medicine. Dr. Simon is the author of 4 pet care books and he writes a monthly pet care column in the Mirror newspaper. He is the past president of the Oakland County Veterinary Medical Association.

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Veterinary Chiropractic Care, Spinal Adjustment and VOM for Dogs and Cats

John Simon — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:37:19 +0000

Chiropractic medicine whether for humans or animals is a very misunderstood medical modality. Most people who go to chiropractors for treatment, think that when they get an adjustment the chiropractor is actually “putting bones back in place”. They believe that they feel relief from the chiropractic adjustment because their spine is immediately realigned . This misconception stems from old chiropractic theory that actually taught chiropractors that they were “putting bones back in place”. Newer chiropractic theory however teaches chiropractic students that when they perform an adjustment they are creating movement in the joint but not putting the bone back in place. The movement they create in the vertebral joint stimulates “mechano nerve receptors” in that joint to produce a reflex that blocks pain transmission. The blockage of the pain reflex provides pain control by alleviating muscle spasm and by dilating blood vessels. The relaxation of the paraspinal muscles and not the thrust of the adjustment is what indirectly results in the spinal realignment.

Chiropractic care can do more than eliminate back and neck pain. Through the stimulation of “somato-visceral reflexes” chiropractic care can support internal organ function. Chiropractic care can also produce “myofascial release” by stimulation of the “golgi bodies” in the muscle tendons. Consequently chiropractic can help people and pets with “myofascitis” and “fibromyalgia”

Human chiropractors get their training at chiropractic schools whereas veterinarians receive their training in spinal adjustment via an intense postgraduate course offered by special schools. There are 2 schools of training in veterinary spinal adjustment . One school of training is in association with the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association (AVCA). The other school of training is offered by VOM (Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation). AVCA is primarily a manual adjusting group which means they use only their hands to perform an adjustment. VOM on the other hand teaches adjustment using mechanical and electrical devices called accelerometers. Dr. Simon has been trained in both approaches. In addition he performs a third type of adjustment known as “Logan Basic” . Logan Basic is a very gentle form of chiropractic that was developed and first taught at Logan Chiropractic College. It involves putting pressure on the pelvic sacro-tuberous ligament in order to relax the para-spinal muscles. This relaxation allows adjustments to be done with very little force. Dr. Simon frequently utilizes Logan Basic in conjunction with VOM.

Please keep in mind that just as with acupuncture, chiropractic care requires a series of treatments to get desired results. Also remember that chiropractic is not limited to musculoskeletal and neurological problems but can also be used to treat a wide variet of internal organ problems.

Dr. Simon is aware that there are human chiropractors who attempt to adjust pets at night after their regular office hours. He would like to warn pet owners that only those human chiropractors that have attended and graduated from a recognized post graduate program in veterinary anatomy and neurology should attempt such adjustments and only under veterinary supervision.

VETERINARY ORTHOPEDIC MANIPULATION: VOM

Veterinary Orthopedic-neural Manipulation otherwise known as VOM is a non-invasive healing technology that is similar to classical chiropractic medicine in that it locates areas called subluxation that exists along the animal’s spinal cord and reduces the subluxations such that proper nervous tissue communication is re-established. A “spinal accelerometer” is used to assess the health of the spine and adjustments are made using this same instrument. As the practitioner tests the entire spine with the accelerometer, he watches for specific reflexes, called “reads”, to occur. These reads are evidence of pathology called “subluxations”. Subluxations cause vascular constriction, reduced circulation and decreased oxygenation to muscles and other tissues of the body. The results of these subluxations changes can be seen as muscle spasm, pain, swelling, and reduced range of motion. After identifying these abnormal areas along the vertebral column the practitioner will use the same instrument to apply light force to the vertebrae in the affected area. The motion created will stimulate a nerve impulse in the mechano-receptors of the vertebral joint. These nerve impulses will travel to the spinal cord where they in turn stimulate cells called “interneuron’s”. Interneuron stimulation dilates blood vessels, increases circulation and oxygenation of muscles, reduces spasm, stops pain, and increases range of motion.

Most abnormal functions of the body are a result of muscle spasm of one sort or another and consequently reduction of subluxations can have far reaching health benefits.

The VOM technology uses very gentle adjusting techniques which are safer than classical chiropractic methods. The VOM practitioner is termed a “chiropractitioner” as opposed to a chiropractor. However, just like chiropractic care VOM therapy is not accomplished in a single visit or adjustment. Follow up evaluations and adjustments scheduled at very specific intervals are required if long term healing is to occur.

For more information on the VOM technique and to watch a video of the technique in action please visit the website: LABH.com/vom

The VOM technique is often followed by the MFR technique which produces myofascial release. MFR enhances VOM by further relieving the increased muscle spasms and fascial tension caused by subluxations. The resulting decreased muscle spasm provides the animal with pain reduction and decreases the recurrence of subluxation. Consequently the overall healing process is accelerated.

VOM can be used to treat non-musculo-skeletal conditions including organ disease (somato-visceral disease). VOM is used to promote a balance between the sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (organ function) components of the autonomic nervous system. Using VOM in this way complements its use on musculo-skeletal system by further altering the blood flow and nervous stimulation to all areas of the body. VOM utilizes sites on the body similar to acupuncture points as well as other sites to return balance too the autonomic nervous system

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Woodside Animal Clinic is a unique, very personal, one doctor practice where, for over 35 years, Dr. Simon has been healing dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, rodents, and reptiles with both conventional and alternative medicine. Dr. Simon is the author of 4 pet care books and he writes a monthly pet care column in the Mirror newspaper. He is a past president of the Oakland County Veterinary Medical Association and a past board of both American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association and the Southeastern Michigan Veterinary Medical Association.

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Physical Rehabilitation for Pets

John Simon — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 16:59:42 +0000

Physical therapy is something that people who are injured or who have undergone surgery expect to go through as part of their recuperation. Unfortunately it has only been within the last 8 years that physical therapy has been readily available for injured animals. Orthopedic injuries, neurological problems, trauma, and arthritis are all maladies that can benefit from physical therapy.

There are number of therapies that can be utilized to help rehabilitate injured or painful pets. Among them are acupuncture, chiropractic, nutritional and herbal support, intravenous and transcutaneous lasers therapy , pulsed magnetic therapy, infrasonic and ultrasonic therapy, microcurrent stimulation, underwater treadmill, hydrotherapy, prolotherapy, range of motion and therapeutic exercise, massage therapy, balance and proprioception equipment. Other supportive measures we use are systemic enzyme therapy, antioxidant therapy, DMSO, homeopathy, and herbal therapy

The following conditions are just a few we have successfully treated with rehabilitation therapy: Wobblers and intervertebral disk disease, arthritis, cruciate ligament tears, post surgical cruciate ligament repairs, lumbo-sacral stenosis, hip dysplasia, degenerative myelopathy and any soft tissue injury involving post surgical wounds, damaged tendons, ligaments, and muscles.

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Woodside Animal Clinic is a unique, very personal, one doctor practice where, for over 35 years, Dr. Simon has been healing dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, rodents, and reptiles with both conventional and alternative medicine. Dr. Simon is the author of 4 pet care books and he writes a monthly pet care column in the Mirror newspaper. He is a past president of the Oakland County Veterinary Medical Association and has served on the board of both the South Eastern Veterinary Medical Association and the American HolisticVeterinary Medical Association.

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Arthritis in Dogs — What a Pain!

John Simon — Sun, 25 May 2008 12:26:43 +0000

It is estimated that 25-30% of all dogs will suffer the agonizing and crippling pain of arthritis during their lifetime. Large dogs are the most susceptible to arthritis but dogs of any breed, age or size can be victims of this disease. Early signs of arthritis may be first noticed when your dog starts to get up slower from a lying position, however, arthritis may eventually become devastating with your dog becomes unable to rise.

As arthritis progresses there is a steady degeneration of the dog’s joint cartilage. This cartilage is a cushion in the dog’s elbow, knee, ankle, shoulder, or hip. Cartilage gives the dog the mobility to run and play. As this cartilage begins to be rubbed thin, the bones will begin to grind against each other, causing excruciating pain.

Dogs in the earlier stages of arthritis may have mild pain and lose as much as 20% of their joints range of motion. Consequently, they appear stiff when they get up and walk. As their arthritis progresses, as much as 50% of their joint’s range of motion may be lost. Because they are often in severe pain they will be reluctant to move and the less they move the more weight they gain. This added weight puts additional stress on their joints. Lack of movement and reduced exercise results in weaken musculature. Pain, added weight and weakened muscles are all part of a vicious cycle that leads to less and less movement until the pet can no longer get up and must be carried out to go to the bathroom. If the pet is large and can not be easily carried, euthanasia can sadly become the only alternative.

In addition to making walking difficult, severe arthritis often results in personality and behavioral changes. A dog’s pain may cause them to withdraw from the family and seek secluded places. Because rising may be very painful arthritic pets may soil the rug where they lie rather than ask to go out. Because squatting is painful arthritic pets often become constipated. Dogs and cats in pain can become aggressive and ornery and start to bite. Dogs that were once friendly will not want to be touched by anyone including trusted family members.

So what’s the solution? Conventional medicine attempts to solve the problem with laboratory manufactured corticosteroids or non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs. Both these products are usually effective in reducing inflammation and pain but ultimately result in further joint deterioration and can damage other organs such as the stomach, liver, and kidney.

On the other hand the alternative medical approach is to use nutritional joint support substances, weight loss, medicinal herbs, anti- oxidants, mega vitamin and mineral therapy, omega 3 fatty acids, chiropractic care, physical therapy, and acupuncture to reduce pain and inflammation and to support joint health rather than simply removing the symptoms. A special injection combining nutritionals Adequin and Legend has worked remarkably well at rehabilitating a joints. This approach is much gentler on the body and rarely results in any serious side effects.

Of course it is not necessary to wait until your dog is lame before you take steps to help your pet. Being proactive makes much more sense. Feeding your healthy dog or cat a high quality, free range, meat based diet and supplementing with raw vegetables, digestive enzymes, and omega 3 fatty acids will go along toward preventing the onset of arthritis. A special combination injection of Adequin and Legend we

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Woodside Animal Clinic sees pets from all over the greater Detroit area including Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Detroit, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Warren, Centerline, Clawson, Troy, Sterling Heights, Southfield, Birmingham, Bingham Farms, Franklin, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Wixom, Brighton, Livonia, Plymouth, Commerce, Ann Arbor, Ortonville, Waterford, Union Lake, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Utica, Romeo and Flint..

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Arthritis Therapies for Dogs and Cats

John Simon — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:15:40 +0000

Arthritic pain and lameness is probably the most common of the slow, chronic, diseases that progressively steel quality life from our senior dogs. Osteoarthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that can effect any size dog but is seen much more often in larger breeds. Arthritis often starts with stiffness and is first noticed when the older dog has a hard time rising in the morning. In time the owner may noticed that their dog is slower going up the stairs and may be reluctant to jump into the car. A dog with hip displasia or hip arthritis tends to run like a rabbit using both back legs at once.

As the arthritis progresses the dog may begin to hold up or favor one limb. He or she may walk with short stiff steps and the dog’s gait may show a hind end instability. At the end stages of arthritis the pet may not be able to rise without the owners help. It is very sad when an otherwise healthy animal is euthanized because their owner is unable to lift them up to get them outside when they need to eliminate.

It is my opinion that much of the arthritis our dogs experience could be eliminated by changing their diets from a grain based food to a more meat based recipe. Just because the first ingredient on the ingredient list is meat does not make the diet “meat based”. The only way to distinguish if a food is meat based is to asked the company’s nutritionist (not customer support person) “what percent of their food is meat when measured on a dry matter basis ?” Judged on this basis, most pet foods are no more than 20% meat. Grain based diets are hard for carnivores to digest and, consequently, the poorly digested large grain protein molecules act as allergens which damage the intestinal lining and result in a “leaky gut syndrome”. This leaky gut allows grain protein molecules to get into the blood stream where they can migrate to the pet’s joints and set up an inflammatory reaction. Feeding a meat based diet helps to prevent the above sequence of events. Finally, keeping your pet on the slender side in old age and better yet all his or her life will definitely reduce the risk of arthritis developing, Supplementing the diet with digestive enzymes, fish oil, antioxidants, and herbal anti inflammatories will help reduce the likelihood of arthritis.

If your dog has already developed arthritis there are a number of ways to help slow the progression and reduce the discomfort from the disease. Injections of “chondroprotective” substances which increase joint fluid and encourage cartilage repair can be very effective. Personally I am not a big proponent of using non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) to reduce inflammation and pain because their long term use may result in gastro intestinal, liver, and kidney disease. It has also been shown that long term use of NSAIDs in humans actually results in cartilage degeneration. Providing glucosamine, chondroitin , MSM, Adequin and antioxidants in place of NSAIDs can help restore joint integrity and, in my opinion, is a much preferred approach.

Other ways to treat advanced arthritis include acupuncture, chiropractic, “infra sonic therapy”, “pulsed magnetic therapy”, prolotherapy, low level laser therapy, physical therapy and massage therapy. Teaching pet owners how to massage their pet and provide passive range of motion can be very helpful in extending and enhancing their pets quality of life.

The only problem with stem cell therapy ithat it is relatively expensive and requires the pet be anethetized for the harvesting of the adult stem cells from body fat. Prolotherapy is a less expensive option and one sense could be seen as the “poor man stem cell therapy” because it also stimulates the body produce more supportive connective tissue around the unstable joint.

Detecting the early signs of arthritis and instituting early treatment can make a huge difference in the success of therapy. Providing a high quality meat based diet, with omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants can help prevent the onset of arthritis and help extend both the quality and quantity of the pet’s life.

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Alternative Therapies for Dogs and Cats with Arthritis

John Simon — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:05:39 +0000

Dear Dr. Simon,

I have a 12 year old Labrador Retriever named Joe who has had arthritis in his hind legs for the past 3 years. My veterinarian has put Joe on cortisone tablets which have helped allot but have also made him eat and drink too much. Do you know of any alternative approaches to treating arthritis ?

Dear Reader,

I am glad you asked this question. Far too many old arthritic dogs have been put on long term cortisone therapy. Although cortisone is very effective in treating arthritis it can produce many detrimental side effects. One serious problem accompanying cortisone therapy is that it stimulates the animal’s appetite and thirst and consequently he or she gains weight, which puts additional stress on the already painful hind legs and back.

If Joe is at all overweight he should be put on a high fiber low fat diet until he reaches a weight that you might consider “slightly thin”. You should also make sure that his nails are not overgrown and hurting his feet.

One of the most common alternatives to cortisone therapy is to use drugs like aspirin. These “non-steroidal anti-inflammatory” drugs frequently work well in treating the symptoms of arthritis but are not really getting at the cause of the problem. Non-steroidals also tend to irritate the lining of the digestive tract and can result in ulcers.

Fortunately, there are a number of other approaches to the treatment of arthritis. The use of anti-oxidant enzymes, vitamins, and minerals along with medications that encourage the regeneration of joint cartilage and increase the production of joint fluid is a very effective and safe way to begin anti-arthritic therapy.

Frequently arthritis is the result of stretched ligaments, which produce joint instability. Injections into these ligaments know as “prolotherapy” along with supportive oral medication can encourage the ligaments to thicken and reduce abnormal movement.

Other alternative approaches to treating arthritis are acupuncture and magnetic field therapy both of which are considered mainstream medicine in Japan. Western and Eastern herbal therapy, chiropractic, and homeopathy have also been found to be extremely helpful in treating arthritis in pets and humans. Very recently stem cell therapy has become available for helping horses and dogs with arthritis.

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