Part I: Conventional Arthritis Therapies for Pets

Holistic Approaches to Arthritis Therapies for Pets
This is a must read article on arthritis remedies. I compares the use of holistic therapies with conventional treatments using NSAIDS and corticosteroids. With millions of animals prescribed drugs such as Rimadyl, Prednisone, Dermaxx et al. This information needs to be disseminated as much as possible.

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Conventional Treatments

There are numerous conventional treatments for pets with degenerative joint disease (arthritis). Unfortunately, some of these treatments have sought to relieve the effects of the arthritis without actually doing anything to help the pet's joints heal.

Remember that arthritis is an inflammatory, painful condition. While the treatment treatment selected must relieve the inflammation and pain, it is important to keep in mind that long term therapy with conventional medications are actually harmful to the joint cartilage. Most of these drugs actually prevent healing of the cartilage, further destroying the cartilage and joint components. So even though the pets will feel better for a while, we're actually making their condition worse. And because many pets taking corticosteroids for prolonged periods of time gain weight as a side effect of this class of medication, this excess weight puts further stress on already damaged joints, adding more insult to injury.
Corticosteroids ("steroids",) are commonly used for treating the arthritic dog. Steroids are one of the most frequently used and abused drugs in veterinary and probably human medicine. It's just too easy for doctors to reach for the magic "steroid shot" to treat symptoms without really diagnosing and treating the disease.

Many of my holistic clients think that corticosteroids are horrible drugs that are to be avoided at all costs. However, that is far from the truth. Corticosteroids are actually wonderful drugs that can be life-saving when used correctly at the right dose, for the proper length of time, and in the right patient. So often though, they are often not used at the right dose, for the proper length of time, and in the right patient. Because they can aggravate existing arthritis by inhibiting the synthesis of proteoglycans and collagen, the molecules that make up cartilage, there is rarely if ever a need for their long-term use in the treatment of patients with arthritis.

I believe the best use of corticosteroids is for short term, infrequent use to control pain in pets with mild arthritis. I prefer an initial short-acting injection followed by a 5-7 daily oral dosing. Unless absolutely necessary, depot injections of methylprednisolone which can last in the pet's body for 30-60 days should be avoided.

The negative side effects of long-term use of steroids is that they can decrease the ability of wounds to heal, they increase the chance of infection, they may also actually contribute to further destruction of arthritic joints by decreasing collagen and proteoglycan synthesis, and they can suppress the body's immune system.

Milder short-term side effects seen in most dogs treated with corticosteroids include an increase in appetite, an increase in water intake, and an increase in urine output.

As mentioned, the NSAIDS have the potential to produce a number of undesirable and potentially fatal side effects. One side effect is gastrointestinal bleeding that occurs because of prostaglandin inhibition. Other side effects include kidney disease (also due to prostaglandin inhibition,) liver disease (mild cases display elevated liver enzymes whereas more serious cases can show liver failure,) immune diseases (anemia, low platelet count, skin diseases,) neurologic signs (seizures, paralysis, unsteadiness,) behavioral problems (hyperactivity, aggression, depression, or sedation,) drug interactions (NSAIDS should not usually be used when corticosteroids are used as the potential for side effects increases,) and even death. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, as with steroids, many of the non-steroidal medications destroy cartilage, although the popular NSAIDS Rimadyl and EctoGesic appear to cause less cartilage destruction than other NSAIDS.

Can NSAIDS be safely used in the treatment of arthritis? I believe NSAIDS can be safely and effectively used short-term (5-7 days) in pets not taking any other medications and in pets without other diseases. This means a careful history, examination, and laboratory testing will be needed in most pets. For long-term use (which is rarely necessary as most pets do very well on complementary therapies as discussed in Part III,) I only use NSAIDS if ALL OTHER TREATMENTS HAVE FAILED, AND IF THE OWNER HAS BEEN WARNED OF POTENTIAL SIDE EFFECTS. These patients are frequently (every 2-3 months) monitored for side effects, and GI protective medications (see below) may be used to decrease GI side effects. In effect, we try to make the patient comfortable and have a good quality of life at the risk of causing side effects and even death in that pet.