March 2023
Happy March!
We are off to a great year but can you believe it is March already?!?! Time flies when you are having fun.
This month I want to discuss chronic pain of osteoarthritis and its effect on the body, particularly the changes in cortisol.
Osteoarthritis can cause subtle signs of discomfort and does not normally present with your pet crying in pain. Signs of osteoarthritis may slowly start and could appear as hesitation to jump on the bed, changes in personality (more grumpy with other pets), eating too much or too little, sleeping more, or reluctance to take walks. The pain of osteoarthritis may fluctuate with the weather patterns and can worsen after an abnormally long walk.
If the pain of osteoarthritis is not addressed it can lead to elevated cortisol levels, due to the stress of disease.
Cortisol is an endogenous (produced by the body) steroid that is necessary for life. It is elevated in times of stress to help our bodies fight to stay alive. If produced in excess we use the term hypercortisolemia and could be due to a disease called Cushing’s disease, which may be related to a tumor of the pituitary or adrenal gland. If not enough cortisol is being produced this is called hypocortisolemia or Addison’s disease. Either end of the spectrum can have life threatening consequences.
One trigger of elevated cortisol levels is chronic pain. While osteoarthritis will not lead directly to Cushing’s disease, it can produce signs of mild disease. Even slightly elevated cortisol levels may appear as panting, increased thirst, increased hunger, and can result in muscle breakdown, elevated liver values, neurologic weakness, and other organ function problems.
The goal is to keep cortisol levels in balance.
If you feel your pet may be suffering from osteoarthritis, we are happy to help by evaluating your pets. Not only dogs, but cats too can benefit from rehabilitation modalities and supplements to ease the pain of osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis requires a multimodal management plan including: weight loss, supplements, anti-inflammatories, pain medications, physical rehabilitation modalities, and therapeutic exercises. We may need to use joint injections to quiet a joint down or refer a patient for surgical consult if our conservative treatment plan does not work.
When our pet’s are diagnosed with osteoarthritis the most common mistake is decreasing all exercise due to pain of movement. The lack of motion increases the stiffness of the joints and promotes atrophy or muscle loss from disuse. Pain should be reduced first using a multimodal approach, then we will begin low impact workouts. Short, frequent leash walks can help to move arthritic joints to help break down scar tissue that has developed from inactivity. These walks can make a huge difference in pain management of your arthritic pet.
With treatment your pets can live a happy and healthy life even with osteoarthritis.
