COLD AND CREAKY

Adri Rossouw of True Vets talks about looking after our pets as temperatures drop.

With the winter weather setting in, we notice that our older pets take a little bit longer to get up and are reluctant to climb stairs. Unfortunately, with old age, comes stiff and creaky joints in our cats and dogs.

The great news is that we have come a long way in managing arthritis in our elderly pets. There are many safe options available to manage their pain and bring them relief. Here are a few key tips:

1. Make sure your pet is not overweight! Any extra weight has a big impact on their joints, literally!

2. Ensure they get regular exercise. A 10-to-20-minute lead walk per day is recommended for older dogs with arthritis and for elderly cats you can put food down for them in different parts of the house, thereby encouraging them to move around more.

3. There are numerous good quality joint supplements and prescription diets on the market that supports and nourishes stiff and sore joints.

4. If your pet is struggling and showing obvious symptoms of discomfort, it might be time to pay your vet a visit! Not only can he/she prescribe anti-inflammatories and pain medication but as of this week, there is also antibody therapy available to manage arthritic pain! This is truly revolutionary as it allows for targeted pain blocking without any of the risks or side effects associated with conventional arthritis medication. These antibodies are injected on a monthly basis and the results are truly amazing. So please ask your vet about Solensia for cats and Beransa for dogs.

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