Arthritis

Arthritis, the medical term for "Inflammation of a joint". There are two main types of arthritis, Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis is common in the dog. It is also known as "degenerative joint disease", which is a more descriptive term, and tells you what is actually going on in the joint. 

Rheumatoid arthritis means that a joint is inflamed because of some abnormality of the immune system. Rheumatoid arthritis is extremely rare in the dog. Osteoarthritis is the follow up to joint damage, this could be an injury, or it could be secondary to a developmental problem, such as hip dysplasia.

Symptoms, Many dogs with osteoarthritis have no symptoms at all. Just because a joint is arthritic, does not follow that the dog will be in pain. In fact, osteoarthritis can be said to be an attempt by a joint to stabilize itself. However, pain in the affected joint is the major feature in an osteoarthritic joint.

Other symptoms include an unwillingness to move the joint. Normal Joints where two or more bones meet have a layer of a specific type of cartilage known as hyaline cartilage. This has a special property in that it can hold a great deal of water within its substance. In fact, normal hyaline cartilage is about 80% water.

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