Arthritis check-up

We recommend an arthritis check to ensure that your senior pet is not suffering from arthritis.

How do I know if my pet has arthritis?  The only sure way to tell if your pet is suffering from osteoarthritis is a consultation and checkup by a veterinarian.

To get an idea of the overall mobility of your pet, try our our Pet Mobility Calculator. It works by asking a series of questions, which will give you a score out of 30. The lower the score, the less mobile your pet is. If your pet is scoring low on the mobility calculator, it is important to bring it in for a check-up.

What is involved in an arthritis check-up?

Step 1: We assess your pet’s walk.

Pets experiencing symptoms of arthritis often go to great lengths to mask their condition. We walk your pet around the consult room or outside (if your pet is particularly large) and analyse its movement for any signs of limping or an uneven distribution of weight to indicate pain.

Step 2: Check back legs

Pets experiencing arthritic symptoms will often show discomfort when sitting, due to the angle of their legs and distribution of weight during the sitting process. We use the ‘sit test’ to assess your pet’s ability to sit naturally, without signs of hesitancy or pain, as well as feel the shape and muscle density of your pet’s hind legs to check for any irregularities.

Step 3: Check front Legs

We check the function, movement and muscle density of your pet’s front legs, feeling for any clicking of joints or grinding. Grinding or clicking indicates that the cartilage in the joint may be damaged or degraded. This could be an indication of arthritis in your pet.

Step 4: Check back (spine)

We check along your pet’s spine, making sure that your pet is not experiencing any pain in this area. This check is important because pets can often experience arthritic pain in their back.

These are all the steps in an arthritis check-up. If your pet is showing symptoms of arthritis or any irregularities in behaviour for any reason, please make an appointment with your vet for further examination.

During March and April to take advantage of our Senior Pet focus – and give us the opportunity to help your pet be with you for many years to come.

Your pet may not be able to tell you when something is wrong. In fact, animals have evolved to hide signs of illness until it is quite advanced.

Veterinarians at Sydney Animal Hospitals are trained to identify and address age-related problems in pets. By identifying these problems at an early stage they can be managed to ensure that senior pets enjoy an excellent quality of life.