Earlier Than You Think:

Recognizing and Managing Canine Osteoarthritis Before Advanced Disease

***Click Here to Register***

Osteoarthritis begins well before obvious lameness or advanced radiographic change, particularly in dogs with developmental orthopedic disease, joint instability, prior injury, conformational risk factors, or high activity demands. Early clinical signs may be subtle and reflected in changes in behavior, movement, activity tolerance, or performance rather than overt lameness.

This webinar will focus on recognizing these early changes and building a proactive, individualized multimodal management plan. Emphasis will be placed on integrating weight and nutritional management, analgesia, exercise, physical rehabilitation, environmental modification, and intra-articular therapies to preserve mobility, muscle mass, and long-term function.

After completing this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Identify dogs at increased risk for osteoarthritis based on developmental orthopedic disease, joint instability, prior injury, conformation, body condition, age, and activity demands.
• Recognize early and subtle manifestations of OA-associated pain and dysfunction, including changes in behavior, gait, posture, activity tolerance, transitions, and performance that may occur before obvious lameness or advanced radiographic disease.
• Perform a function-focused assessment of the OA patient and use physical examination findings, owner observations, functional outcomes, and diagnostic imaging appropriately to establish a baseline and monitor change over time.
• Develop an individualized multimodal OA management plan incorporating weight and nutritional management, analgesia, environmental modification, controlled exercise, physical rehabilitation, and other appropriate therapies based on disease stage and patient goals.
• Describe how physical rehabilitation and intra-articular therapies can be incorporated earlier in OA management, including their roles in preserving muscle and mobility, improving movement quality, targeting joint pain and inflammation, and supporting long-term function.

Speaker: Arielle Pechette Markley, DVM,cVMA, CCRT, CVPP, DAIPM, DACVSMR

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