Arthritis trial February 2011

Ben Walton BVSc CertSAS MRCVS is a vet also based at the Small Animal Teaching Hospital on the Wirral. Ben and his research team are currently conducting a study of treatments for arthritis in dogs and are looking for any dogs with arthritis to join the trial. Information on this is below:

At least 20% of dogs over the age of one are affected by osteoarthritis – a degenerative disease that leads to loss of function, inflammation and pain of the joints. We know from humans that have this disease that it has a huge and negative impact on quality of life. In relatively athletic animals like dogs, that get a lot of their pleasure from physical activity, the effects are likely to be much larger.

 Add to this that signs can be difficult to spot (60% of the dogs I have seen with arthritis over the last year have not had previous treatment, despite significant loss of mobility), and it is easy to see why we consider arthritis to be a welfare concern.

 The study we are conducting is a comparison trial of two licensed treatments. We do not use a placebo, and there is no “novel” or “experimental” drug. We are simply trying to gather information on how best to treat and assess this condition in dogs.

 We need canine volunteers who are over the age of one, over 10kg in weight, and whose owners believe might be suffering with arthritis. Signs to look out for include limping, reluctance on walks and stiffness after rest.

 Owners who might be interested in involving their dog should contact me at ben.walton@liv.ac.uk, or on 0151 795 6239.

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