Although non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID's) are routinely prescribed by vets to treat pets with stiff joints, there are a number of potentially serious side effects which need to be carefully considered before and during their use.
These include:
- vomiting
- diarrhoea
- loss of appetite
- lethargy
- gastrointestinal ulcers and / or perforations
- stomach or intestinal bleeding
- liver toxicity
- kidney damage
Disturbingly, these and other adverse reactions can occur without warning, and in some cases result in death.
It is important therefore, that such medication only be used when natural alternatives fail to ease stiffness effectively.
And, if they are needed at some stage, that the lowest dose necessary to provide relief is given, to minimise the risks involved.
How To Avoid NSAID's and Minimise Risks If Given
90% of pets with mild or recent onset stiffness, show a significant improvement in mobility and joint comfort within a few weeks of startingJoints. And for most, this is all that's needed for many years, unless age-related joint degeneration and discomfort becomes severe.
And if this does occur, giving the Joint Support remedy too, provides additional relief which is often sufficient to delay the need for NSAID's or other drugs.
Once medication becomes necessary to control the pain and inflammation of arthritis, continuing with Joints and Joint Support typically lowers the dose of NSAID's required for effective relief. And this in turn, reduces the risk of intestinal inflammation / bleeding and other possible side-effects.
Where a dog is already on a NSAID, giving Joints and Joint Support for a month enables the dose to be reduced in 70% of cases. To see if this is possible for your pet, gradually adjust the dose down in consultation with your vet, until there is a slight increase in stiffness, to determine a new, safer level of medication. In some cases, where supplementation is particularly effective for a pet, it is sometimes possible for anti-inflammatory drugs to be withdrawn altogether.
NOTE
Supplementation has the greatest impact when joint changes are mild to moderate, and problems with movement are recent. Where joint pathology is severe and / or long-standing however, the benefits may be less noticeable.
Additional reading:
Veterinary Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)