Can Certain Dog Beds Help Your Arthritic Dog?
Arthritis is, sadly, a common affliction in dogs, particularly older dogs, and is occurs largely a result of lack of exercise, too much exercise, genetic predisposition and excess weight that causes stress on the joints. Medication and pain control can help to alleviate the misery of dogs who you will rarely find complaining as you will in human sufferers of the same disease.
It therefore makes it necessary for the pet owner to find ways to reduce the discomfort of the dog by seeing that it is able to easily access places it is used to going to with the introduction of stairs or ramps that can help to reduce the stress on joints that can come from jumping to get to that place.
Canine arthritis can be made all the more pronounced when the dog tends to sleep on hard floors or unforgiven beds. This can be a problem as so many dogs choose and indeed seem to prefer sleeping in these precise locations!
As arthritis is a degenerative disease of the joints, the symptoms can become worse if the dog continues to sleep on floors that are hard and cold.
So can certain dog beds help your arthritic dog?
A variety of what are known as orthopaedic dog beds are available in pet stores and online pet shopping locations that can make a comfortable bed for the dog to sleep in and avoid the cold and hard floors that will aggravate the arthritic condition. They are designed to help dogs whose mobility has begun to deteriorate.
When you are looking for a dog bed that can help your arthritic dog one must make sure that it has the right supportive materials and can also ensure the dog the necessary warmth that can bring relief to the arthritis. Dog beds with memory foam are among the best materials for a therapeutic dog bed.
This ensures that the pet is always able to sleep in the positions that it finds most comfortable as the foam will remember the contours and shape. Memory material is one that has insulating properties and also responds to variations in temperature. The heat from the dog’s body will cause the foam to realign itself so that the pressure points like the spine, legs, shoulders and hips are properly supported. This provides a lot of relief to a dog suffering from arthritis. It is also possible to get such memory foam inserts that you can place on an existing bed which the dog is already familiar with and does use.
There are beds meant for dogs that can be heated up and give a lot of relief to joints and muscles. The heat also allows the blood vessels to expand and this increases circulation to affected areas. Heat can also restore the flexibility of joints and relax muscles that are tense. During the summer months however it may be needed to provide dog beds that can be cooled. Most such beds have electrical systems that run on low power and have air being constantly blown through the bed. Certain dog beds are available that can allow inserts to be changed in the beds so that you can make the necessary changes depending on the weather.
Dog beds that are oval or round are the ones that most dogs prefer as this enables to sleep with the body curled. Beds may vary in size and the size you choose is the one that your pet will find it comfortable to sleep in.
If your dog suffers from canine osteoarthritis, discover a complete care program for your dog courtesy of www.awalkinthepark.co.uk
Article Brought To You By Canine Arthritis Awareness Month
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