Dog Arthritis and its causes can be broken down into two main categories and two subcategories:

1.  Degenerative Joint Disease:

              Degenerative Joint Disease develops from acute or chronic trauma to a joint.

                                Acute Traumatic Arthritis – marked by a sudden injury or accident of some sort.Dog arthritis occurs when the injury disrupts the joint and causes an inflammatory response.Depending on the severity of the injury the inflammation may be stopped before deterioration begins.  

                                 Repeat trauma-induced arthritis – brought on by any repetitive stress on unstable joints.An activity such as high jumping may cause instability, or a dog with poor conformation or hip dysplasia will naturally have unstable joints.A puppy with young, developing joints will sustain trauma to those joints if subjected to repetitive activity such as long jogs.  Obesity can put abnormal, chronic stress on the joints.  It is highly likely that signs of discomfort will not be outwardly visible until the joint is severely damaged.It is because cartilage does not have any nerves that this scenario occurs.Pain sets in only after extensive damage has occurred to the cartilage. 

                Stress or trauma, whether it be acute or chronic, causes the joints to release large amounts of an enzyme that breaks down cartilage.  This is a normal enzyme that would normally maintain a balance of buildup and breakdown of cartilage,  however in the case of arthritis, the break down occurs too rapidly.

                Degenerative Joint Disease cannot be entirely reversed but it can be managed with weight control, exercise, and arthritis medicine for dogs.   These medicines include natural pain relief such as nutritional supplements or homeopathic remedies.  Glucosamine for dogs is a particularly popular and effective way to help manage the pain of dog arthritis.  The safety of glucosamine for dogs is also an important factor.

      2.   Inflammatory Joint Disease:

            Inflammatory Joint Disease is less common than degenerative joint disease and develops from either an infection or an autoimmune disorder causing inflammation in a joint.

                     Infective Arthritis – can occur if a joint becomes infected as a result of a wound, such as a bite or penetrating object.  The other possible route of infection is from the bloodstream.The treatment includes veterinary care in the form of antibiotics and potentially draining and cleaning directly into the joint.

                     Autoimmune Arthritis – normally affects multiple joints.Rheumatoid arthritis is a type of autoimmune arthritis.In an autoimmune disorder, the body does not recognize its own tissues but rather reacts as if it was a foreign substance.The cause of autoimmune arthritis is still unknown for dogs. 

             Inflammatory joint disease requires immediate attention from a veterinarian and medications available only from a veterinarian.