Evidence-based management of osteoarthritis in dogs, one of the most common and underdiagnosed chronic pain conditions.
Canine osteoarthritis is a welfare emergency hiding in plain sight — millions of dogs experiencing chronic pain that owners normalize as aging, veterinarians miss without systematic pain assessment, and that degrades quality of life daily. The welfare gap is between what is possible — well-managed arthritis with appropriate analgesia, weight control, and rehabilitation producing measurably better functional outcomes — and what commonly occurs — late diagnosis, inadequate analgesia, and progressive deterioration accepted as inevitable. Modern canine arthritis management is genuinely effective. The barrier to better welfare is not the absence of treatment but the absence of early diagnosis and systematic management.