Preventing relapse in dogs with immune-mediated polyarthritis requires careful long-term management, slow tapering of immunosuppression, and vigilant monitoring for early signs of disease recurrence.
Relapse prevention in IMPA dogs is a welfare priority because each relapse episode causes significant joint pain, immobility, and systemic illness that may be more severe than the previous episode. The welfare cost of relapse extends beyond the acute episode — each inflammatory cycle may worsen long-term joint health and make subsequent remission harder to achieve. Patient owner education about recognising the earliest signs of relapse — subtle morning stiffness, reluctance to rise, altered gait — enables prompt veterinary intervention before full relapse occurs. Designing tapering schedules that are slow enough to allow genuine monitoring of response, rather than simply reducing doses on a predetermined calendar, minimises relapse risk while reducing medication burden.