Osteoarthritis in cats and dogs – knowing when the treatment is doing the job
We are all used to seeing a stiff old dog, with a greying muzzle, hobbling along - gamely trying to keep up with its owner on its lead. Dog lovers might stop, kindly ruffle its ears and think "poor old thing". Often though, it's osteoarthritis and not age, causing the stiffness.
The prevalence of osteoarthritis in dogs and cats is well recognised, although in cats it can also more easily go undetected, since cats don't tend to demonstrate lameness in the same way as their canine cousins.
Just as humans however, osteoarthritis can be an extremely painful condition that undermines many aspects of an animal's wellbeing, well beyond its mobility.
Thankfully certain animal health organisations are rising to the challenge and working very hard to raise awareness of the condition amongst owners and to improve the welfare of thousands of pets. NewMetrica is working with several of these companies at the moment, including Lintbells, Zoetis and Canine Arthritis Management, effectively measuring the impact of the disease and potential treatments for managing osteoarthritis.
Our clinically proven and validated HRQL tools (health-related quality of life questionnaires) provide holistic physical and emotional wellbeing scores, tailored to each specific animal, which track the progress and change in wellbeing in animals under treatment. With the help of the owner, who can pick up on subtle behavioural changes in their pet, they effectively give the animal a "voice" to feed back on its own experiences with disease and disease management strategies.
The challenge with any therapeutic intervention is that, although it may alleviate joint pain, it may also cause unwanted side-effects, such as vomiting and diarrhea. With a wide range of complementary therapies also available, the challenge is knowing what actually works to help an animal. when the animal cannot tell us directly how it is feeling.
It is a regular frustration, both for vets and owners who love their pets, to identify whether specific interventions truly make the animal feel better or worse overall.
As the developer of one of very few validated HRQL tools, NewMetrica is often asked to participate in drug trials, providing a proven measurement tool for health-related quality of life. Non-invasive, NewMetrica tools are based on owner report, but with proven anti-bias built in, they minimize the effects of owners speaking for their pet.
NewMetrica tools allow animals to "speak for themselves"
For further information, visit http://www.newmetrica.com
Recent Posts
VetMetrica health-related quality of life tools contribute to a significantly reduced placebo effect in veterinary clinical trials
Development of an early health and wellbeing warning system for owners of companion animals
Development of an early warning system for owners using a validated Health-Related Quality of Life instrument
Using Veterinary Telemedicine (VTM) in the time of Covid-19
Covid-19 is changing the landscape in veterinary care
![](https://www.newmetrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Greenside-Vet-Practice-logo.png)
"I have been using VetMetrica for over 18 months now and have found it has revolutionised how I monitor patients and collect data. It is very easy to set up and the tools are intuitive and easy to follow
VetMetrica provides a great window into the animals’ quality of life and how it feels in its home environment. This has enabled me to better care for these patients and also collect good quality data for future publications. I cannot recommend VetMetrica enough. "
Andy Armitage, Greenside Vet Practice
![](https://www.newmetrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ZeroPain_LOGO_1ColourOnWhite-300x180.jpg)
Vetmetrica offers a valuable tool in assessing the impact of chronic pain on quality of life in dogs & cats. When treating chronic pain, most owners say that quality of life is paramount and they want their pet to be pain free. Vetmetrica engages owners and gives them the ability to measure quality of life.
![](https://www.newmetrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Animal-Pain-Center-300x68.png)
"I found that a computer based scale run by Newmetrica... the same great people who gave us the Glasgow Pain Scales... is a wonderful way to get reliable quality of life scores. You can find it here at http://www.newmetrica.com/vetmetrica-hrql/. It generates a non-biased decision using a computer algorithum. Answers are weighted differently so it is harder for the caregiver to subconsciously manipulate the outcome. And they cannot go back and change their answers like they can on paper form" Dr Mike Petty
![](https://www.newmetrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/murdoch_logo-300x70.png)
“Firstly I want to congratulate you and your team on the important work you are doing in the field of pain assessment and in particular the NewMetrica HRQL tool which I think is a real game changer!” – Leon Warne.
![](https://www.newmetrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2000px-Boehringer_Ingelheim_Logo.svg_-300x99.png)