Osteoarthritis - forgotten truths and false myths

Osteoarthritis (OA) remains one of the leading causes of chronic pain and diminished quality of life in dogs and cats. Despite its prevalence, misconceptions about its diagnosis, management, and prognosis continue to circulate—and these have only been compounded by the recent emergence of new treatments. Today’s veterinary practitioner is confronted with a confusing mix of myths, half-truths, and overlooked clinical insights when trying to make the best decisions for their patients.

In this lecture, we will critically examine a series of common claims and questions, including:

“Only older dogs get OA”
“Exercise should be minimised”
“The radiographs show the disease is severe”
“Regenerative therapies will regenerate the joints”
“NSAIDs don’t work”
“New treatments are always better”
“What is the role of paracetamol?”
“Does OA steadily worsen, or is it a series of flare-ups?”

This talk is designed to provide context to the myths and legends,
and sharpen clinical perspectives, to help provide the background for rationale evidence based osteoarthritis treatment.

• Remind ourselves that OA is an inflammation driven disease, and hence treatment needs to include its management.
• To re-consider how we use NSAID in chronic inflammatory diseases such as OA.
• To understand the relationship between radiographic and clinical OA, and how it varies over time with flare-ups.
• To revisit multimodal management without polypharmacy, including consideration of paracetamol and bendinvetmab, stem cell therapy etc.
• To understand how weight loss & exercise can impact OA, including adipose burden driven metabolic disease.