One of the most common comparisons between dogs and humans is arthritis and joint pain. They both get it – a lot – and most of the time it takes place later on in life. Why? The body is designed to undergo wear and tear but often times it’s not pretty with damaging results. Sure, you can try to prolong your body’s physical health through good diet, exercise and plenty of stretching and rest.
But ultimately, dogs and human bodies are most likely going to break down, cartilage in between joints will wear down and arthritis will set in for humans and dogs alike. Flexcin and FlexPet offer supplements to build back that lost cartilage so joints feel better and overall mobility returns to the body for humans and dogs.
But while juvenile arthritis is an unfortunate affliction that impacts young people (even teenagers), juvenile arthritis is not something that should be common in dogs. Flexcin believes right around age seven is when a dog’s arthritis begins to show itself. But there are pet owners who give FlexPet to their dog at an earlier age because of joint discomfort and arthritis-like symptoms. Because of this, Flexcin wanted to start asking a few more questions to the people who inquire about FlexPet for their dogs that are between 4-7 years of age.
Alarmingly enough, there was one overwhelmingly common characteristic among the majority of these dogs – pet stores. Flexcin began interviewing a sampling of these people over the telephone between March through July, 2011, to find out if there was possibly a link into why a dog at such a young, vibrant age should be taking FlexPet for joint discomfort and arthritis. During the five-month period the company spoke with 565 dog owners across the U.S. whose dogs are between the ages of 4-7 and found that 43.3 percent of them said their dog originated from a pet store rather than a litter or animal shelter. The next highest percentage was 23.7 percent and these people weren’t entirely sure of the exact origination (meaning some of these dogs may have been a part of the pet store crowd further driving up the percentage).
This means that nearly half of everyone interviewed said their young dog with joint discomfort originated from a pet store (other responses were 19.8% animal shelter; 13.2% direct from litter) – a sincerely scary thought since pet stores have been widely criticized for the conditions in which its dogs and puppies are kept.
“Puppies and dogs that come from pet stores are most often raised in cramped, small cages and they mostly receive no exercise because of a severe lack of space and the breeders don’t care about their welfare,” said Debi Day of the No Kill Nation Inc., a not-for-profit organization that advocates animal welfare and no kill shelter reform. “Muscle atrophy sets in, and their back and hips never get fully developed, not to mention mental problems that can occur such as ‘cage rage’ and other lack of socialization issues.”
Here’s a breakdown of where the dog owners interviewed were located:
Northeast – 20.3%
Mid-Atlantic – 17.6%
Southeast – 18.9%
Mid-west – 16.3%
Northwest – 11.2%
Southwest – 15.7%
Here were the questions that were asked during the phone interview:
How much exercise does your dog receive each week:
1-2 hours each week – 18.6%
2-3 hours each week – 57.3%
3 or more hours each week – 14.5%
Less than 1 hour each week – 9.6%
How many other dogs are in the house:
One other dog – 32.4%
Two other dogs – 18.9%
Two or more dogs – 2.5%
No other dogs – 46.2%
At what age did you first notice signs your dog had joint discomfort:
3-4 years old – 12.5%
4-5 years old – 30.1%
5-7 years old – 51.7%
Less than 3 years old – 5.7%
Where did your dog originate from as far as you can remember:
Pet store – 43.3%
Animal shelter – 19.8%
Litter from other dogs – 13.2%
Not sure – 23.7
What activities seem the toughest on your dog (choose all that apply):
Running and jumping – 82.4%
Climbing up stairs – 98.1% of those with stairs in the house
General walking around – 43.6%
Playing fetch – 68.3%
If anything, this makes us wonder if there is a closer connection between puppies from pet stores and their propensity of getting joint pain earlier on in life. From a letter published recently in the Concord Monitor:
No doubt, there has been plenty of articles addressing the conditions inside pet stores and certainly the problems associated with puppy mills. Movements throughout the pet community have popped up in an effort to stop the puppy-mill practice and discourage the pet store business as a source for a dog, cat or other pet.
Puppies and young dogs that spend any amount of time at a pet store, and certainly that of a puppy mill, appear to have an increased chance of a severe lack of joint nourishment. As the years go by, this can and will have an adverse effect on a dog, earlier in life than that of a dog that’s never seen the inside of a pet store or puppy mill.
“Puppies and dogs need a few things in order to stave off joint discomfort and arthritis. Included on the list is exercise and a good diet,” said Tamer Elsafy, CEO and founder of Flexcin, which makes the FlexPet supplement. “Based on published reports in the media, there’s a good chance that puppies and dogs housed in pet stores get neither.”
“We have found that dogs that originate from pet stores keep coming back to animal shelters because many times their owners can’t afford or know how to cope with their issues,” added Day. “It’s a truly sad situation because the dogs deserve much better.”
The important thing is that the pet industry continues to investigate these types of situations and take action or at least do its part to bring about change. Companies like Flexcin are part of a growing list of organizations that are focusing as much on community as anything else.
“This type of awareness will hopefully go a long way towards keeping all of our furry little friends safe, happy and healthy,” said Betsy Saul, CEO of PetFinder.com. “It’s wonderful to see different organizations within the pet community focus on important issues in an effort to elevate social causes.”