Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Food restriction slows shoulder arthritis in Labrador retrievers
By Runge, Jeffrey J et al.·Published in Veterinary surgery : VS·2008·Department of Clinical Studies, United States·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: The effects of lifetime food restriction on the development of osteoarthritis in the canine shoulder.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of Labrador retrievers was studied to see how lifetime food restriction affected the development of shoulder arthritis (osteoarthritis). The dogs that were fed less food (75% of what their counterparts ate) showed significantly less severe arthritis in their shoulders by the age of 6 and 8 years compared to those that were fed normally. By the end of their lives, most dogs had some form of arthritis, but those on the restricted diet had milder symptoms. This suggests that feeding dogs less food throughout their lives may help delay the onset of arthritis.
People also search for: Labrador retriever arthritis treatment · dog food restriction benefits · osteoarthritis in dogs symptoms
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To report effects of age and lifetime food restriction on development and progression of shoulder joint osteoarthritis (OA) in Labrador retriever dogs. STUDY DESIGN: Longitudinal life-span, cohort study. ANIMALS: Labrador retriever dogs (n=48). METHODS: Littermates were paired (gender, weight) to make 24 pairs of genetically similar dogs. Each diet-restricted (DR) pair-mate was fed daily 75% of the same diet consumed by its control-fed (CF) pair-mate for life. Shoulders were evaluated radiographically at years 6, 8, and end of life (EOL). At EOL shoulders were evaluated grossly and by histopathology for OA. RESULTS: Radiographic evidence of shoulder OA was identified in 78% of dogs. Severity of radiographic shoulder OA at 6 (P<.03) and 8 years (P<.02) was significantly lower among DR dogs compared with CF dogs. Pooled gross evaluation results revealed 40 of 46 dogs had cartilage erosion on the caudal aspect of the humeral head. By EOL, 91% of dogs had histopathologic changes consistent with OA. CONCLUSION: There was a high overall prevalence of radiographic, gross, and histologic OA among dogs. Substantial disparity was found between radiographic evidence of OA (at EOL) and characteristic changes visible by gross and histologic examination. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Radiographic evaluation correlates poorly with severity of shoulder joint pathology. The benefits of DR on shoulder OA are consistent with the demonstrated effect of DR in delaying species- and strain-specific diseases of aging.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18199063/