Osteoarthritis (OA) in dogs is being recognised as a ‘whole patient disease’ rather than simply a joint condition, with Australia’s first clinical OA Guidelines helping veterinary teams identify the disease earlier and deliver more effective multimodal care.
The soon-to-be-released Australian Guidelines for the Diagnosis, Management and Monitoring of Osteoarthritis Pain in Dogs and Cats will provide veterinary teams with a practical, clinic-ready framework to support earlier recognition, evidence-based decision-making and multimodal management of osteoarthritis.
Zoetis Australia has partnered with the Veterinary Pain Advisory Committee (VPAC)—specialists and experts in pain management, surgery, feline medicine, physiotherapy, rehabilitation, general practice and palliative care—to create the new guidelines and are now delivering a series of education sessions to help embed them into everyday practice.
According to Dr Mark Kelman, veterinary operations manager at Zoetis Australia and facilitator of the VPAC webinar series, the development of the guidelines and the subsequent education series reflects Zoetis commitment to supporting the veterinary profession with practical, evidence-based OA resources.
“OA is one of the most common conditions that affects cats and dogs, however it can often be missed in general practice, so it is important that vets and vet nurses are supported with tools and education to help identify and manage it earlier,” Dr Kelman said.
“VPAC brings together a group of professionals who are committed to improving osteoarthritis patient outcomes, and the new guidelines give clinics a practical, evidence-based framework to look for OA in their patients and build a multimodal management plan.”
The VPAC education series will continue to support vets in applying the Australian Guidelines for the Diagnosis, Management and Monitoring of Osteoarthritis Pain in Dogs and Cats in practice. Head to the Zoetis Australia Expert Lounge to stay regularly updated as more on-demand webinars and new VPAC resources become available.
