104 – Essential Wellness + OA

Background:

Essential Wellness + OA includes an inflammation assessment with C-Reactive Protein (CRP) or Haptoglobin (HPT) and two of the most important essential vitamins: Vitamin D (25OHD) and Cobalamin (Vitamin B12).  Additionally, screening for early signs of Degenerative Joint Diseases like Osteoarthritis (OA) is done using Hyaluronic Acid (HA).  Joint Disease is typically viewed as an old-pet disease, however the degeneration of joints can start early in life and not present clinically until later.  Using HA to detect when that degeneration begins, allows earlier intervention and more options to slow or stop the progression of joint disease.   Learn more. 

Apparently healthy animals should not have systemic inflammation.  When present, source of inflammation should be identified and resolved if possible before it becomes chronic.  Chronic inflammation leads to the development of serious diseases including cancer.  Detect occult disease in the otherwise healthy looking pet using the single most effective test for overall health: CRP (dog) or HPT (cat).

Clinical Applications:

1. General Wellness (annual or biannual screening)
2. Apparently Healthy pets
3. Pets at high risk of inflammatory diseases
4. Pets at risk of degenerative joint disease (OA, IVDD, DM, IMPA)
5. Pet Parents wanting to be proactive in detecting & managing disease

Recommendations:

Health screening using a sensitive inflammatory marker, CRP/HPT, should begin once the pet reaches an adult stage.  Annual testing while apparently healthy is the minimum recommended interval with bi-annual screening being the most effective way to detect the presence of occult disease.

Pets at risk of Joint Disease benefit from bi-annual testing of Hyaluronic Acid (HA).

Evaluating essential vitamin levels should start once the dog or cat reaches adult stages and establishes their adult diet.  Once diet has been stable for 3 months, test baseline vitamins and correct any insufficiencies with supplementation, or consider a diet change if values are considerably low.  VDI provides patient-specific dosing guidelines for both Vitamin D and B12.  Recheck intervals are every year once sufficient unless diet or health changes occur.