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Treatment

Physical therapy, including range-of-motion exercises, massage and swimming can help treat severe disease. For dogs that have a lot of difficulty walking, bandages and/or splints may be put around the joint to prevent it from further degrading. Weight loss will also help to decrease pressure on the joints if your dog is overweight. If your dog is on antibiotics your veterinarian will attempt to rule out a reaction to the antibiotics.

Surgery is only recommended to remove infection if your dog has a concurrent infection when diagnosed with the nonerosive polyarthritis.

Living and Management

Your veterinarian will schedule frequent follow-up appointments with your dog, but if its condition worsens, contact your veterinarian immediately. Remission is usually achieved in 2-16 weeks, but the recurrence rate jumps to 30-50 percent when therapy is discontinued.