It’s not difficult to tell when a pet has sore or stiff joints, and when a dog gets up gingerly it can mean that they have inflammation in their joints. If they’re older it likely means they are developing dog arthritis, and that is more common for some larger breeds in particular. NSAID drugs are effective for dog arthritis relief in the same way they work well for us and suppress the body’s inflammatory response. But it is also good to know how to reduce inflammation in dogs naturally and the primary way to do that is through diet.  

We’ll cover that here, but before we do it is also good to know how important it is to keep your dog safe and in relatively good shape. It is not as big a deal if you let yourself go, and that’s what a lot of people have happen here in North America. But if you have a dog that’s hardwired to be running and jumping all through life it could be bad if they suffer a traumatic injury to joints of the body. If that happens the chronic inflammation of the joint may lead to early onset arthritis in the joint.  

That’s more likely to happen if a dog is overweight, and that’s something that’s more of a global phenomenon for pets of all types. A lot of people overfeed pets. If that spoiling is paired with a lot of sofa time or other examples of an overly sedentary lifestyle then it’s probably going to mean weight gain. That in itself will promote inflammation and so for a lot of these owners they may be a need to explain how to reduce inflammation in dogs naturally. But it’s best to take a preventative approach if you can and keep your dog at a healthy body weight.  

Anyone Can Mix  

Turmeric is a powerful antioxidant and as we continue this look at how to reduce inflammation in dogs naturally we said we’d make dietary add recommendation for you. Most dog owners will feed their dog a mix of kibble and wet dog food, and those chubbier ones will probably getting a whole lot of other types of food that you’re making for dinner too. That’s okay if it’s only once in a while, but generally speaking it’s never good to give a dog human food.  

You can mix turmeric in dog food to help reduce inflammation in dogs naturally, but it’s important that it only be a moderate amount of it and you certainly will never want to put a lot of it into the food thinking it will provide faster and more thorough relief. It won’t and it could be harmful. Maybe add only a 0.25 teaspoon of it into their food once a week, and you could also discuss this with your vet. For severe arthritis it will be necessary to have them on an Rx medication like Rimadyl for dogs, but adding small amounts of turmeric to their food may be a means to enhance the effectiveness of treatment.