Holistic OA management: getting clients on board

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place,” said playwright George Bernard Shaw – something very true in the case of discussions about arthritis with pet owners.

Simply mentioning it in passing as a possible issue for a patient isn’t enough. It’s all too easy during a busy day consulting to gloss over the idea of a patient having “a bit of arthritis”, and to not discuss the implication of this with the owners.

Many patients will not have been brought in to you because of concerns about chronic pain (in fact, if they have, half the battle is won), but it is our responsibility as advocates of animal welfare to use our trained eye to realise when a problem is developing and persuade owners to act on it.

Blunt and to the point

Getting owners to realise their pets’ symptoms are not merely a sign of “just getting old”, but are, in fact, a sign of disease and chronic pain is undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges with a diagnosis of OA. We need to be blunt with them: arthritis is a painful, progressive condition, which, if left untreated, will compromise their pet’s welfare and quality of life.

OA may not be a glamorous disease to treat and discuss, but it is a common one, affecting as many as 80% of dogs more than eight years old. We need to make a conscious effort to discuss it with all our senior pet owners, as the number of animals with the disease vastly outnumbers the amount receiving appropriate treatment.

Genuine lack of understanding is a big cause for this.

Easily misunderstood

Owners will notice behavioural responses to pain without knowing that’s what they are observing. We have all met the hopping lame dog that “isn’t whimpering, so can’t be in pain”. While this is an easy scenario to detect and approach with an owner, when faced with more subtle signs of pain we need to be asking specific question to allow us to pick up on these changes:

• “Is he still coping with his normal walks?”
• “Is he stiff after exercising?”
• “Is he still able to get up and down comfortably?”

You are not always going to be successful, even the most engaged owners may remember as little as 30% of what you’ve told them, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

Information prescription

Providing an “information prescription” to owners can be invaluable in reinforcing and supplementing the information provided by you in person, and is a great time saving device for when a long discussion about a potentially difficult topic such as OA isn’t feasible during your patient’s assigned consultation slot.

You will not be surprised to hear 67% of clients will come armed to their visits with information from the internet, but nearly 40% report never being provided with reliable online information sources by their veterinary practice in return.

Knowing that a lot of what is relaid verbally to owners will not be retained, it makes sense that we should guide owners to sources of this instead of written information.

Trusted resources

One study has shown as many as 86% of the clients who accessed a website suggested by their vet found it to be helpful and nearly all of those felt the information on the site helped them make better decisions for their pets, which is exactly what we want them to do.

Knowing what information sources are available to owners is vital and just a few minutes research can be enough to have a bank of reliable resources at your disposal. Many drug companies provide websites or even apps for use by owners, as do some independent organisations, such as canine arthritis management.

Acknowledging owners will do their own research, but pointing them in the right direction to do it can perhaps increase their level of knowledge and awareness, their trust in what you are saying and, ultimately, make their pets lives better.