How to Find the Right Veterinary Team for Your Dog’s Arthritis

Where Should You Start?

Start with your dog’s regular veterinarian. They know your dog’s health history and can check for signs of arthritis or other causes of pain.

You do not always need a specialist to get good arthritis care. What matters is having a team that listens, checks your dog’s progress and changes the care plan when needed.

What Makes a Good Arthritis Care Team?

Look for a veterinary team that:

• Listens when you say your dog has trouble walking, jumping, or getting up.
• Takes pain and changes in movement seriously.
• Explains what may be causing your dog’s discomfort.
• Makes a care plan for your dog, not a one-size-fits-all plan.
• Checks your dog again to see what is helping.
• Offers to work with a rehabilitation professional or specialist when needed.
• Helps your dog feel as calm and safe as possible during visits.

You are part of the team, too. You know what your dog is like at home. Tell your veterinary team what has changed and what your dog still enjoys doing.

What Might an Arthritis Care Plan Include?

Arthritis care often uses more than one kind of treatment. Depending on your dog’s needs, your veterinarian may recommend:

• Medicine to help with pain.
• A healthy weight plan to take extra strain off the joints.
• Changes at home, such as rugs on slippery floors or a ramp.
• Safe movement or rehabilitation exercises chosen for your dog.
• Follow-up visits to see how your dog is doing.

Not every dog needs every treatment. Your veterinarian will decide which options are appropriate and safe. Do not give human pain medicine or start a new exercise plan without veterinary advice.

Who May Be on Your Dog’s Care Team?

Your regular veterinarian: Checks your dog, makes the medical diagnosis and guides treatment.

Veterinary technicians: Help with care, education and follow-up while working under veterinary supervision.

Rehabilitation-trained professionals: May help your dog build strength, move more easily and work toward safe activity goals as part of a veterinary-led plan.

Board-certified specialists: May help with harder cases or problems that need advanced care. Your regular veterinarian can help decide if a referral is needed.

What Do the Letters After a Name Mean?

You may see letters after a veterinary professional’s name. Here are a few examples:

• DVM or VMD: A veterinarian. These are equivalent veterinary medical degrees.
• CVT, LVT or RVT: A credentialed veterinary technician. The title used depends on the state.
• CCRT or CVMRT: Extra education and certification in canine rehabilitation.
• CVPP: Extra certification in veterinary pain management.
• DACVSMR: A board-certified veterinarian in sports medicine and rehabilitation.
• DACVS: A board-certified veterinary surgeon.

These are examples, not a full list. A rehabilitation certificate is not the same as board certification as a veterinary specialist. Good care also depends on communication, experience and working well with your dog.

Five Questions You Can Ask

1. How will you check if my dog is in pain?
2. What can we do at home to help my dog move safely?
3. How will we know if the treatment is working?
4. When should we return for a recheck?
5. Could rehabilitation or a specialist help my dog?

You can also bring short videos of your dog walking, using stairs, or getting up after a nap. Videos may help your veterinary team see changes that do not happen during the visit.

When Should You Ask for More Help?

Call your veterinarian if your dog is limping, slowing down, struggling to stand or no longer enjoying usual activities. These changes can have several causes, not just arthritis.

If your dog suddenly cannot walk, is unable to use a leg or seems to be in severe pain, seek urgent veterinary care.

How Can Animal Therapy Center Help?

Rehabilitation may be one part of a larger arthritis care plan. At Animal Therapy Center, new patients begin with an evaluation so the veterinarian can learn about their comfort, strength, and movement needs. A therapy plan is then made for that individual patient.

Your dog can continue seeing their regular veterinarian while receiving rehabilitation care when appropriate.

Learn how to request an evaluation at Animal Therapy Center.

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This guide was inspired by “How to Find the Right Veterinary Team for Your Dog’s Arthritis” from Canine Arthritis Resources and Education (CARE). CARE notes that it reviewed its article in April 2025.

The 2022 AAHA Pain Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats also explain why pain checks, more than one treatment approach, and follow-up visits are important.

This page is for general education. It does not replace a veterinary exam or a treatment plan made for your dog.