Dr. Robin Downing podcast spotlights multimodal OA pain care
CURRENT BRIEF VERSION: Clinician’s Brief has published a sponsored podcast featuring veterinary pain specialist Dr. Robin Downing on osteoarthritis pain management in dogs, with a focus on moving “beyond NSAIDs” and building more complete pain-control plans. The episode, hosted by Dr. Beth Molleson and sponsored by PRN Pharmacal, centers on practical strategies for identifying OA pain, improving quality of life, and communicating more effectively with pet parents. That message lands as the canine OA treatment landscape keeps evolving, with current guidance emphasizing regular pain assessment, individualized therapy, and multimodal care rather than a one-drug approach. A related Clinician’s Brief partner podcast with sports medicine and rehab specialist Dr. Matt Brunke, sponsored by Hill’s Pet Nutrition, reinforces that same shift by focusing on mobility and joint health beyond medications and supplements, including rehab-minded management and day-to-day function. (cliniciansbrief.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the value here is less about a single new product and more about clinical framing. AAHA’s pain management guidance stresses combining pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic tools, ongoing monitoring, and pet parent education, while Brunke’s discussion adds practical reminders that mobility problems are broader than classic OA cases and that cats are often underrecognized despite high obesity rates and age-related primary osteoarthritis. Recent comparative research has also added more data around newer OA options such as bedinvetmab versus meloxicam. In that March 24, 2025 Frontiers study, both treatments significantly improved canine OA pain scores over time, with no statistically significant efficacy difference, while the bedinvetmab group had fewer reported adverse events; separately, FDA updated Librela labeling on February 18, 2025 to add an Information for Dog Owners section and advise discussion of potential adverse drug events and a return-to-activity exercise plan. Together, that reinforces the need for careful case selection, expectation-setting, and follow-up when building OA protocols. (frontiersin.org)
What to watch: Expect continued scrutiny of canine OA protocols around multimodal care, pet parent counseling, and how clinics position NSAIDs, rehab, weight management, nutrition, and anti-NGF therapies in first-line treatment plans. The parallel emphasis on mobility and joint health also suggests more attention to earlier intervention and to species that are easy to overlook, especially cats. (aaha.org)