Osteoarthritis is characterized primarily by the degeneration of the tissues of the joint as a whole. | Photo: iStock

Q: What’s the difference between osteoarthritis and other types of arthritis? —via e-mail

A: Primarily what we see in the horse is osteoarthritis (OA). Osteoarthritis is characterized primarily by the degeneration of the tissues of the joint as a whole, so it’s the cartilage on the end of the bone and inflammation in the joint.

There are other types of arthritis we see in cats, dogs, and humans, such as rheumatoid arthritis, where it’s an immune-mediated disease, meaning your body is attacking your own tissues. But in horses, we don’t really recognize immune mediated arthritis. So, when your veterinarian diagnoses your horse as having arthritis, OA, or degenerative joint disease, they’re all really synonymous with arthritis