If you have a dog at home or are contemplating to, it’s suspected you should have heard of a dog joint injury.
The thing now is what is a Dog Joint Injury? How do we identify it and how do we handle it?
Let’s learn more about this.
What is a Dog Joint Injury
A Dog Joint injury is one where a dog is injured at any possible joint on its leg or arm.
The injury can be quickly spotted as it would likely start out with the lameness of the animal and also the affected area becomes swollen.
If we are with our pets when they get injured, then it means we would have seen how the injury occurred, but since we weren’t around when it attained the injury, we humbly presume from the symptoms shown by the dog.
If your dog is sporty one or it’s a working dog, (Pointers, Retrievers, and Huskies) there are higher chances of it getting this dog joint injury, because of the activities it carries out.
While we don’t just assume that it could be because of physical constraints that the dog has that joint disease, it could be that there is another cause, as there are different types of dog joint injury.
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Types of Dog Joint Injury
•Or it could be Parmal Carper which is an extension of the wrist, and it may have been broken when the dog Jumps or falls.
How to identify a Dog with Dog Joint Injury (Symptoms)
As we have said earlier it should be easier to spot a dog with this issue, as it affected the way it walks.
For CCLR (Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture)
- The Animal may be Lame or (Lameness)
- The affected joint on the leg retains water.
- The Dog Feels pain in Stifle
- The Joint is swollen on the affected leg. It’s worse if it’s the 2 legs.
For Joint Fracture
- Lameness of the Dog
- It holds it’s a leg in an abnormal way
- It is constantly feeling pain
- There is frequently Inflammation
For Parmal Carper Break Down
- The Dog is lame
- The paws of the legs dig down or sink into the ground
- It feels a sharp pain when walking
- The affected leg is very weak.
For Hip Luxation:
- Lameness of the Dog
- When the dog moves it feels a sharp pain
- One of the legs is longer than another
- There is inflammation on the leg.
Causes of the Dog Joint Injury
There are lots of possible causes of a dog joint Injury, although this greatly depends on the type of injury sustained on the dog.
There are some breeds that can easily be affected by this issue and there are:
1.The dog is 5-7 years old2.Bull Mastiff3.Chow Chow4.Rottweiler5.Labrador Retriever6.Spotting dogs7.Walking Dogs
These breeds are susceptible and are prone to getting the dog Joint injury.
How to handle a Dog Joint Injury
The obvious way here is to go to a Vet.
But first when going to the vet there is possibly going to diagnosis, when going there it is nice that you try to bring along the past medications and medical history of the dog.
The Vet should also be told the drugs the Dog may have taken in the past days or weeks, as it could affect the diagnosis or the process of healing the dog Joint injury.
The Vet will also carry out some physical check-up, and later on, will carry out a diagnostic test.
Treating a Dog Joint Injury
We will specify the treatment for each of the type of dog Joint injury:
-
For CCLR ( Cranial Cruciate Ligament Rupture)
This particular defect is usually not uncommon for the vet to give a prescription and also give steroids and also an anti-inflammation drug to reduce the inflammation of the dog’s leg.
Sometimes the Injury may get to the point of needing surgery as there may need to stabilize a stiff joint.
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For Joint Fracture
This one needs surgery to be able to stabilize the area and also reconstruct the joint in a way that it can start functioning again.
There will also be a need for medications like the anti-inflammation drug.
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For Palmar Carpal Breakdown
In Order to reduce inflammation, there may need to try a splint along with some NSAIDs, but in the long run, it’s observer that the splint or case doesn’t fix the issue permanently and a surgery should be carried out, and this is to fuse the joint to the bone plate and the screws.
-
For Hip Luxation
This involves reducing the hips of the dog, it is usually closed and non-surgical.
But to truly get the hip back in place and stabilize it there will need to surgery and the vet should prescribe drugs like anti-inflammation for Inflammation and pain.
The Final Process: Recovery of your Dog from the joint Injury
After all medical advances have been made, there should be a period for in-habitation.
This includes aqua therapy, extra corporeal shock, and even wave therapy sometimes other exercises are taken.
The dog should be allowed to walk around sometimes to make the bone stronger, and if it’s a sporting or working dog, it should not resume it’s activities early after treatment.
You should do your best to take the advice of the Vet as he will recommend some Post-operative care, so the dog recovers quickly.
Be patient as sometimes it takes a long time for it to fully recover from a dog joint injury.
Relevant Resources