Pets Tips Line

Does it seem strange to you that a Decatur veterinarian is writing about arthritis? Well, I’d like to share my reason. I suspect that many people don’t know that arthritis isn’t limited to humans. Unfortunately, it’s true. Many animals can develop painful arthritis, too, including your dog or cat. And, since certain pets, like dogs, are active companions to “their” humans during many daily activities, arthritis can be especially disabling. Arthritis in humans can make simple activities, such as going for a walk and climbing stairs extremely painful. Because dogs frequently accompany their owners, dogs can experience the same kind of pain and debilitating problems doing the activities that their owners do.

Simply going for a walk, let alone catching a frisbee or running in the park, can be very difficult and extremely painful for a dog with arthritis. To put it another way, arthritis can take the fun out of doing what dogs do best…have fun! As a attentive veterinarian in Decatur I am pleased to tell you that treatment for canine arthritis is not solely limited to the use of pain medication. Dogs suffering from arthritis may be able to benefit from the physiotherapy that helps to improve joint mobility, just like humans are. Physiotherapy, in humans, aids in decreasing arthritic pain and increase function of the affected joints and limbs. You may be wondering how physiotherapy affects canine joints and limbs, as well as what exercises are most effective.

Although physiotherapy for dogs has been around for a while now, until recently there hasn’t been enough research done to competently document its effects on canine arthritis. But, a recent study by researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, and published in the American Journal of Veterinary Research, verified the efficacy of physiotherapy in relieving arthritic pain and immobility in dogs.

The researchers used a expressly-designed treadmill and intricate computer algorithms to examine the movements of the joints in the front and back legs of dogs while the dogs performed three different types of exercises: walking uphill, walking downhill and walking over low obstacles.

The study showed that the three exercises had distinct and specific effects on the movements of the dogs’ joints. While walking downhill did not appear to have much therapeutic benefit because it caused the hip to be less bent and the tarsal joint to be less extended, walking uphill caused significantly greater bending at the hip, while the stifle joint (the dog’s knee) was less extended. There were also decreases in the accelerations at the carpal and elbow joints. But, the most significant effects came when the dogs walked over low obstacles. This resulted in more bending of all joints except the hip and shoulder, and greater extensions of the carpal and stifle joints.

What does all of this mean for your dog? For one thing, it indicates that walking uphill is an easy exercise that you could provide to help to improve your dog’s joint flexibility, particularly at the hip joint, and that adding low obstacles could help to improve the bending of the joints in the forelimbs and hind limbs. Adding low obtacles should be avoided, however, if your dog has recently had surgery for the tibia, as such activity could result in increased bending of the joints and potentially strain the tendon that joins the knee to the shin.

And, as a dog loving Decatur veterinarian, I would add one final suggestion for “man’s best friend,” since the study indicated that walking downhill wasn’t  shown to be effective anyway, after you’ve exercised your dog uphill, perhaps a ride in the car back down the hill would be a nice treat!