There are various causes of lameness in dogs. Pet parents should correctly understand the causes of lameness in dogs and adopt different treatment plans according to different reasons.

Hip dysplasia

Hip dysplasia is an orthopedic disease that occurs in puppies during their growth period. The main factors that cause hip dysplasia in dogs are genetics, obesity, excessive exercise, age-related degeneration, etc. After the disease, dogs suffer unbearable pain through physical Treatment can relieve pain, but complete cure requires surgery.

Early stage: Puppies do not like to exercise and become lazy. They will occasionally make bunny hops when walking around.

Mid-term: The disease gradually progresses and will involve other joints, resulting in pain, unstable gait, and swaying when walking.

Arthritis

If your dog's joints are swollen and react violently when touched, he may be suffering from arthritis. 20% of middle-aged dogs and 90% of elderly dogs will suffer from osteoarthritis in at least one joint. Once this disease occurs, it is difficult to cure and will continue to get worse.

After the dog wakes up, his activities are always stiff, and it takes more than an hour to return to normal;

Lameness, stiffness of the limbs, edema of the arthritis capsule and surrounding tissues, swollen joint appearance, and pain when touched

Trauma

Dogs are more likely to be injured when exercising outdoors. For example, they may step on sharp fragments and cut their paws, or they may be hit by a concave hard object on the ground while running and tear off their toes, or they may be scratched by fighting with other dogs. ,bite. If you find that your dog's legs suddenly dare not touch the ground, you can lift your paws and check carefully.

If a wound is found that needs treatment, fill the wound with gauze, cut off the hair around the wound, and then wipe and disinfect with iodophor.

Fresh wounds: First, immediate treatment around the wound and on the wound surface should be carried out.

Suppurative wounds: Cut off the hair around the wound, and clean the area around the wound with a cotton ball dipped in 3% soda water

Calcium deficiency

Calcium can strengthen bones and maintain healthy teeth. It also maintains the normal operation of many physiological functions and helps muscle contraction. Dogs' bones are prone to deformation after calcium deficiency, which is also one of the reasons for abnormal walking.

The limbs are deformed, showing an X or O shape, and the landing is unstable;

There are signs of deformation and swelling in the joints;

Cartilage

Problems such as osteochondrosis are commonIt often occurs in dogs that grow quickly. This disease is an endochondral ossification disorder of articular cartilage and epiphyseal cartilage. No external injuries can be seen on the dog, but the dog has lameness, pain and other related characteristics.

X-ray examination is required to confirm the diagnosis, so if the owner suspects that the dog has this problem, try to send the dog to the hospital for examination as early as possible.

The main symptom of osteochondritis dissecans is lameness, which will gradually worsen and lead to persistent lameness.

In chronic cases, a clicking sound can be heard when the hand moves the joints, and the muscles may atrophy.

Intervertebral disc abnormality

Intervertebral disc abnormality in dogs refers to the fibrocartilaginous structure between the vertebrae. Due to trauma, obesity or aging, the intervertebral disc ruptures, causing the nucleus pulposus material inside to deform and protrude, compressing nearby nerves, causing the dog to become swollen and painful after the disease. It is unbearable, with numbness, swelling and pain in the lower limbs, muscle atrophy, and difficulty walking. When the condition is severe, the dog completely loses its ability to urinate and defecate independently, and the lower limbs are paralyzed.

When cervical intervertebral disc prolapses, the head and neck may become inflexible, painful during movement, forelimb weakness or hemiplegia, or even respiratory paralysis.

When the thoracic intervertebral disc prolapses, the function of the forelimbs is not affected, but the hind limbs have difficulty moving or even paraplegia, and defecation and urine are affected;

Fracture

When a dog falls, runs, jumps, twists, or is crushed by a heavy object, the external force it receives exceeds the endurance limit of the bone, and fractures may occur.

Bones play a role in supporting and protecting the body. Once damaged, the fractured end is likely to injure important internal organs of the body or cause damage to surrounding tissues, causing more serious harm.

Shock: Dogs go into shock when a fracture occurs along with soft tissue damage, massive bleeding, severe pain, or concurrent visceral damage.

Fever: There is a large amount of internal bleeding at the fracture site, or an increase in body temperature caused by wound infection.

Interdigital inflammation

Interdigital inflammation is an abscess inflammation caused by bacterial infection. It often occurs in the skin inflammation of the sunken space between the toes or soles of dogs. The dog will be afraid to step on the ground because of the swelling and pain, so he will walk with a limp.

Under normal circumstances, the dog’s skin has a certain degree of protection and will not be easily damaged or infected. But if the dog's paws are always damp and wet, the wear resistance and resistance of the cuticle of the skin will decrease, making it easy to get infected with interdigital inflammation.

A common symptom of interdigital inflammation is that dogs develop red bumps between their toes or on their feet, which may look as big as pimples at first

Dogs will keep licking in order to relieve pain. If left alone, the pustules will becomeIf it ruptures, the entire foot will become red and swollen and may ulcerate.

Note:

1. Generally speaking, if a dog dares to lift its paws but dare not step on them, the disease is under the wrist and tarsus. If you dare to step but dare not lift, the disease comes from the hip and femur. Dog owners should focus on these areas for inspection.

2. Conduct a focused inspection on the suspected affected area, gradually touching and inspecting from the paws and toes upwards, paying attention to whether there are punctures, bleeding, iron nails, stones, glass fragments in the dog's paws and finger balls, and whether there are foreign bodies between the toes and skin stains. There is no bleeding, swelling, etc. Pay attention to whether the temperature of the affected area has increased, the condition of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, whether there is muscle paralysis, etc.

3. Discover the affected limb, determine the affected part, find out the cause, and carry out treatment according to the cause. The dog owner also needs to take the following measures: stop exercising and let the dog rest; give delicious and easy-to-digest food to try to increase the dog's appetite; strengthen care , prevent mosquito bites on the affected area, prevent infection of the affected area, etc.