Decatur Veterinarian Asks: Does Your Dog Need Rehab?
It may seem strange for a Decatur veterinarian to be writing about arthritis, but did you know that arthritis isn’t limited to humans? That’s right! Most animals can develop painful arthritis, as well, 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, like taking a walk and climbing stairs exceedingly 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.
Just going for a walk, let alone catching a frisbee or running in the ocean waves, can be very difficult and prohibitively painful for a dog with arthritis. In other words, 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 confined to the use of painkilling drugs. Just as humans suffering from arthritis often benefit from physiotherapy that helps to augment joint motion, dogs can, too. 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.
Even though physiotherapy for dogs isn’t new, until recently there hasn’t been much 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, confirmed the efficacy of physiotherapy in decreasing arthritic pain and immobility in dogs.
The researchers examined the movements of the joints in the front and back legs of dogs through the use of a expressly-designed treadmill and sophisticated computer algorithms. While the researchers took notes and measurements, the dogs performed three types of exercises: walking uphill, walking downhill, and walking over low obstacles.
The experiments showed that the three movement protocols had distinct and specific effects on the movements of the dogs' joints. Walking uphill caused notably greater bending at the hip, as opposed to walking downhill, which caused the hip to be less bent and the tarsal joint to be less extended. However, the most consequential effects came when the dogs walked over low obstacles. This resulted in additional 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? First of all, 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 aid in improving the bending of the joints in the forelimbs and hind limbs. Adding low obstacles should be avoided, however, if your dog has recently undergone 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 Decatur veterinarian who loves dogs, 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, perhaps a nice ride downhill in the car would be a nice treat for your dog once you've exercised him or her uphill!