Health First Research

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! Quite a few animals can suffer from 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 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.

Merely going for a walk, let alone fetching a tossed ball or running in the fields, 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 active veterinarian in Decatur I am happy to tell you that treatment for canine arthritis is not entirely reduced to the use of pain medication. Just as humans suffering from arthritis often benefit from physiotherapy that helps to improve joint mobility, dogs can, too. Physiotherapy, in humans, helps to reduce arthritic pain and improve function of the affected joints and limbs. So, how does physiotherapy affect canine joints and limbs, and what therapy is most effective?

Even though physiotherapy for dogs isn’t new, until recently there hasn’t been adequate research done to sufficiently document its effects on canine arthritis. However, according to research results published in the American Journal of Veterinary Research, confirmation of the efficacy of physiotherapy in decreasing arthritic pain and immobility has been made by researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna.

The researchers studied the movements of the joints in the front and back legs of dogs through the use of a specially-designed treadmill and delicate 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 motion 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. But, the most significant effects came when the dogs walked over low obstacles. This resulted inmore 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? One for, it’s an indication that walking uphill is a simple exercise that could be used 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 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, after you’ve exercised your dog uphill, perhaps a ride in the car back down the hill would be a nice treat!

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