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 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, such as going for 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.

Simply going for a walk, let alone catching a frisbee or running in the ocean waves, can be very difficult and extremely painful for a dog with arthritis. To put it another way, arthritis can take the fun out of your dog’s “purpose” in life…to have fun! As a concerned veterinarian in Decatur I am pleased to ease your mind by telling 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 improve joint mobility, dogs can, too. Physiotherapy, in humans, aids in reducing 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 therapy is most effective.

Even though physiotherapy for dogs has been available for a while now, until recently there hasn’t been enough research done to satisfactorily document its effects on canine arthritis. However, 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 relieving arthritic pain and immobility in dogs.

The researchers studied the movements of the joints in the front and back legs of dogs through the use of a specifically-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 study showed that the three movement protocols had distinct and particular 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 notably 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. However, the most significant 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.

You may be curious, at this point, what all of of this means for your dog? First of all, it indicates 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 undergone surgery for the tibia, because 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, perhaps a nice ride downhill in the car would be a nice treat for your dog once you’ve exercised him or her uphill!