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New study reveals 5 breeds of dog most at risk of elbow disease

Recently the results were published from one of the largest studies into elbow disease. Cases were taken from a pool of nearly half a million dogs in first opinion practice in the UK over a one-year period. 

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Why is my dog limping?

Limping, or lameness, can occur in any dog and any breed for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it’s a passing thing, comparable to a strain whilst playing sport, and sometimes it’s something more serious or ongoing. It can occur in any leg and sometimes in more than one leg. Because there are so many different causes, sometimes it can be hard to work out why your dog is limping.

What makes dogs lame, and how can they be helped?

Why is a lame dog lame? The obvious, but incorrect, answer to the question is 'because it has a sore leg'. The correct answer is more complicated, but also quite obvious when you think about it. Firstly, what is a lameness? Everybody knows what a lame animal looks like - they 'walk wrongly'. But what is happening to make them walk wrongly? There are three main reasons why lameness may occur. Pain is the most common and most important cause of lameness. If an animal damages a limb, any further pressure causes more pain, and so the instinctive response is to rest the limb, by carrying it, or at least by not putting full weight on it. The type of damage can vary widely from a bruise to a laceration. The damage can be anywhere in the limb, from the toe to the shoulder or hip, and the result is the same - a lame animal. Long term diseases such as arthritis can also involve considerable pain. The second cause of lameness is instability. It is common for dogs to rupture the ligaments of the knee, and when this happens, the knee becomes unstable. If the dog tried to put weight on the leg, the knee would collapse. So the dog refuses to put weight on the leg. Any other joint can be affected in the same way by damage to the supporting ligaments. The third cause of lameness is stiffness. When a dog develops arthritis, the affected joint becomes swollen and gnarled - like many older people's arthritic finger joints. The swelling of the joint is due partly to new bone which grows around the arthritic joint as part of the disease process. This new bone acts like rust seizing up a metal hinge - it stops full normal movement of the joint. An elbow joint may only be able to move through half of its normal range of movement. The result of this new bone is that the joint is stiffer and less mobile than it should be - and this means that the animal is unable to use the limb in the normal way. Hips, shoulders and knees are also commonly affected in this way. So lameness can be caused by pain, instability and stiffness. What can be done to help lame animals? Weight control, controlled exercise and physical therapy are all important aspects: this always has to be individualised, and the best answer is to ask your vet what your pet needs in these areas. The new generation of painkillers provide excellent relief from pain. Immediately after an injury, dogs can be given drugs which prevent short term suffering until the injury is treated. In addition, if a disease involves long term pain (such as arthritis), this can be dealt with very effectively by continual daily medication, as advised by a vet. Instability of joints can often be well treated using new surgical techniques which may involve inserting artificial ligaments, using metal implants or by other methods. The stiffness of arthritis can be helped by using regular anti-inflammatory medication, similar to that used for arthritis in humans. There is also an animal-only anti-arthritic drug, given by injection, which can help considerably in some cases. Other therapies including hydrotherapy and acupuncture can also play a role, as can daily food supplements such as glucosamine chondroitin sulphate, and even special high fish-oil diets designed for pets with joint disease. Owners should be warned that it can be very dangerous to give human drugs to their pets, unless their vet has given them permission to do so. Toxic reactions are common, especially when some of the more modern human painkillers and anti-arthritic drugs are given to dogs. If you have a lame dog, you should ask your vet for advice on the best way to relieve the problem.

BEVA Congress 2012 – How Horse Vets Keep Up to Date

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Competition Vetting

[caption id="attachment_2858" align="alignright" width="167" caption="Horse Jumping, photo by EDWARD McCABE"]Horse Jumping, photo by EDWARD McCABE[/caption] Like everyone I know, I was glued to the Olympics - great job Team GB, especially our first Dressage and Show Jumping medals for a long time! However, I wonder how many people think about the infrastructure and planning that go into keeping the horses fit, safe and healthy when they compete? I've been a treating vet at a lot of competitions over the years, including Endurance events, local, regional and National Championship Pony Club events (where the standard is often as high as at many BE competitions!) and the International Show Jumping at Sheffield Hallam Arena. I was also on the vet team as a student at Badminton back when they still had roads and tracks before the cross country. The vets that people most often seen are those on the Ground Jury at competitions - the notorious "Trot Up" before the competition starts, and again (in eventing) before the horses go forwards to the show jumping phase. At Badminton and most other big events, there are two vets - one on the Ground Jury, along with two or three other worthies - and one in the Hold Box. If there is a question over a horse's fitness to compete, they get sent to the hold box, where the second vet examines them to see if there is a medical problem rendering the horse unfit. This is a very contentious area - I've never yet been at an event where the Ground Jury and the vets didn't come in for a barrage of criticism over their decisions. However, it's important to realise that they have to balance several factors: Firstly, if a horse is unlevel on the trot up, it may be truly lame, or it may have a "mechanical lameness" - in other words, an abnormal gait that is non painful, and does not render it unfit (on welfare grounds) or unsafe to compete. To help them decide, they trot the horse up before the competition, and then note down any anomalies of gait or stride. Secondly, there are some horses with minor injuries who can appear far more badly injured than they actually are. This is the reason for the Hold Box - a horse with a mild lameness due to a stone in it's hoof (yes, it does happen, I've seen it!) will probably trot up sound once the offending pebble has been removed; likewise, I once saw a hopping lame (7/10 at trot, for anyone interested) horse go 100% sound after a misfitting stud was removed. Thirdly, of course, the Ground Jury and the vets have to watch the riders or grooms who are trotting up the horse. It's an old joke in the profession that the shorter the skirt and tighter the top of a woman competitor, the more carefully you have to check the horse, because she's trying to distract your attention from something! The role of the vet as a judge of fitness is of course expanded in Endurance competitions, where every horse has to be checked at various points along the track to ensure it is fit to continue, and that its heart rate drops enough to be permitted to go on. Different events have different requirements for judging, but as a general rule, the horse has to trot up sound and well hydrated, and have a heart rate below a certain value (e.g. 80 beats per minute). I was at one big competition once where there was a dispute over whether the (leading, international competitor's) horse was sound or not. The decision was passed to a panel of 3 vets, none of us having seen the horse before that day, and its soundness or otherwise put to a secret ballot. This used to be standard practice at two- and three day events, when there was a roads and tracks phase before the cross country. In these competitions (and there are still a few ongoing, regional Two Day Events in various corners of the country), the vet is present simply to determine whether the horse is fit and safe to continue. I once had to pull a horse because it was obviously "not right" - not an easy decision for a vet student at a CCI 3*! The rider appealed the decision - and while we were waiting, it tied up completely, and had to be recovered by the horse ambulance. I still shudder to think how badly it might have been injured if we had allowed it to run cross country. At these events, riders, trainers etc can be very keen for the vet to pass a suspect horse as sound (although strangely, it doesn't seem to be such a problem at Pony Club) - however, we're really not trying to ruin your day (honest, and no, we don't get paid to "fail" some competitors horses either), we're just trying to make sure that an injury doesn't ruin your horse's week, month or season! Of course, that brings me on to the treating vets at an event. Any equestrian competition will have a vet either on call or - especially at big events - on site. Some events (like the Pony Club Championships, Badminton or the International Show Jumping) will have the horses stabled on site. At these, there will usually be some vets assigned to the stables area, and others out on the course or at the arena. Nowadays, we also have access to Equine Ambulances and their fantastic staff. They may look like normal horse trailers, but inside they have slings, winches, padded walls and often lowering floors - everything you need, in fact, to quickly and safely evacuate an injured horse. The job of the course/arena vets is to be first on the scene and assess the state of the injured horse. They will give first aid, stabilise any strained tendons or suspicious fractures, and then decide where to send the horse. The big decision to make is whether it's best to send the horse back to the stables (and if so, on foot or in the ambulance?), or refer them directly to a hospital facility. Fortunately, injuries that need immediate referral are rare; and most cases will be sent back to the stables. While assessing the horse, I like to have screens available - it doesn't mean I'm preparing to put the horse down, but it does mean I can examine them in a calmer, more private environment. If we do need to put a horse down, we'll usually try and move it off the track or away from the arena in the ambulance, to get some privacy. While the course vets have to perform in the blaze of publicity, the stables vets are equally important. During the competition, the stables vets will keep in touch with their colleagues on the course, either by phone or (usually) radio. Quite often we'll listen in on official channels as well so we can be leaning the right way if there is an incident! It's the stables vets who will deal with most injuries and accidents during the competition, and it can get pretty hectic, stitching up rows of horses in succession... At many competitions, there will only be a couple of us, looking after several hundred horses, 24 hours a day. I remember one memorable competition several years back where the night after the cross country phase, I got about an hour's sleep - the rest of the night I was up treating the colicing, the sprained and strained, and the just “not quite right". Most of my patients that week were mildly dehydrated – it’s amazing how much more horses need to drink after competing in hot weather! That’s the only time I can remember when I had to ring up a local practice to borrow more electrolyte salts, because I'd used up everything I took with me... (And the next year, when I took boxes and boxes of the stuff, they competed in gales and torrential rain, and I actually had cases of rain scald to treat... Well, that's the English summer for you!). If you are concerned about your horse, talk to your vet or try our Interactive Horse Symptom Guide to see how urgent it might be.
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How Do You Know If A Cat Is In Pain?






Decreased appetite




Eye position and expression






Licking, chewing, or fur loss


Other medical changes
