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Animal Limping Causes and its Diagnosis

Thomas Wright
Finding the right cause of limping is crucial because there are numerous reasons for limping. Accidents, injuries, bone disease, joint disease are some of the common reasons that result in the change in an animal’s running or walking.
There are a lot of reasons for animal limping, and some of them could be just unexplainable. Lameness or limping is one of the most common issues that we see at vet clinics. Limping doesn’t mean the complete disaster of an animal’s leg movement.
It implies the stiffness or a slight favoring of a limb or a paw, that happens after running around or while getting up. Whether it’s a horse, a dog, a cow or a cat, limping can happen to any animal.
Once you notice your pet limping, you should immediately find the cause behind limping and make sense of the solution or rush to a vet for a complete assessment. This way you can find and reason out the right cause and right treatment in diagnosing, necessary for your pet.

Common Animal Limping Causes

Zooawesome.com states that lameness in animals is a regular veterinary grumbling, and there is an immense scope for potential causes, from interminable conditions to injury. This may appear to be overpowering, yet these causes can be divided into a couple of classifications.

1. Joint Disease

Gradual limping, musculoskeletal system, tear on joints can happen on account of a few conditions. Ligament disease, Osteoarthritis, Elbow Dysplasia, Intervertebral Disk Disease, Hip Dysplasia, and Osteochondritis Dissecans (OCD) are the most common joint diseases that can cause animal limping.

2. Bone Disease

There are a few diseases that affect an animal’s bones. Bigger animals can face conditions like panosteitis and hypertrophic osteodystrophy which make walking painful. You will need to arrange a prompt diagnosis if your pet suffers from osteosarcoma, a certain cancer, which also affects bones.

3. Trauma and Injury

Trauma and injuries are most common and obvious reasons for an animal’s limping. There are hundred types of injuries an animal can face. Ligament tears, broken bones, sprains, fractures, dislocations, spinal injury, and joint trauma are the reasons for severe to moderate limping.
In some cases, the animal is not able to put weight on the injured leg.  Legitimate molding can help lessen the danger of certain wounds, however, a limping animal athlete ought to be given a lot of rest until the reason for the limp is distinguished and treated.

Things You Can Do When An animal is Limping

You have to figure out what’s wrong with the animal. Wound, prickle, hair matt, swelling, inflammation are the things that you should try to find out first. Matts and prickles are removable if the animal lets you remove it. Once you remove them, it will reduce the pain from the animal and he or she can easily walk again.
In case you are unable to figure out anything like these but the animal is still limping, it would be best to visit a vet. Nobody can be better than a vet to figure out limping cause and provide best treatment to a limping animal.

Treatment for Pain Relief or Medications for Limping

The animal’s condition will decide what medication you need for it. Sometimes it’s very simple to relieve the pain by just removing the prickle or hair matt from the injured area. But, it can get very complicated by undergoing surgery to eject the pain source.
An injection or a medication course can be prescribed sometimes. But, at other times, you may need to get the animal admitted to the hospital for more critical pain treatment.
Once you figure out the right reason behind limping, it gets easier to cure the limping. The treatment plan could be as basic as a couple of long periods of rest, or it could involve the medical procedure, further testing, and a delayed recuperation. The sooner you get him in to see the veterinarian, the better visualization.
Let the animal relax while you are setting up an appointment with a doctor. Keep him away from things that may get lameness even worse. Call in an appointment with a veterinarian, in case you need further information about animal limping causes.