How Do I Know If My Dog’s Leg Is Sprained In Houston, TX? Can A Dog’s Sprained Leg Be Cured Without Surgery?
It is prevalent for dogs to suffer from sprained or strained limbs. The good news is that most sprains in dogs are not an emergency and be easily solved. Sprains and strains are not the same. A dog is likely to get a strain by pulling either a muscle or a tendon. Nonetheless, a sprain is an injury to the ligament that connects two bones. Sprains are very common in the limbs of very active dogs and also in overweight dogs.
Dog leg sprain symptoms
Usually, lameness is the first sign of a sprained leg in dog, and it is characterized by an abnormal gait of an animal caused by locomotor system dysfunction. It is usually followed by swelling.
Other symptoms of a sprain include: reluctance to walk, pain, stiff gait, limping, whining, lethargy, and decreased appetite.
Diagnosis
If your vet suspects a dog sprained front leg or a sprained ankle on the dog, he or she has to be very sure because proper treatment cannot start until there is an accurate diagnosis of the condition of the dog. The veterinarian should be able to accurately diagnose the cause of lameness by conducting a lameness exam and also using imaging such as X-rays and MRI.
Blood work might also be conducted to rule out infectious causes of limping, like Lyme disease, and ascertain whether your dog can take certain medications.
Treatment for dog sprained leg
The veterinarian may prescribe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like carprofen or meloxicam to ease inflammation and ask that you apply an ice pack or heating pad to the dog sprained wrist or sprained paw dog or even recommend a weight loss plan if the dog is overweight.
The sprained leg recovery time depends on the severity of the sprain. In most cases, after two weeks, sprains and strains will start to feel better.
The dog needs to rest for up to eight weeks to promote full healing and to avoid the risk of re-injury. Severe sprains can take a couple of months to heal fully.
Occasionally, a vet will recommend surgery. Although minor injuries to the cranial cruciate ligament may be treated with rest and medicine, more severe cases eventually require surgery. There are lots of procedures performed by veterinarians to correct this ligament injury.
Stem cell treatment for dogs can also be used in the correction of cruciate ligaments. It has given pets the therapeutic advantage and brings them back from surgery faster and with fewer complications.
Stem cell therapy for pets is the use of stem cells to treat and heal injuries in pets. Embryonic stem cells are used because of their versatility and regenerative properties.
They are usually injected into the body to repair joints, ligaments, and muscles that have been damaged by arthritis or injury. Stem cell therapy for dogs offers an alternative solution that either reduces nerve damage and its effects.