Dog Ailments

Dogs can be affected by a number of ailments:

Arthritis - inflammation of a joint.

Osteoarthritis (degenerative joint disease) - a painful and debilitating disease. The loss of smooth cartilage that covers and protects the end of the bones.

Diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes) - on a rare occasion develop an unusual walk in which the hock touch the ground when the cat walks.

Hip Dysplasia - The upper bone in the hind leg does not fit into the socket of the hip joint properly. A progressive degenerative condition of the hip joint that can lead to severe lameness and pain in larger breed dogs.

Legg-Calve-Perths Disease (LCP Disease) - dogs are born with this disease, and lameness and pain in the hip joint. Degeneration of the bone end that occurs in young miniature and small breed dogs and results in reduced blood supply to the affected bone.

Bursitis - when the bursae (sack like cavities filled with thick fluid) become inflamed or infected.

Panosteities, Wandering lameness - an inflammation of the lining of the bone. 'Growing pains' for some breeds such as German Shepherds, German Shorthaired Pointers, St. Bernards, Basset Hounds, Great Danes and Doberman Pinshcers. Male dogs are 4 times more likley to present the wandering lameness than bitches. Pain and lameness can shift from one location to another over several weeks or months.

Megaesophagus - for whatever reason, food is swallowed from the mouth but never really goes anywhere beyond that point. Food sits in the esophagus until it simply falls back out the mouth at some point. In the dog, megaesophagus is the most common cause of regurgitation.

Myositis - is an inflammation or infection of a muscle.

Muscle Strain & Sprains - Strains and sprains can be one of the more frustrating injuries that we deal. Strains refer to damage of a muscle-tendon unit, which is the structure that attaches muscle to bone, while sprains refer to damage of a ligament, which attaches bone to bone. The damage that occurs is most commonly over-stretching of these units. Sprains and strains can be further characterized as chronic or acute, as well as mild, moderate and severe in nature.

Tendinitis - is an inflammation or rupture of tendons.