Limping and stiffness can be caused by several different conditions. The most common being acute injuries and skeletal issues like osteoarthritis (OA). As many as 80% of dogs over 8 years old have OA in one or more joints. And dogs are constantly getting up to mischief getting in accidents so we see a fair few limping dogs! If you notice your dog limping it is important to take your dog to your vets even if their problem appears minor. Some dogs are very good at hiding pain.
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I work in small animal practice and see many, many dogs. Something I hear quite commonly is ‘my dogs limping, but don’t worry he’s not in pain’. Usually at this point I like to spend a bit of time supporting owners to understand that the way that our dogs display pain may not be how we expect, and that limping usually equals pain or discomfort!
Chronic or Acute pain?
Limping can occur for a number of reasons; soft tissue and skeletal injuries, infection, sore paws, cancer, osteoarthritis and even spinal issues!
One thing I think is very important to discuss when explaining how dogs display pain is the difference between acute and chronic pain. This is because I believe a lot of owners typically expect pain to be displayed in the way we see moderate to severe acute pain – because it’s much more obvious and distressing to see.
So, let’s investigate these meanings first.
Acute pain is a strategy your dog’s body uses to help
It removes them from a noxious (harmful) stimulus, to run away (fight or flight), to protect their body! Acute pain is self-limiting – meaning the body will eventually limit/ manage it. Acute pain is provoked by a specific disease or injury such as a Road Traffic Accident (RTA) or glass in the paw and serves a very useful biological purpose, in essence to PROTECT them from further harm.
Every dog reacts to pain differently. But moderate to severe pain is usually very recognisable to you as an owner – visible distress, non-weight bearing limbs, obvious inability to use a limb, demeanour changes or crying out or vocalising in pain.
The truth is that often pain is not expressed in this way by dogs
Especially in longer term pain the signs are very subtle and creep up on us. So it’s understandable that you may think that your dog is not in pain, when in fact they are! This is where we need to investigate chronic pain.
Chronic pain in contrast, may be considered a disease state
It’s something that happens over time. It’s usually defined as pain that goes on longer than 3 months. The pain outlasts the normal or usual time of healing and may no longer be associated with a disease or injury.
With chronic pain there are changes in the brain and spinal cord that can cause pain ‘wind up’, causing exaggerated pain response. Sadly, it serves no biological purpose, and has no recognisable end-point. (In other words, it doesn’t naturally fade away on its own). This is why it is extremely important to manage it to the best of your ability for your dog’s quality of life and comfort.
The signs for this are much more subtle – stiffness, slight lameness or a ‘hobble’, maybe getting a little grumpier, stopping on walks or not wanting to play as much. These are also often attributed to ‘old age’ but the truth of the matter is there is often a reason for it. That reason is often pain and discomfort.
Will my dog ever limp but not be in pain?
Limping without pain or discomfort is unusual in dogs. There are certain conditions which cause a ‘mechanical’ issue that physically manifests as a limp but is not necessarily associated with pain. This is fairly rare but can occur in situations such as an arthrodesis procedure where surgeons physically fuse a joint together. Often in these cases the animals significantly benefit from surgery but it significantly compromises limb function resulting in a limp.
Overall, mechanical issues resulting in limps are few and far between. So the majority of the time when we see a limp, we will have some kind of pain or discomfort present. For these reasons it’s always best to book an appointment with your local veterinary team to see what the problem is and what we can do to treat it.
Treatment for limping
Treatment for a dog’s limp will depend on the reason for it! Sometimes the reason is obvious, sometimes it’s not so easy. Your veterinary surgeon may want to trial some medications, they will be best placed to prescribe this for you. They will usually book a review for your dog to revisit and it’s very important that you attend this. Living with your dog everyday it is sometimes hard to objectively assess if they are doing better. It sometimes takes a fresh pair or expert eyes to see how well your dog is improving. Sometimes the answer to the limp is not so simple or maybe the treatment isn’t working as well as we hoped. To ascertain why this is your veterinary team may need to perform certain diagnostic tests, for example X-Rays or CT scans. This may allow them to diagnose a certain issue to guide treatment plans.
As the reason for limping is so versatile then so too is the treatment options. The best people to guide you to make evidence-based decisions is your supportive veterinary team. So if your dog’s limping best thing to do is get them checked out.
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