Trauma and minor injuries to muscles and ligaments are an everyday occurrence for the active dog that spends time outdoors. Let's look at how to prevent them and how to ensure a speedy recovery with nature-based remedies.
With the warmer months, our four-legged friends begin to take part in sporting or outdoor activities more often. Frantic runs, games, swims and minor scraps with other dogs are a way of shaking off the dark winter days and enforced idleness. For this very reason, however, leg injuries become more frequent, often leading to limping of varying degrees of severity.
Runs and long walks on particularly unsuitable terrain can cause injuries to specific areas of the paw, such as the paw pads, which risk becoming eroded or inflamed. Problems affecting the interdigital space are also common, including cracking and erosion, as well as broken nails.
Paw injuries often affect dogs that have walked — perhaps without being trained to do so — on particularly hard terrain. It is worth knowing, in this regard, that animals accustomed to city life are not prepared for strenuous walks on rough ground and may even be unable to walk after the exertion.
"The problem can be prevented with copper oxide or pyric acid ointments, which help the paw pad to toughen up — explains Dr Cinzia Cortelezzi, veterinary surgeon — and become insensitive to the ground. Every dog that spends a lot of time outdoors should use these remedies in order to take part in competitions and walks without any problems whatsoever." Most injuries of this type, in any case, heal quickly and have no lasting consequences.
Strains to muscles or ligaments are also a common topic when it comes to dogs. To better understand the problem, it helps to take a step back. What is a muscle? It is a structure that allows the various segments of the joints to move. Muscle is made up of proteins and, in dogs, accounts for approximately half of total body weight. Tendons and ligaments, on the other hand, have the task of connecting the muscles to the skeleton. If a muscle is stretched excessively and suddenly, pain arises — and with it, a strain. This can result in an injury that does not, however, amount to a tear (in which case the pain would be considerably more intense and there would also be significant limping).
The treatment? Complete rest (easier said than done… especially in the case of a lively dog that wants to keep moving). If swelling is also present, anti-inflammatory drugs may be administered under veterinary supervision. It is straightforward, in any case, to tell whether your dog is suffering from this kind of problem, particularly if it affects one of the legs. The animal will bear weight on the paw poorly and does so with extreme caution to avoid pain.
An X-ray, if taken, will show no swelling or alterations of any kind. Naturally, the more serious the injury, the more evident and pronounced the symptoms we have described become. Diagnosis is the responsibility of the vet, who generally does not carry out additional tests beyond X-rays or ultrasounds to determine the most suitable treatment. Rest (at least five days without walks, apart from the brief outings needed for daily toilet needs) and the application of cold compresses or ice to prevent the formation of haematomas are the most common remedies.
"The administration of anti-inflammatories — explains Laura Cutullo, veterinary surgeon — is often not recommended precisely to avoid speeding up recovery before the injury has resolved naturally. The problem could, in fact, recur in a more serious form as soon as the dog, once the pain has passed, starts running and jumping again, putting strain on the joint." Support for strengthening the ligaments comes from trace elements fluorine-manganese-copper. These are administered alternately, one ampoule once every three days. The trace element should be given to the dog in the morning on an empty stomach, directly into the mouth. It has no taste, so it is easy to administer.
An effective homoeopathic remedy for trauma with possible blood effusion, dislocations or muscle pain with limping is Arnica in a 30ch and 200ch dilution. The granules should be dissolved in a very small amount of water and administered away from meals, once a day, in doses of between 3 and 5 granules. Administration should stop as soon as the symptoms ease. In acute cases, the dose can be repeated every hour for 3 or 4 times until improvement occurs, then continued once a day for 3 to 5 days.
To avoid sprains and paw problems, prevention is of the utmost importance. Aside from the necessary and unavoidable precautions to take with overly lively animals, warming up before more demanding walks is essential for the dog that takes part in sporting activities, but is equally important for the dog that spends most of its time at home. Just as with humans, movement is good for dogs too, but everything must be filtered with judgement and always measured out with common sense by the owner. It is also important to trim the animal's nails to prevent them from breaking or chipping during physical activity. Paw hygiene is, in fact, essential for our four-legged friends, even if they live indoors and do little outdoor activity.
Often, however, beyond the "mishaps" that occur during outdoor activity, dogs can sustain minor everyday injuries both inside and outside the home. Wounds are, in fact, an everyday occurrence for many of them, especially those that are very lively or still in the growing phase. Setting aside more serious cases that require urgent veterinary attention, natural medicine offers us extremely useful remedies and advice.
"If a dog sustains a wound or abrasion while running or playing, it is best to trim the fur around the injury so as to see it clearly," explains Dr Cutullo in the book "Cure naturali e alimentazione per gli animali di casa". "The area should then be washed with clean water (preferably boiled and subsequently cooled) so as to remove any trace of foreign bodies such as small stones, gravel or soil. Once the injured area has been carefully cleaned, it should be disinfected with a solution made up of 10 drops of calendula and two tablespoons of water. If possible, a compress soaked in this solution should be left on for a few minutes." A healing cream containing calendula, or an aloe gel, should then be applied. A little rest and some care during daily walks will ultimately ensure a smooth and speedy recovery.