How can I treat my dogs limping at home?

My dog ​​limps and origin you NEVER think about!

You too have a dog that limps in its front or back leg, yet it does not seem to have hurt itself: here is what you need to know and which you have probably never been told!

 It may even be possible that over time your young dog has developed osteoarthritis in the knees or elbows, but he is normally far too young to have osteoarthritis… Here too, find out why your young dog has osteoarthritis prematurely.

My dog ​​limps: have you ever been told about this origin?

A still almost unknown origin in the limping dog

Many dogs start limping but who have suffered no trauma! So the question is: but how could he hurt his leg then? Indeed this may seem very curious at first sight and yet it is undoubtedly what will allow you too to cure your dog who is lame when no one has found a solution for him until today.

The proper functioning of the dog’s right and left front paws and hind paws are directly and constantly dependent on postural nerve centers and nerve relays. in the dog, located in its cerebellum and the spinal cord (below the brain bulb). If one of these postural systems goes “out of balance”, then all of the dog’s muscle tone and joint mechanics are impacted and react accordingly. The proper functioning of the nerve relays located under the medulla oblongata depends directly on somatic nerve influxes, particularly in connection with trauma. On the other hand, the proper functioning of the postural nervous system located above this brain bulb is about the cephalic sphere (skull, eyes, and ear) but also and above all with the whole digestive sphere! It may seem curious at first glance to say that a dog can limp due to a digestive disorder or digestive irritation, right? And yet…

The little story that calls everything into question

A little over 15 years ago we had several dogs in our breeding who from time to time began to limp, for no apparent reason or trauma. After having tried almost all of the “high-end” dog foods on the market at the time, we had to develop our kibbles if we wanted to keep healthy breeding. It was a decisive step. It was then that we realized that in just a few weeks, we no longer had any dogs that were limping, even though some had been limping for several months without us being able to find a solution. The link with the quality of food then seemed obvious to us. although we did not yet know how to explain it at the time. We will expand on this a little later (below).

Osteoarthritis in young dogs or “dysplasia”

It is not uncommon today to see young dogs from 2 to 6 years old with osteoarthritis already, but rather in the elbows and knees. You can be sure that the very premature development of this osteoarthritis is not related to his age. As we have just seen, the postural disorder leads to a joint that does not function in its physiological axis.

The joint will compensate as much as it can, thanks to its ligaments and its joint capsule, by operating in an axis that is not natural. Gradually the joint suffers the cartilage degenerates, and the degenerative process ( dog osteoarthritis ) sets in. So the problem is not the joint but the wrong axis in which it works. It will therefore be necessary to attack the cause of this postural disorder to definitively stop the evolution of this osteoarthritis and joint inflammation.

Beware of diagnoses of “dysplasia”, which are often a little light. Dysplasia does not appear overnight, dysplasia appears during growth and lasts until the last days of the dog but cannot appear during his life. So if your dog starts limping at the age of 2 or 6, you can almost be certain that it has nothing to do with so-called dysplasia, even if it is there but not having made the dog limp before.

My dog ​​is limping in his right front paw

Why is my dog ​​limping in his right front paw?

That’s a hell of a question! To fully understand it, one must have fairly advanced knowledge of neurology. The right brachial nervous system (front paw innervation) receives a lot of postural information via a small, extremely important nervous relay at the level of the dog’s shoulder, in the stellate ganglion. This small ganglion receives a very large amount of information from the sensitive part of the Phrenic Nerve and from the sensitive part of the Vagus Nerve, which is related to all the interoceptors (small visceral postural sensors) located in particular in the right lung, the liver, the right part of the pancreas and the right part of the intestines.

This explains why dogs who have not had trauma almost always limp from the right front leg and not from the left, even if both are possible. In truth, your dog has what is called hepatic (liver) or visceral (especially intestines) dysfunction. This impairment is purely functional and cannot be seen on blood tests and not systematically on ultrasound. Be that as it may, the liver regenerates perfectly and the intestines self-balance, as soon as we provide them with an appropriate diet and we stop providing them with toxic elements for their health.

Dog limping in left front paw

More rarely, but also possible by the phrenic nerve relays, about the left lung, the stomach, the pancreas, and the left part of the intestines. In this case, ask yourself the question, of whether his diet would not be too rich in carbohydrates, whether it comes from cereals or vegetables in cereal-free croquettes. very fashionable now. Besides, note that vegetables can cause pancreatitis or other attacks on the pancreas, even if they are not present in large quantities in the dog’s diet. Indeed, over time, vegetables can cause a large number of inflammations or rheumatism in the carnivore’s body and especially in dogs. Finally, many fruits, certain vegetables, or seeds, such as flax seeds, are the cause of many gastritis because of their toxicity to the stomach (the dog that eats grass ), which can also be the origin of postural disorders of the left front paw in dogs, as we have seen several times during our 25 years of experience.

Dog with hind leg limp

The postural system of the hind legs of the dog is also dependent on the cerebellum, as we have seen for the front legs. Dysfunction of the intestines, liver, pancreas, or stomach can therefore also lead to a postural disorder in one of the two hind legs, which will result in a dog with a hind leg limp with or without secondary osteoarthritis ( premature osteoarthritis in young dogs between 2 and 6 years old in particular).

My dog ​​limps, what should I do?

A logical treatment, by the cause!

The solution will not go through rest or swimming your pet in a pool. As we have seen, the origin of these limping dogs goes through a postural disorder linked in almost all cases to digestive dysfunction linked to a diet that is not suitable for them: a diet incorporating poor-quality proteins is very harmful to the health of the dog, a diet with vegetables or a diet too rich in cereals. The elbows or knees therefore not working in the right axis, compensate and the joint becomes inflamed and ends up developing osteoarthritis.

This phenomenon is very common and we see it every day since we solve several cases per month. We have always had excellent results on these joint conditions with a simple change in diet such as with the one we give to our dogs for their health. The new diet influences the digestive system and therefore the postural system, which definitively stops joint inflammation in a few days and prevents osteoarthritis of the elbows or knees from progressing.

The local inflammation disappears and in 1 to 2 weeks the dog can finally rest its front or back paw on the ground. In cases of associated osteoarthritis, the Canzocal osteoarticular supplement can be an excellent solution to regenerate the joint, in addition to treatment with a diet adapted to the biological and natural needs of the dog.

Note that sometimes it is even necessary for us to practice a  vermifuge for dogs because the digestive irritation comes from the parasites which have developed following a long period of poor diet. In less than 10 days everything then gradually returns to normal.