Hip pain is an increasingly common problem for dogs. Surprised when it happens? Dogs can get pain in their hips when walking on hard surfaces such as pavement or running with the same frequency as humans does.
It is important to recognize hip pain in dogs. The diagnosis can be difficult to make, which is why it is important to know how to manage it.
How Can You Tell If Your Dog Has Hip Pain?
The most obvious way to tell if your dog has hip pain is by how they walk. A normal weight dog should be able to enjoy a good walk without too much difficulty. They should be able to move with ease and not seem reluctant or upset when asked to get up and walk around a bit.
If this sounds like you, then your dog may have hip pain! Check out the next tip for more tips on how to treat this disorder safely.
Contents:
Hot packs
A cool-ass hip massage is a stable, portable heat pack. A hip cooler is typically about 4 to 6 inches wide, 2 inches tall and long enough to fit in your pocket or bag.
Dogs love being pampered so getting them a cool-ass hip cooler is a great way to spend some time with them. It also helps reduce pain and swelling as your dog enjoys being treated like a luxury hotel room.
To create the cooler, you must be careful to not overheat the dog. You must use cold water to fill it, and you must put it on for at least five minutes before each treatment.
You can buy these at most pet retailers or online through sites like Amazon.
Massage
A relatively new therapy available is massage aka therapeutic touch. This is a relatively new therapy available is massage aka therapeutic touch. This is a relatively new therapy available
that has been around for a long time. As you can imagine, having someone work your muscles with a purpose can be helpful.
Many services offer either an ongoing or a more specialized approach so it not as useful as in the past but it can still help. For example, should your dog suffer from hip pain, you could have the therapist use an hour each day on one hip and the other for pain relief and recovery.
This is not a cure for hip dysplasia, but it does seem to help some dogs with that issue. Countering any pain may also aid healing so this seems to be worth looking into.
Deep stretching
When your dog is in pain, it can be helpful to stretch their hip out as far as possible. This can be helpful for dogs in hip pain too!
When dogs are in pain, they may try to relax their leg by keeping the thigh raised. This can be a little difficult if you have to wait for it to work though.
To help get it done more quickly, you can use a device called a stretch wrap. This is just a thin cloth or paper which is wrapped around your dog’s leg and then stretched over the hip. It takes some practice getting your dog to let you do this right, but with some patience it can help speed up the healing process!
Another way to stretch the hip is what is called deep stretching. This means actually going underneath the leg and pulling up on the foot and ankle together until the animal pulls its foot up also. These treatments both work, but deep stretching seems to take longer.
Applying cold compress
When your dog is in pain, you can purchase a few simple home remedies that can help reduce pain and make your dog more comfortable.
One of the most common home remedies is to apply a cool cloth on your dog’s hip every few hours for as long as the pain is present. This removes some of the heat from the bone and pain transponder in that area, helping reduce the pain.
Another way to help reduce pain is to give them a warm bath or put a soft towel under their head to dry. Be careful not to overdo these two things- too much water and weight can lead to imbalances in your dog’s body.
proverbial wet tampon, leading to bleeding or may be stickiness that prevents them from feeling good enough to take out, leading to Painless Pet™ hip pads being recommended.
Use a dog wheelchair
A dog wheelchair is a fairly expensive way of getting your dog into and around the house or into the yard. However, it can be very useful for many dog ailments!
When properly used, a dog wheeler can be a fun training tool for dogs. By practicing with the wheel at home, you are ready to take your dog out in the yard!
Since most people get their dogs at least 3 years old (and sometimes 4), there is still some time left to get your pet ready for life in a real life wheelchair. A short period of time training is needed before they go out on their first wheel trip.
Start out with easy tasks such as getting them to nose the wheel, sitting in it, or just plain trying to get them in it.
Use a dog collar strap guide
A dog hip cast can be tricky to put on and off. If you have to remove the cast, then your dog has to wait until it is fully warm before putting it on again. This requires another person help, so make the most of it!
To put a cast on your dog, you need to buy a reliable cast. The ones reviewed most often were made of rubber or vinyl, with synthetic fabrics such as nylon or neoprene being second-most-common.
These casts can be tricky to take off. Some people use heat therapy devices such as a hot water bottle or oven mitts, but these must be used with care- they can burn your dog!
Or you can use a kitchen knife or table knife! These tools must be sharpened properly, of course! Once your dog is comfortable wearing the cast, give them plenty of time to settle down and relax before taking them off.
Try physical therapy exercises
If your dog has hip pain, you may be able to try some exercise programs. A hipath can be a little thing that hurts every time you step away, so it is important to take your dog to the trainer every week.
The best things for dogs are exercises that don’t require a lot of running or jumping. The best ones have stops and starts, so your dog has to learn how to move without being thrown off the Hipath.
There are several programs that teach dogs how to use a wheelchair or use their hip replacement as a wheelchair.
Change your dog’s food to a softer texture
A hard dog food can create a crunch sound when it is opened. This is due to the large amount of kibbles or parts of food that were separated to create this texture.
If your dog’s diet is more grain based, then change to a meaty texture homework for hip pain. A grain based diet can put pressure on the hip and may result in pain.
Many dogs do not benefit from raw food diets. Some nutritional deficiencies such as an insufficient omega 3 index can occur with special foods.
Make sure to give your dog a pain medication such as acetaminophen to help heal the hip. Avoiding painful behaviors such as digging or running away may help with healing your dog’s hip pain.