That’s the nature of knee injuries.
“Clipping” is a personal foul in football that involves hitting a player from behind, above the knees, to tackle him. Clipping is outlawed because it moves the top of the body forward while one or both feet are planted and can result in rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of the knee.
Knees in mammals have cruciate (so-named because they cross and make an X or “cross”) ligaments that stabilize the femur or thighbone to the tibia or shinbone. Thighbone connected to da shinbone…
I digress.
Dogs and cats can also suffer cruciate ligament injury, sometimes due to activity, but it most commonly results from obesity. Simply too much strain on the knee joint.
We saw two such cases today and both were obese patients.
Damage to the ligament causes terrible knee pain. These are the “limpingest” pets we see because of the intensity of the pain. Most damage requires surgery to repair.
Obesity in pets causes most of the same problems that obesity in people causes: diabetes, cancer, arthritis, etc.
How much more inspiration does a pet lover need to begin controlling his pet’s weight?
Today.
