Ailments of the musculoskeletal system

An alert male cat (he has been neutered) waiting at the GSPCA for a kind-hearted person to come forward and adopt him

Continued

Sprains and strains

Last week, I mentioned that lameness is a symptom, an expression of some deeper malady.  Lameness could be due to injuries of the tendons, muscles (pulled muscles), bones (fractures), dislocated joints, degenerative/ congenital metabolic diseases and sprains.  Let’s look at this latter category today.

A sprain is an injury to a joint, usually a leg joint. We must firstly understand that joints are usually encapsulated by special tissue and ligaments.  If these tissues and ligaments are expanded (because of some sudden physical force) we have a condition of a sprain.  Some sprains are worse than others,