Tripods

If you have a tripod pup or kitty, you know they are truly the best ever! They always have the best personalities and are some of the most resilient animals, so often we hear, “they don’t even know they only have 3 legs!” And while that’s probably totally true, tripods are definitely at a biomechanical disadvantage when it comes to long term issues like joint pain, degeneration, and arthritis. Here’s why! 👇

Amputation has a massive effect on the gait pattern, posture, muscle recruitment patterns, and overall function of the animal. With amputees it’s not uncommon to see extreme changes in spinal alignment…during tripod locomotion, the lumbar spine lifts and rounds while the cervical and thoracic spine drops, which puts much more strain on the transitional regions of the spine (base of the neck and the mid back). They usually have a lowered head carriage and especially with front limb amputations, the head rotates away from the weight-bearing leg to counterbalance, so that rotation continues throughout the spine which is why it’s also not uncommon to see lateral curvatures or a lot of rib cage rotation in these guys!

Obviously with those spinal changes, the ultimate goal is to keep each joint in the spine (and extremities) moving well so that we don’t end up with degeneration and arthritis down the line! Chiropractic can make a huge difference in improving strength, posture and movement adaptations, as well as controlling and reducing secondary pain in tripods! 🙌