Korean Journal of
Veterinary Service

This case report examines the efficacy of carprofen and rehabilitation therapy in a 7-year-old, 4.5 kg, spayed Poodle with unilateral forelimb lameness. Gait analysis assessed kinetic parameters such as peak vertical force (PVF), vertical impulse (VI), symmetry index (SI), and body load distribution (BLD) before and after treatment. The differences between the left and right forelimbs were recorded. Before intervention, the PVF differences between the forelimbs were −4.00% during walking and 40.00% during trotting. Two weeks post-intervention, these improved to 8.33% and 27.67%, further reducing to 6.33% and 18.00% after four weeks. VI differences also improved, with initial values of −0.67 N∙s during walking and −1.3 N∙s during trotting decreasing to −0.03 N∙s and −0.87 N∙s, respectively. SI increased from 6.23% to 11.87% during walking, while it decreased from 33.63% to 14.73% during trotting. BLD differences reduced from −1.17 cm² and −7.13 cm² to 0.23 cm² and −2.17 cm², respectively, after four weeks. These results suggest that a combination of carprofen administration and rehabilitative intervention can effectively reduce lameness and improve symmetry in dogs with unilateral forelimb lameness, as evidenced by improvements in key gait parameters over the treatment period.

Keywords: Dog, Lameness, Angular deformity, Carprofen, Rehabilitation