Canine hip scores and limb mobility

By Lara Coghlan, McTimoney Animal Chiropractor

Lara Coghlan, who is based in the South-East of England covering Surrey, Sussex, Kent and Hampshire, qualified as a McTimoney Animal Chiropractor in 2022 following completion of the MSc Animal Manipulation (Chiropractic) degree at the McTimoney College of Chiropractic. As part of her training, Lara undertook a research dissertation and with a keen interest in canine therapy, Lara chose to investigate canine hip and elbow dysplasia. Lara explains, “This is an area that I am interested in personally, and I carried out my research on the breed closest to my heart the Bracco Italiano. I wanted to learn more about the topic itself so really enjoyed my literature review which is integral to understanding what research has already been done and what research is still needed. I wanted to see if there were any methods we can use as animal chiropractic practitioners to detect early signs of hip and elbow dysplasia and therefore get dogs referred to the vet sooner for appropriate care.”

Lara continues, “I loved carrying out my data collection as I got to travel a lot of the country meeting fellow Bracco Italiano owners, their dogs and getting to chat about the breed I love! The difficult part was probably cutting down my word count when I was writing up my findings to remain within the word limit for the dissertation itself – I had so much to report on the background research and results I found!” Lara was invited to present her research at the recent Animal Chiropractic and Rehabilitation Conference at the McTimoney College of Chiropractic.

Lara’s research investigated joint range of motion in relation to the *BVA/KC/ANKC hip and elbow scores, as well as dog gender and age. Lara studied 19 healthy Bracco Italiano dogs of mixed gender and age that had been hip scored and elbow scored in accordance with BVA/KC/ANKC schemes. Interestingly Lara’s results showed that there was a significant correlation between BVA/KC/ANKC scores and joint ranges of motion in particular the left hip score and right hip extension. This suggests that dogs will compensate where there is dysplasia in one hip, resulting in changes in the range of motion in the other limb. There was no difference in results obtained from each gender, but age did have a significant effect on hip joint flexion too.

Lara summarises, “The research showed that higher hip scores may predispose dogs to increased extension of the contralateral joint as a compensatory mechanism. We also found that dogs scored at a young age below the breed median, thus forming the breeding population, may also have a higher predisposition than predicted to develop hip dysplasia in later life so further longitudinal research to clarify the incidence of HD in these dogs is necessary.”

In her busy practice Lara treats both horses and dogs, “I just enjoy getting to spend my days chatting with fellow animal owners and lovers, and of course getting to work with their horses and dogs all day! Every day is so varied and being able to make a real difference to an older animal’s quality of life and improve performance for competition dogs and horses is so rewarding.”

After 18 months in practice, Lara says, “I have learnt so much already mostly about running my own business. Working alone and being on the road a lot of the day, the job can be both lonely and then completely social at the same time when you are with clients. I’m learning from new cases every day, and from speaking to vets, as well as learning how each animal can tell us in its own way what might be going on.”

If you would like more information or to book an appointment with Lara, please go to www.laracoghlanmctimoney.co.uk, via email laracoghlanmctimoney@gmail.com, or WhatsApp or text message 07780 870777

Link to Lara’s research