Okuzeka
Veterinary Medicine vocabulary · Clinical Examination

Lameness

Meaning in veterinary medicine, with examples

/ˈleɪmnəs/nounCore term

In veterinary medicine, lameness means: An abnormal way of walking or standing caused by pain or a problem in a leg or foot. An animal with this problem is described as lame.

In Turkish: topallık, topallama

How it is used

Vets grade lameness (for example on a 0–5 scale in horses or with a mobility score in cows) and try to localise it: Which leg is she lame on? Owners often say limping. In dairy herds, lameness is a major welfare and cost problem.

Example sentences

  1. The horse shows a grade 2 lameness on the left fore at trot.

  2. Most lameness in dairy cows starts in the foot.

Common collocations

  • hind limb lameness
  • grade the lameness
  • intermittent lameness
  • lameness examination
  • acute lameness
  • palpateTo examine part of an animal's body by feeling it carefully with the hands or fingers, for example the abdomen, the lymph nodes or a swelling.
  • radiographAn image of the inside of the body made with X-rays, used to look at bones, the chest and the abdomen.
  • analgesiaRelief of pain with drugs or other methods, or the absence of pain in a conscious animal. A drug that does this is an analgesic.
  • physical examinationA systematic check of an animal's body by looking, feeling and listening: temperature, heart and lungs, eyes, ears, mouth, skin, lymph nodes and abdomen.

More terms: Clinical Examination

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.