You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Players of contact sports such as Rugby, Soccer or American Football are prone to getting fractured ribs, so too are animals involved in road traffic accidents

Trauma to the chest wall is likely to cause bruising and sometimes fractures of the rib cage. Fractures can occur across the bony part of the ribs, or where the ribs join to form the cartilaginous breast bone or sternum at the front of the chest.

The most common cause of fractured ribs in animals are road traffic accidents but because the ribs are very flexible fractures do not occur in all accident cases. If only one rib is broken there may be few clinical signs, but if more than one rib is broken the animal may have great difficulty breathing. 

Fractured ribs are painful so pain relief has to be given and sometimes a support bandage can help to avoid excessive movement across the fracture line(s) in the rib. Single rib fractures will heal quite well with rest, but if the rib is displaced and causing damage to the lungs or if there are multiple rib fractures surgical repair using wires may be needed. In severe cases an external "splint" may be needed outside the chest wall to hold the ribs in place.

Trauma sufficient to cause a fractured rib will also cause soft tissue injury - which can involve the lungs within the chest. In addition, there may be internal haemorrhage, and sometimes air can enter the chest cavity causing the lungs to collapse (a condition called pneumothorax).  For these reasons all animals involved in a road traffic accident should be examined by a veterinarian even if they run off afterwards and appear to be ok ....

Updated October 2013