Therapeutic joint support for animals

Abstract

A breathable fabric sleeve provides varying elastic support to help heal strains, sprains and bruises to the ligaments and tendons of an animal's fetlock and pastern joints. Preferably the sleeve is made of a seamlessly woven elastic fabric. The sleeve is applied over the fetlock of the leg of a horse or other animal, from the pastern up to below the knee, on the front leg, or to below the hock, on the hind leg. The sleeve has uniform elastic strength around the circumference of the sleeve, but provides variable compression, so that an upper part of the sleeve provides greater circumferential compression and the lower part provides less compression. The variable compression can be produced by using a looser weave in a bottom end of the sleeve, and/or by increasing the diameter of the bottom end, relative to that of the central portion of the sleeve.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An animal joint support comprising:
 an elastic sleeve including:
 a top end around a top opening; 
 a bottom end around a bottom opening; and 
 a single-layer central portion connecting the top end and the bottom end; 
   wherein the top end portion includes a double-layer top hem portion; and   wherein the bottom end portion includes a double-layer bottom hem portion.   
     
     
         2 . The animal joint support of  claim 1 , wherein the bottom end has a looser weave than the central portion. 
     
     
         3 . The animal joint support of  claim 1 , wherein the elastic sleeve is a single, seamless elastic piece. 
     
     
         4 . The animal joint support of  claim 3 , wherein the seamless elastic piece is seamlessly woven or seamlessly knitted. 
     
     
         5 . The animal joint support of  claim 1 , wherein the elastic piece is a single-layer piece, with the top hem portion being a folded-over top hem portion, and the bottom hem portion being folded-over bottom hem portion. 
     
     
         6 . The animal joint support of  claim 1 , wherein the top end has an elastic strength that is greater than an elastic strength of the bottom end. 
     
     
         7 . The animal joint support of  claim 1 , wherein the bottom end includes a transition portion between the central portion and the bottom hem portion. 
     
     
         8 . The animal joint support of  claim 7 , wherein the transition portion is a single-layer transition portion. 
     
     
         9 . The animal joint support of  claim 8 , wherein the transition portion and the bottom hem portion both have a lower elastic strength than the central portion. 
     
     
         10 . The animal joint support of  claim 1 , wherein the central portion extends a majority of a length of the sleeve. 
     
     
         11 . The animal joint support of  claim 1 , wherein the central portion extends at least 75% of a length of the sleeve. 
     
     
         12 . The animal joint support of  claim 1 , wherein the bottom end extends at least 10% of a length of the sleeve. 
     
     
         13 . The animal joint support of  claim 1 , wherein the bottom end extends at least 15% of a length of the sleeve. 
     
     
         14 . The animal joint support of  claim 1 , wherein the central portion has a substantially-constant diameter. 
     
     
         15 . The animal joint support of  claim 1 , wherein the bottom end includes a reduced elastic strength region around the bottom opening, the reduced elastic strength region having a lower elastic strength than the central portion. 
     
     
         16 . A method of supporting an animal joint, the method comprising:
 providing an animal joint support, wherein the animal joint support includes an elastic sleeve that includes:
 a top end around a top opening; 
 a bottom end around a bottom opening; and 
 a central portion connecting the top end and the bottom end; and 
   placing the animal joint support on an animal leg, wherein the placing includes placing the central portion over a fetlock of the animal leg, with the bottom end over a pastern joint of the animal leg.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the placing includes applying a top hem of the top end above the fetlock, with greater compression to the fetlock than above the fetlock. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the placing includes having the bottom end loosely encircling the pastern joint when the sleeve is in place on the animal leg.