Search the Community

Hello, My 7 month old BC pulled/sprained/strained a muscle in his left hip a month of so at the dog park while playing fetch. Initially, he could not walk at all and did not want to be touched. When we took him to the vet, the physical examination showed pain on hip extension. They did an x-ray at that time and the vet said his hips and bone structure looked perfectly normal (no signs of HD), so she ruled it a soft tissue injury. With pain pills and NSAIDS, he was good to go after a couple weeks so we resumed fetch. Now, however, he seems to show a little bit of lameness in his right (opposite of injury) leg. Also, after a few sprints he starts bunny hopping, slightly dragging his right leg and not bringing it forward all the way. Does anyone have any experience with anything like this? Should I seek a second opinion from a vet? Resort to extended rest and see what happens?

I have an 18 month old border collie. He's not a working dog and doesn't do agility. A few weeks ago he started with occasional lameness in his back right leg. He walked fine on a lead, he limped occasionally on a slow trot but was fine on a fast trot and full speed run. He never showed any signs of pain and I don't know how it occurred. A trip to the vet resulted in rest and anti inflammatories. He showed no signs of improvement so he went back and had X rays which ruled out hip dysplasia and knee issues. More rest and anti inflammatories and he's still limping and has started limping on his other leg as well. He's full of life and is dying to get back out and running about. The vet said initially that VID_20181204_122935.mp4 it was probably his ilopsaos muscle but I'm wondering why he's started limping on his other leg? Anyone got any ideas or had similar issues??

Jenna is my 5 year old red merle BC and over the last year or so we have been dealing with occasional bouts of limping and lameness. Currently she seems to have developed a sore right paw that she puts down gingerly and at times has a slight limp. She will also sit or stand with that paw externally rotated and resting lightly on the ground. This developed over the weekend and does not show any signs externally as I have looked at all parts of her paw... pads, nails, individual toes and all looks fine. She favors the paw at times and at other times runs and plays normally... it does not seem that it has caused a significant change in her behavior. In the past she had some limping bouts involving her hind legs, that seem to resolve over time and with limited activity. In the earlier circumstances I did have her checked out at the vet and she has been through several courses of anti-inflammatory treatment. This seems to help the limping subside and it is unclear what might bring it back on. If anyone has experienced a similar situation or has advice it would greatly be appreciated. I have a great relationship with my vet and have had Jenna tested for Lyme (negative) and assessed for ACL issues. This issue with the front paw has me completely befuddled???

Jenna, my 4 year old female border collie has been showing intermittent signs of lameness on her right hind limb over the last few weeks . It seems to bother her when she gets up from rest/sleep. It seems to subside when she stretches and moves around after waking. She seems to work through it and then shows no signs of pain and only occasional hopping or holding up of the leg with walking/running/play. She does not really respond painfully to ROM or palpation of the limb but moves slowly and seems to gradually ease into using it normally. She most often pulls the leg up towards her belly and temporarily and hops on 3 legs before using it gingerly and then resuming a normal gait. There has been a substantial amount of ice in our area and although we are very careful its possible that she may have slipped. I do not recall an instance of acute trauma or injury but lots of time on very slippery surfaces. Any ideas where the problem may be coming from or similar experiences? Otherwise her attitude and energy seem to be very normal-- for a Border Collie trapped inside for weeks and weeks! Thanks all- Angel and Jenna

Hi everyone. A while ago, I posted about my border collie, Gloria, who had an unusual array of symptoms including migrating lameness, lethargy, wasting and an intermittent fever. I got lots of feedback from people and we looked at every possibility-but she was negative for all tick borne illnesses and fungal infections. Her blood work was always normal except for a very slight elevation in neutrophils. When I last posted, it had been decided her symptoms were consistent with polyarthritis and she went on a course of immunosuppressants (azathioprine and prednisone). She seemed to improve, then the symptoms returned and with a vengeance. At the suggestion of a third vet, we took her off the drugs and she she was mildly anemic and had low WBCs from the immunosuppressants. After a few weeks, she seemed to improve then relapsed again with a 105.8 degree fever and severely swollen tonsils and lymph nodes. Biopsies were performed, all seemed to indicate an infection but nothing cancerous. Then the cycle repeated and she had a bone marrow biopsy. Just prior to the biopsy, her hematocrit dropped dangerously low and to save her life, she had a transfusion. The biopsy showed very low RBC and platelet precursors and a lot of granulocyte precursors and neutrophils. The thought was that this was an unusual presentation of azathioprine induced bone marrow suppression or that she had an auto-immune disease that was attacking her myeloid precursors specifically in the erythrocyte and megakaryocyte lineage. She did well after the transfusion until about 4 weeks out, when her hematocrit dropped again. WBCs were fully recovered by this point. She received another transfusion and the hope was that her bone marrow was going to recover. All analyses thus far had not been consistent with leukemia. No elevated WBCs, except a slight elevation in neutrophils again. Then, Friday, a second bone marrow biopsy showed that her RBCs were making no recovery and she now has unusual cells present that appear to be cancerous myeloid stem cells with neutrophilic characteristics. It is still not a typical presentation of leukemia but the diagnosis this time is very ominous. She is transfusion dependent and there is no treatment for this type of aggressive leukemia. This is a sad story. I hope that anyone who has a sick dog and goes to many vets with none of them able to find an answer reads this. Her symptoms were consistent with what people with leukemia often complain about before anything is evident in their blood work...bone pain and fatigue. I don't know that anything could have been done had the diagnosis been made last year when the symptoms started, but her bone marrow is now too far gone. We are keeping her comfortable.