A hitch in her giddyup?

[KellieinTX]

I apologize for starting all these silly question threads. (Although there were about 8 I wanted to start, but didn't. ) It's just so hard being a first-time dog owner of a mature dog whose medical history is unknown.

 

So the vet and I noticed a protruding bone in Oreos left side. She told me that it probably was from a very old injury - some kind of blunt trauma that broke a rib. Since you can touch it or press on it all you want and she doesn't care, the vet assured me that this was fine.

 

But more and more, Chris and I have been noticing a slight favoring of her left leg. She walks on it perfectly normally except that her leg appears to be turned a little bit. Like her heel turns inward. But when she hits a full run, she lifts that left leg up and runs like a 3-legged dog. She's still so agile and fast (and carries that foot low to the ground) that we're only just now noticing. Then when she stops running, she'll be very slightly gimpy until she hits her walking stride again.

 

There's no tenderness there either, I can handle it and squeeze on it all I want, and all the joints work fully. She does put weight on it. I guess I'm assuming that it was caused by the same long-ago trauma that broke her rib.

 

So my question is, seeing as she seems to be in no pain at all, am I a bad dog mom if I wait for her next exam (probably 6 months from now) to mention this to a vet? She's cost us a lot more than we expected in the month that we've had her - we could afford to take her, but I would hate to do so and then not have something serious come up, and not have the money to treat it. Should I worry about this?

 

Thanks for reading, and any advice - I know I'm long winded.

[Rhys]

I adopted Rhys 3 weeks ago. His left leg is atrophied. He was at the rescue for 2 months. We were told that Rhys uses the leg and were given a letter from a vet saying the leg wasn’t painful. We had the leg x-rayed and this information was wrong. Rhys’ use of his leg was actually the inability to keep it out of the way and the leg was very painful. Rhys’ leg was amputated today.

 

Dogs often will not show that they are in pain or sick. It’s their survival instinct. The vet that wrote the letter that Rhys’ leg wasn’t causing him pain did not x-ray the leg. That vet touched Rhys’ leg and didn’t notice any reaction. It’s the x-ray that I had done that showed Rhys’ was in pain. The x-ray showed that the leg had been unsuccessfully repaired and that it was very arthritic. The knee was bone on bone. He only had movement in his toes and hip and couldn’t keep the leg out of the way so it looked like he was using it.

 

If it were me, I would take Oreo to the vet to have the leg x-rayed. It may be nothing or it could be something that is repairable now that may not be in six months.

[jvw]

I'm not a vet but it sounds exactly like what my Seamus did when his ACL was problematic. I did do surgery because he is a working dog. But, ligament injuries don't necessarily have to be operated on. X-rays may or may not show ligament damage. Now, if the knee problem had been in my other dog I would not have done surgery.

 

I certainly wouldn't think you were a bad dog mom if you waited to get it checked out.

 

Jennifer

[Guest amylobdell24]

Knee problems can be really painful - and that's how a lot of dogs with knee pain carry their legs. Cruciate or patella problems generally require surgery to repair - my vet's rule of thumb is if they're favoring that leg 25% of the time or more while active, it needs to be surgically repaired. Depending on the extent & type of injury, occasionally NSAID's and rest will do the trick, but I'd have it checked out so you know what you're dealing with. Also, some injuries can worsen with time, doing damage to the cartilage and weakening muscles & ligaments as a result. As Rhys noted, dogs are really tough little buggers, and if they're actually showing pain, it's worth getting it looked at.

[2 Devils]

Torn ACL's etc... should be repaired if possible. If they are not repaired they can and will cause arthritis. Ortho vets normally will not do surgery on one that is only partially torn though, they wait to it is basically blown out. By the time that happens, arthritis may already have set in.

 

Yes, I have a dog that had acl repair. The mild arthritis occured before it was blown out. Since surgery the arthritis has not gotten worse.

 

Now this same dog has problems with her other knee but so far the acl has not been blown out. Once she does it, she will have that one repaired.

[KellieinTX]

Hmmmm...She almost never favors that leg at all. Only when running at top speed or through tall grass (for some reason). She displays no pain or discomfort when I am handling the leg, squeezing it or bending it. She walks and runs on it (without a limp) and stands on her hind legs for extended periods to steal food off the counter. I would bet my life that it's not hurting her. I just think it doesn't work as well as the other one, and that's why she lifts it while running. It could be arthritis - we think she's 8-10.

 

Thank you for the insight and advice everyone!

[BCMomma]

You are certainly not a bad dog mom so get that thought out of your head right away.

 

I thought I was being a bad mom not taking our Lili in for an MRI when she developed this limp among her other issues (she has a brain disease). We decided to treat her limp medically and with plenty of rest. Her neuro exams showed pain in her neck area and the doctor said it could either be a tumor or a disc problem and an MRI was the only way to detect that.

 

We are well over our heads financially with her ongoing treatments for her brain thing so we put off the MRI. Well today she went in for her monthly round of shots and they always do a full exam and she showed no signs of the neuro issues - no pain in her neck area! So I am cautiously optimistic and not thinking I'm a bad dog mom.

 

Lots of rest and lots of love did the trick so far for us.

 

Good luck.

[shelb'smum]

Hmmm....

 

I will add with a story of my own.

 

My previous dog had the same sort of issue, she could use her hind right leg just fine, but when she would run and after running and playing for a bit, she would get all gimpy. turns out that as a puppy she must have been hit by a car. she went through some physical therapy and everything is ok now.

 

I would get it x-rayed at the least, because *I* would be worrying all the time that further injury would ensue. but thatsjust me, I am a worry wort when it comes to my dogs!

[KellieinTX]

My previous dog had the same sort of issue, she could use her hind right leg just fine, but when she would run and after running and playing for a bit, she would get all gimpy. turns out that as a puppy she must have been hit by a car. she went through some physical therapy and everything is ok now.

 

This is EXACTLY what I think happened, because of of the old broken rib on that side too. I think that since she's obviously in no pain, that it can wait 5 more months for xrays (unless something changes).