ramsespapa Posted September 30, 2012 Report Share Posted September 30, 2012 My 51/2 month old Ramses broke his tibia about 2 months ago. He has developed a limp after playtime,not immediately but after a nap or in the morning. He has been out of his splint for approximately 3weeks. No surgery was required. Could it just be sorness from getting back active. Or some sort of ligament injury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted September 30, 2012 Report Share Posted September 30, 2012 Did your vet just remove the splint and say "Have at it?" A lot of muscle atrophy can take place in an immobilized limb over a very short time period. Your vet should have given you some physical therapy type stuff to do with Ramses (or at least directed you to a rehab vet) so that you could work him back up--carefully--to full use of that leg. None of us will be able to tell you for sure if it's just soreness or if there's something related to the original injury (for example, I had a dog who was run over by a truck--it didn't run her completely over--she had gone under the truck and the owner didn't realize she was there and started to pull off and caught her hind leg). Her hip was dislocated. In the hustle of dealing with that, no one checked anything else. Later, when I was trying to get her back in shape, she kept coming up lame. It turns out that she also had a partial cruciate tear on that same leg; it probably happened at the same time as the dislocation, but the effects didn't become evident until I started exercising her again. Anyway, if he's getting sore, that's at the least a sign that he's doing too much too fast. I'd consult with the vet to make sure there isn't a secondary problem and to get some advice on how to safely build his muscle back up. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted September 30, 2012 Report Share Posted September 30, 2012 What Julie said! Not only is there atrophy when a limb is been immobilized, but there are changes to the other limbs and back as they compensate for that leg not being able to do "its part" for a while. A plan of therapy, whether professionally outlined and supervised, or devised and implemented by you, may be necessary to rebuild the injured leg and its components, and build/retain strength in the other legs, back, and other body structures. These dogs tend to be stoic, and they don't "baby" their injuries like people may do. They are very prone to overdoing if they are not supervised and have their efforts channelled into safe and productive recovery. My one dog is three months into rehab/therapy following surgery on his hind leg. I have been amazed at the effort it has taken to help him recover physically from the after-effects of his injury and then surgery on his leg and his body. Best wishes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramsespapa Posted October 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 I've scheduled a return visit this week to his vet. After the splint was removed he had no activity except to potty for about ten days. Then built gradually from five min walks up to twenty over the next ten days. He recalls well so we've let him jog around in the field. He has sprinted some so nothing off a the leash since the limp developed. Hopefully just a strained muscle,but we'll deal with it either way. He's my buddy and deserves no less. Thanks for your input and wellwishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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