Injured leg question

[Miztiki]

Boy hurt his back leg Monday while treeing a squirrel. He was fine a while later but the next day he hurt it again doing the same thing.

 

Since that second time he's been limping, most noticeably after he's been laying down for a while.

 

I haven't played ball with him or anything to encourage him to run, and I've not allowed him to chase squirrels. I have let him do what he wants on his own. For instance, he grabbed his stuffed whale and ran around the yard with it, tossing it around.

 

Should I continue to allow him to be as active as he chooses on his own? Or should I restrict that too? His limping is not bad except right after being immobile for a while. Otherwise it's minimal.

[Kadie]

Sounds to me like a soft tissue injury, and like muscle sprains in humans, can be made worse or better by activity, depending on the level of that cativity. I would allow my dog to walk around at will, but try to resrict her from running or jumping. you might contact your vet to see what he recommends as far as pain medicine; aspirin can be given to dogs, and is an anti-inflammitory (sp? ) Walking and using the muscle will help to loosen it, but overuse could exacerbate to injury. Also, if the limp gets worse, persists more than a few days, or the location of the pain changes, i would definitely see the vet.

Hope he feels better!

Kadie

[nancy in AZ]

I guess it would depend on exactly what was injured. I had a similar experience with Kit, but it may be completely unrelated to what Boy is experiencing. I did take her to the vet and this is what I learned after he did his exam. She injured a tendon (or was it a ligament, forgive me, I have a hard time distinguishing. Tendon attaches bone to bone, ligament attaches muscle to bone)in her right front shoulder area. He did advise me to keep her activity very restricted for one week. I may have given her rimadyl for inflammation ( but I can't be sure. When I go home at lunch I can check for a prescription bottle. ) After the initial week of inactivity I think I restricted her walks to leash only for another week. She improved measurably but would still show up gimpy after vigorous activity. Usually once she would lie down she'd get up and briefly be 3 legged lame and then she'd warm up out of it. She hasn't had any problems since the end of March.

[Angie Black]

I had a similar experience with Pepper however it did turn out to be arthritis. Anti inflamatories for a week, light execise and Cod Liver oil for the long term has helped a great deal. I also used a magnetic collar with a previous dog which meant we could lower the dose of Rimadyl.

[Miztiki]

Thanks guys. If he's not showing improvement tomorrow then I'll take him in.