Stephanie Is Limping

[tamborine]

Last night & today Stephanie's been limping - she won't walk on her L back leg. She'll put pressure on it to jump up somewhere, but that's it. I went over the whole foot & leg with a fine-toothed comb, and I can't find anything wrong. No swelling, bruising, cuts, scrapes, corns, broken nails, etc. I palpated the whole leg/foot, and she didn't cry out or pull away.

 

The only thing I can think of is she slipped on the living room floor the other night while she & Henderson were wrestling, but she got right back up, didn't cry or anything, kept right on playing, and was apparently fine. Now, 2 or 3 days later, she's limping.

 

Has anyone else had their grey limp with no obvious cause, and then be fine? How long should I wait until I take her to the vet? I'd feel kind of silly taking her in now; it hasn't even been 24 hours yet, and she's not in what I'd call distress (but there must be some discomfort, or she wouldn't be limping). Should I give her an enteric-coated aspirin? Of course, I'm terrified of "you-know-what", even though she's only 4 years old.

 

Please share any experiences, reassuring or not, so I can decide what I'm going to do for my Stephie!

[Guest SoulsMom]

Soul started limping on a Friday morning and I had him to the vet the next day. I could not find any obvious cause either. When the vet was examining him, it became obvious that he was in a lot more pain than he was letting on. We decided to do Rimadyl, pain meds, and bed rest. If he wasn't better by Monday, we planned on x rays. But he was back to his normal goofy self by Sunday.

 

Link to his thread in H&M:

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php?showtopic=181443&hl=

 

Edited June 20, 2008 by SoulsMom

[Houndtime]

A month or so after we adopted Paul, he started limping. I made an appointment and was crying for days before the date. When we took him to the vet, she twisted him every way possible. Her best guess was a soft tissue injury. We had him on deramaxx for 10 days and he was fine after.

 

If your dog is in obvious pain give her the coated aspirin or if you have tramadol in the house try that. Don't give it to her just before your vet visit though, so, the doctor can see her issues.

 

Good luck and I hope she will be fine.

[MerlinsMum]

Once (ok, maybe more than once) I was really worried because Merlin started limping, and I couldn't figure out what it was. The vet thinks that he may have an old injury that never really healed and that every now and then he gets a "twinge". He is 3 and a half years old. The last time he started limping, i couldn't figure it out straightaway, because it wasn't immediately after strenuous exercise... but then I remembered that I hadn't walked him after his play date the day before. So he was probably stiff. Now I remind myself always to do a warm-up walk with him before he runs, and afterwards to wind down a bit.

 

I hope it's nothing... I'd make sure she gets lots of rest. Since it's been a few days, you might want to take her to the vet just to make sure. She may not be wincing when you touch her but if she's limping it must hurt to put weight on that leg.

 

And remember - it could be a LOT of different things. Don't get too worried at this point. It could be nothing.

[Guest vahoundlover]

Sending lots of prayers it's nothing serious I'd keep her quiet for a couple of days and see how she does.

[RobinM]

I'd wait 3 days and then take her to the vet. (unless she is obviously in pain ) With my 4 pups, it's a rarity that one of them doens't have some sort of limp going on.

 

I'm sure she is OK and just a muscle sprain.

[greytdecals]

Whenever one of my greys starts limping my mind immedaitely thinks "bone cancer" because we have been down that road before.

 

I recently took Maggie-Mae to OSU Vet Clinic/Greyhound Health and Wellness program because she was limping and it was discovered that she had a broken toe that never healed properly and as she ages she is developing some pain in that toe. She was instructed to take Deramaxx when the pain flairs.

 

The strange thing is that the leg I thought she was limping on was actually the leg that was ok, it was her opposite leg that had the broken toe and she was shifting her weight in a way that would make it appear that she was limping on the good leg.

 

We waited a few days till we took her in and by then the limping seemed better but we wanted to know for sure what we were dealing with and now we can sleep easier knowing it's not serious and the pain can be managed.

 

I say have her checked out.

[patricia]

Sending prayers.

[Tallgreydogmom]

I use the three day rule. I have too much experience with bone cancer. After three days they go to the vet.

[carronstar]

Sending prayers and good thoughts.

[Guest argolola]

She will be in my prayers. Please keep us posted on how she's doing.

 

My girl limped off and on for over a year, but it turns out she was walking on pavement and/or rough ground.

[Guest greytlady]

Poor baby got a boo boo?

Rest may help, keeping fingers crossed she gets better!

[tamborine]

It's just about 24 hours since I first noticed the limp, and it's 99% better now! She's acting her normal self, and only if I REALLY look can I see she's favoring that leg a teeny-tiny bit.

 

So hopefully it was just another case of my premature panic . I'll be watching her over the weekend, but the way it's going, it looks like she should be all better by tomorrow!

[kudzu]

It's just about 24 hours since I first noticed the limp, and it's 99% better now!

Excellent! So glad.

[MerlinsMum]

Glad to read she seems to be doing better. Hopefully she'll be on top form again by Monday.