Bad Limp And Fear Of The Floor

[Guest mtnbluebird]

Saturday Morning Folsom got his nails trimmed, no issues, no bleeders, and when I was done none of his nails made the little "click click" noise on the hardwoods. I left him with my SO for the evening and when I came home my SO told me Folsom had been limping. I didn't notice it inside because he was eagerly greeting my friend and I, but I did notice a limp when I took him outside. The next morning, Sunday, Folsom would not come out of his crate after his morning potty break. He just came right in and ran into the crate. I had to feed him in the crate. He spent most of the day in there and wouldn't come out for his afternoon walk or to eat dinner. The next morning he wouldn't come off his bed for his morning potty break. Basically it seems like was afraid of walking on slippery floors, and he totally spazzes out and tries to run through the front door at walk time. He's gotten MUCH better at being comfortable on the floor in the past few days considering how bad it was Sunday and Monday (with lots of patience on our part), but it seems his limp is getting worse. He's got an old left rear leg injury that he always favors (got that checked out by a vet the first week we brought him home) and now his front left paw/leg is the newly injured leg.

 

I know he's in pain, he lays around a lot more, but he'll still get excited and do zoomies for me on the rug when I come home from work so it can't hurt THAT bad... He seems stiff after laying down for a while, but if we get up and walk around the limp gets a little better, but never goes away completely. We're also limiting his walks. I'm worried he'll get restless without enough exercise though. He usually walks about half a mile in the morning and a mile in the afternoon. With his limp this bad he only gets a little meander around, not really a "walk".

 

I'm wondering if I should set up a vet visit?

[Guest EmbersDad]

i would. i may be a bit sensitive to this but ember had a limp, xrayed right side, nothing found...weighed 66 lbs. week later, limp had not improved and now she was not putting pressure on left foot. 61 lbs, xrays found osteo in left shoulder. that was on a tuesday, she went into the hospital 2 days later, and was amputated the next day. current weight, 51 lbs!

 

it may be nothing, but it is better to be certain, than to be sorry.

 

good luck!

[Guest mtnbluebird]

Yeah I'd heard that a limp is a sign of osteo, but I was thinking he may have gotten a paw jammed in the door or something since he's most spastic by the door and sometimes it takes a big pull to open up (and he's standing there with his nose against the knob). Should I ask the vet for an X-ray? (I'm not sure if the vet we go to has one... they don't have a hallway big enough to watch him walk) Folsom just turned 3 in June, I don't know if that makes any difference whatsoever.

[Guest EmbersDad]

ember behaved the same way. she would walk and move around, but i could tell she was miserable. have you checked for a corn? your vet will do a thorough exam and watch him walk, examine for a corn etc. the only other thing i can tell you is osteo is more aggressive in younger dogs.

[Guest mtnbluebird]

yeah I've searched his paws all very thoroughly, no corns or split nails or sores between his toes. He was afraid of the kitchen floor again this morning, he stopped eating halfway through his bowl to back off it. I'm going to call the vet this morning to see if I can get him an appointment this week.

[Guest EmbersDad]

yeah I've searched his paws all very thoroughly, no corns or split nails or sores between his toes. He was afraid of the kitchen floor again this morning, he stopped eating halfway through his bowl to back off it. I'm going to call the vet this morning to see if I can get him an appointment this week.

 

 

is he still limping though?

[SPDoggie]

Before we jump to cancer... could he just be needing to adjust to his shorter nails? Could he have gotten used to walking on the "scary" floors with his nails clicking, and now that they don't touch, maybe he just feels unbalanced?

 

Just an idea, since it sounds like he is fine on other surfaces, where he might have more traction

[Guest mtnbluebird]

I made an appointment for Tomorrow afternoon. His limp started on Saturday, but not right after I clipped his nails, he also wasn't afraid of any surface after I had clipped his nails. Unfortunately, I was not home Saturday afternoon to see what started it all, and I didn't even notice a limp until Sunday when he wouldn't get up out of bed. At this point his nails have grown to the point where they click the floor again, and although he's better on the hardwood he is still scared of the linoleum in the kitchen (where his crate and food bowls are). He had a stumble last night coming out of his crate, we had to coax him out with a TON of praise.

 

He's obviously in pain, and since it's been almost a week with the limp we're gonna get him checked out. He's not "fine" on other surfaces, its just that he'll walk on them now, where before he absolutely refused. He still has a limp on ANY surface that seems to be getting worse each day, especially after he's been laying down for a while.

 

I'm not going to jump to conclusions, we'll just get him checked out and hopefully he'll be fine :-)

[SPDoggie]

Didn't realize he had been limping for a week... good to get it all checked out!

[Guest wmlcml6]

Is it possible he slipped on the floor when nobody was around to witness the fall? If so, that would make him sore, and nervous about going back to that area.

[patricia]

Sending prayers.

[grey14me]

Is it possible he slipped on the floor when nobody was around to witness the fall? If so, that would make him sore, and nervous about going back to that area.

 

this was my first thought as well. is there any way you can put some area rugs down for him?

 

[Guest EaglesMom]

Is it possible he slipped on the floor when nobody was around to witness the fall? If so, that would make him sore, and nervous about going back to that area.

 

this was my first thought as well. is there any way you can put some area rugs down for him?

 

I totally agree, Eagle is a big ole' scardy cat with slippery floors and if he slips at all, I pay hell getting him to go on them for a while (even with area rugs).