What Are The Earliest Signs?

[LadyGrey]

I probably dont even need to post this yet. But I have read a couple of huge threads on Bone cancer here on GT. Lots of fantastic information. I checked out the links too. Thanks for posting. I missed it somewhere. I never read what the earliest symptoms are.

 

My sweet little Angel is favoring her back right leg. Even when she sits in her favorite position of the "spinx" position, she is leaning a little, and then flops to the side after a while. I have noticed this in the past two to three days at the most. She has a little bit of a limp when she walks. However, she runs just fine in the back yard with Bella. Am I being too hasty? Could it be a little onset of Arthritis? I am reading so much about OS now, I am scared.

 

I appreciate any help if possible. Even if you just want to say...."LadyGrey, just chill!"

 

Thanks.

 

PS

I am so so sorry for all of you who have lost your precious little babies to this OS thing. Run Free dear Angels over us!!

 

[Remolacha]

There are many, many things a limp could be, most of them not too bad Arthritis, a pulled muscle, corns are three that leap to mind. Keep an eye on it, if it doesn't get better, or gets worse, have your vet check her out. I completely understand about the worry!

[OwnedBySummer]

If you're worried... why not get an x-ray and hopefully rule it out? The x-ray should also be able to tell you about arthritis or not. I'm guessing you checked for corns already. The nice thing with X-raying the greyhounds is that they don't have to sedate them!

Edited March 24, 2011 by OwnedBySummer

[RobinM]

For us, it was our beloved Polli at 9 years, 9 months.

 

She started limping severely. We had the leg x-rayed. Nothing showed up. Over the course of a year she limped on and off.

 

We rested, deramaxx, etc when necessary. One year after the x-ray she was limping for about 5 days. I was going to bring her in but she tripped on the steps, fractured the leg. It was osteo.

 

We did an amputation immediately. 5 rounds of chemo. She did well. My cookie monster, my trooper.

 

Osteo got her. We were blindsided. We had 5 months after the initial diagnosis.

 

I have her son, Beau who just developed some lameness in the same leg.

 

If my dogs are limping after 3-5 days of rest and antiinflammatories, they go to the vet. I usually only wait 3 days.

 

Hoping your baby is OK.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Don't feel bad that your thoughts went straight to osteo. We all do that.

[Guest LokisMom]

Every time I see an unexplained limp I offer a prayer that it isn't osteo. We all almost immediately fear that awful disease, especially those who have lost to it before.

 

It could be anything. I'd get xrays to make sure. My dad's girl limps periodically and has for 3 years now. The vet thinks it may be flare ups up what is typically very mild arthritis. There are so many things favoring a leg could mean. But I agree with Robin, if mine are limping after three days they go to the vet.

 

ETA: I think the early signs depend on the dog to be honest. If you read the threads on GT, it seems like usually people don't know until they see a lump or a limp. That's purely anecdotal from reading here and I don't know about studies and the like. Once Cole was diagnosed we didn't really read about early signs, we read about what we could do for him THEN.

 

The first thing we noticed with Cole was a small lump on his hip. He wasn't even limping or favoring the leg at the time. One hipbone was just jutting out more than the other.

Edited March 24, 2011 by LokisMom

[Charlies_Dad]

It is very hard to say because each pup is different. Some have no limping and one day break their leg, with others the limp shows up pronounced and gets severe very quickly. Our Charlie started to limp Wednesday night, I made the call Thursday afternoon to amputate his leg without a 100% diagnosis. After the amp, the biopsy came back positive for Osteo. I just knew it was...

 

I say get an x-ray if you are concerned. While it doesn't 100% guarantee it could never be OS, a clean x-ray will make you feel better. Remember though, a limp could mean many things.

[Guest zombrie]

My stomach jumps up into my throat every time I see Mira limp, or any greyhound. Mira has been limping off and on since November so inside I am freaking out. But the logical side is saying arthritis, we know she has arthritis in her hind end.

Multiple things can trigger a limp, but it is so hard to not instantly jump to the C word.

[Guest Brindled_Greys]

Thriller had back issues that caused him to limp from time to time. Might look at that too.

[iluvgreys]

The only symptom I ever saw with my three was an unexplained limp that came out of the blue. Did x-rays after 2-3 days and got the diagnosis... then repeated x-rays after 3-4 weeks when there was doubt. Also ruled out Valley Fever, considering where we lived at the time and where the dogs had raced. So limping scares the crap outta me. Hoping for the best for your pupper.

[4My2Greys]

Does she limp only on hard surfaces when she walks or also when she is in the yard? If she is limping on hard surfaces it could likely be a corn on the foot, which can cause a lot of pain.

[GreytNut]

There are myriad other things it could be besides osteo. An x-ray will help you narrow the field.

 

For both of my osteo boys it started with a limp and minor swelling. The limp came and went, but it came more often and got more pronounced as time went by.

 

I don't know if this is coincidence or not... I noticed with both boys that their noses became very dry shortly before they were diagnosed with osteo. Might be entirely unrelated, but I wonder if anyone else noticed that with their osteo hounds?

[NancyB]

Kassie was the first here to have a limp and swollen wrist. Vet checked her for Lyme Disease first and that's what she had. She was treated with antibiotics and was fine.

 

Marvin was diagnosed with osteosarcoma and his symptoms came out of the blue. He was fine, no limping or swelling, but one evening, after a nap, came to me panting, holding his front leg up and had a big swollen wrist. The first thing his vet checked for was Lyme disease, he didn't have it so she did and x-ray and saw it.

 

Ramm (Marvin's littermate), was limping on his front leg last summer, the vet checked him out and said he has arthritis in his elbow.

 

Limping can be caused by many things so if there's a limp you're concerned about it's better to have it checked out.

[LadyGrey]

Does she limp only on hard surfaces when she walks or also when she is in the yard? If she is limping on hard surfaces it could likely be a corn on the foot, which can cause a lot of pain.

 

 

 

She limps everywhere, yard, in the house, and when she goes to lie down or gets up, she favors it. Yesterday was either the second day or the third day I noticed it. The lovely little princess has not risen from her princess bed yet, but I will watch her today. If she still limps, I make an appointment for the vet and X-Ray.

 

Now a couple of months ago, Bella was doing it for a few days. However, I think she pulled a muscle. It went away and she has been fine. The girls run hard in the back yard with eachother.

 

There are no corns, or anything in her paws. Legs all look and feel fine.

 

You all have been wonderful in helping me here. I prayed last night that it is nothing.

 

I will keep you posted. Thank you so much.

 

 

This is Angel in the costume I made for her.

 

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[carronstar]

Don't feel bad that your thoughts went straight to osteo. We all do that.

 

Ditto. We are all on very high alert for any signs of a problem.

[joejoesmom]

With my Joe, I first noticed a slight limp. When I pressed on his joints his shoulder seemed painful. Somehow I just knew it was going to be very bad news. I took him to the vet the next day and amputated the day after. His was in the upper part of the humerus. I didn't see any lump, but the xrays showed that it involved at least 1/3 of the humerus.

 

In retrospect, he had been less playful for about a month. He had also been panting for about a month which I thought at the time was due to the hot weather. Just 6 weeks prior to diagnosis he spent the day running with other greyhounds at my groups annual picnic. He didn't even limp after this unusual workout.

 

Jane

[cleptogrey]

with emily who had oseto in her shoulder the very first sign was a whince at grooming the spring before she died. yet she showed no signs of limping what so ever until 6 weeks before her death. she did slow down on running,but she was 8 years old. but she hiked, walked and did the usual until my birthday oct. 29th. then she had a good hard run w/ my other grey and a lab and developed a limp. w/ a history of lyme we first treated for that, but she was in too much pain new year's eve and jan 2nd we had to let her go. she was finally xrayed on dec.17th,(a series of broken xray machines delayed the xray). strange how one remembers all the details of loosing a beloved member of the family.

[GeorgeofNE]

Pray all you like--but if I were you, I'd also make an appointment for x-rays.

 

Given the insanely high incidence of osteo in Greyhounds, I will NEVER just hope for the best with George. In fact, I just now noticed his leg was going wonky when he is walking. I have an appointment tomorrow for something else, but may just ask for an x-ray while I'm there.

[Guest Shermanator]

I agree with iluvgreys- where did your pups race, and where do you live? Valley Fever is a big problem out here, and dogs can get it from laying in dirt, digging in dirt, etc. Its a fungal disease that can affect any part of their body. If it settles in the bones, it can mimic the 'spiderwebbing' of OS in an xray, but a blood test is needed. Here, its something you look for immediately, but its not well known by vets in other parts of the country. If your pup came from AZ, it could be causing a limp?

Echo has VF and is being treated for it with antifungal meds.

 

However, any limp in a pup sends alarm bells, since I lost both my boys very quickly to OS last summer within 6 weeks. Sherman was only 9, and Patton was only 8.

[Guest Shermanator]

Oh, also when Patton started limping, his xray showed lesions in the bone, and we immediately tested for VF. Unfortunately the test was negative, and we lost him soon after. In hindsight, he was really quiet and not himself after Sherman died, we thought he was grieving. Patton also looked like he aged a lot in the weeks after Sherman died. He looked tired. We thought if was grief, until the limp. Sherman's wrist swelled, we knew it was OS, since that is not a VF symptom. In hindsight, he had been showing signs of pain for 2 months, but it was so intermittent, we didn't thinks anything of it. Until we saw the wrist swell.

OS sucks!

[Guest snakes]

Hard not to think of OS right away. I concur with the limp that lasts more than 3-4days. FedX was diagnosed after he had one hard short run and came up squeeling and holding a front leg up and wouldn't put weight on it, then it started to swell, that was 2mo 3 weeks ago. I had an xray done immediatly and it was OS.

Prior to that day he didn't show any signs in the front leg except for the previous week when he would shriek briefly and limp for about 2min when getting off my bed to greet me coming home, however he was on prednisone for another tumor and had been having troubles with that and when we stopped it the shrieks and limp went away. He had been slowing down for the previous year, but he was no speed demon previously and he does have a bad arthirtic toe and a mast cell tumor on his hind leg so i figured that was what was slowing him down (and i still think it was).

[Guest angel]

My grey had been limping very occasionally front right leg for about three weeks. It seemed so insignificant at the time. Being new to racing greyhounds, I did not know about the prevalence of OS in this breed. It was when I noticed a hard bony swelling in his ankle bone that I took him to the vet for Xrays. Months later I remembered a time three months before diagnosis when he stepped into a flower bed in a park and began to yelp in pain so hard, that a woman offered to drive us home. But I massaged the leg for a few minutes and he continued on as if nothing had happened. He was so healthy at the time that I assumed he had stepped on a thorn. This goes to show how insidious this disease can be. Had I taken him to the vet straight away after the incident at the park, perhaps the outcome might have been different.

 

Initial Xrays showed very little destruction of the bone and I thought with amp and chemo we would beat this evil monster. It was when I remembered the incident at the park months earlier that I realized we had lost precious time. I had to face the inevitable.

 

I advise anyone who notices a lameness in their dog to have it Xrayed as soon as possible, if only for peace of mind. Hopefully in your case it will only be a case of arthritis. We need more happy endings.

[Guest june]

Your Angel is beautiful. Sending prayers for the best. Remember to breath.

june

[LadyGrey]

THank you for all you kind words of help, prayers, advise, and testimonies. Angel passed with flying colors!!! However, a few of you mentioned that your babies also had negative x-ray results the first time. So I will take her in in three months if she shows no signs of limping or favoring the leg.

 

She has stopped limping altogether now. She only limped for three days. I dont know what it was as we looked her over and the vet gave a good massage to test for her reactions.

 

Oh and by the way, I always meant to bring her in for x-rays right from the beginning even when I posted this thread just for information from my friends on GT. And even so, YES, I DO PRAY a lot AS WELL!

 

I will keep you posted on the next x-ray.

 

Thanks so much

 

Edited March 29, 2011 by LadyGrey

[Guest angel]

Super!!!

 

She's a beautiful girl!