romansperson Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Tough chased and caught a rabbit Thursday night. Saturday morning, we noticed his upper left thigh, both on the inside and the back, was all bruised. The inside is quite swollen as well. Looks exactly like the image floating around the Internet of a torn gracilis muscle. It doesn't seem to bother him at all - his appetite and attitude are the same as ever - but he's being leash walked every time he needs to go out until further notice. Anyone deal with this before? What did you do to help it heal? Tough is 7, will be 8 early next year and he's very hard on his body. He likes to run hard every day. I hate to restrict him too much but of course I don't want him end up permanently crippling himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 (edited) My girl tore her's during a fun run. It looked much like you described. Surprisingly it didn't appear painful. It resolved on it's own but, if you carefully palpate the inside of her thigh you can feel some muscle scarring. That was years ago and it never bothered again. Edited to add- I think I had a bag of frozen peas on the site the first day. Edited October 16, 2011 by tbhounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyhead Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Shane came to us after his tear happened, and it took us a while to notice the muscle dropping and dropping, as they continue to do. At the point vet said no walks for two weeks, leash for outs. Quote Mary with Jumper Jack (2/17/11) and angels Shane (PA's Busta Rime, 12/10/02 - 10/14/16) and Spencer (Dutch Laser, 11/25/00 - 3/29/13). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheDoggfather Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Short of surgery, there's nothing you can do for him immediately aside from what you know what's best; Rest. In the long run he'll be fine and once the pain subsides he'll be just fine - he won't be as fast as he was, but, then again, he really doesn't need to be any longer Give him an ear scritch from me and I'll try to imagine him nibbling on my hand as I put him back in his crate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFullHouse Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 Valentino retired because of a dropped muscle. We brought him home righr after his injury. He had some swelling and bruising but once the swelling and bruising went away he was fine. His thigh looked a little odd for a while but that's all. We didn't let him run a lot until it was healed. Quote Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romansperson Posted October 16, 2011 Author Share Posted October 16, 2011 (edited) Short of surgery, there's nothing you can do for him immediately aside from what you know what's best; Rest. In the long run he'll be fine and once the pain subsides he'll be just fine - he won't be as fast as he was, but, then again, he really doesn't need to be any longer Give him an ear scritch from me and I'll try to imagine him nibbling on my hand as I put him back in his crate Funny part is, he seems to be in little to no pain over this. If we tore that same muscle, we'd be all #@$##I%! I see greyhead said two weeks. Long enough? Edited October 16, 2011 by romansperson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyhead Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 (edited) Well, I should emphasize that the two weeks' rest was prescribed after the vet saw it, which was soon after we noticed it, which was apparently weeks after it actually happened. So in your case two weeks might be insufficient. ETA: Our GH group leader told me that if the gracilis tear had happened after we got him, we would have KNOWN it -- presumably, by the sound he made! But even if she was wrong about that, you'd think we'd have seen bruising, which we didn't. So we think it was maybe his career-ending injury. Edited October 17, 2011 by greyhead Quote Mary with Jumper Jack (2/17/11) and angels Shane (PA's Busta Rime, 12/10/02 - 10/14/16) and Spencer (Dutch Laser, 11/25/00 - 3/29/13). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romansperson Posted October 17, 2011 Author Share Posted October 17, 2011 Hm. I shall have to research a bit more. Care of the Racing and Retired Greyhound mentions surgery, but since Tough is retired, that seems a bit extreme, plus if that is going to be done, doing it in a timely manner is important. Though Tough doesn't seem to remember he's retired! I know rest and leash outs are important, but the length is the question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lovey_Hounds Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Vegas has torn his Gracillis muscle on both hind legs (a different occasions) and after some rest he was just fine, he now has a pretty lumpy dropped muscle on the site of the newest tear but it doesn't bother him he keeps up with chili when running with no issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFullHouse Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Hm. I shall have to research a bit more. Care of the Racing and Retired Greyhound mentions surgery, but since Tough is retired, that seems a bit extreme, plus if that is going to be done, doing it in a timely manner is important. Though Tough doesn't seem to remember he's retired! I know rest and leash outs are important, but the length is the question. The trainer told us a month. If he runs a lot and hard, the muscle can drop even more. We were careful for a month and have had no other problems. Quote Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheDoggfather Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Nancy, you'd only consider surgery if the injury was debilitating and if it could continue his racing career. The one dog we did it to was with Hanks Cody - Martin will remember him. Even with the surgery, Cody wasn't 100%... he still won some races, but, he wasn't his old self. Tough won't need surgery, just a lot of rest and leashed walks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romansperson Posted October 17, 2011 Author Share Posted October 17, 2011 Crazy hound was bouncing all over the house this morning. It will be fun keeping him quiet for awhile! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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