Shaking Back Leg?

[philospher77]

Hi!

 

This evening, Katie decided to go out and do some zoomies. Gorgeous to watch, but when she was done, I noticed that one back leg was trembling badly. Visibly trembling, from the hip down to the foot. Just on one side (the right leg), with the left one seeming perfectly normal. I have occasionally thought that there is something odd about how she walks on that leg, but it's been the really subtle "did I really see anything, because now that I am concentrating on it, it seems fine" kind of thing.

 

So, does anyone have any thoughts on this? Later this night, she was walking on it fine (and, technically, she was walking fine on the leg when it was trembling. Or at least it seemed like she was weight-bearing on it, which seems kind of odd given that the foot was vibrating.) The only other symptoms I can think of is that she has had some soft stools recently, which the vet thinks was just the intestinal flora being out of whack and which seemed to have resolved with a shot of antibiotics, until this evening after the zoomies. On the other hand, it was after some intense zoomies, so maybe that's not so odd. And the vet said that her thyroid level was low, even for a greyhound, being 0.4 where normal is 1-4. However, she said that could be a result of the stomach issue, so we will be retesting in a month to see what happens.

 

So, thoughts? I will probably be making a vet appointment, but want to know what sort of questions I should be asking.

 

Rebecca and Katie

[tbhounds]

My girl has back leg "shaking legs". I brought her to a neurologist whom diagnosed her with essential nerve tremors--it's a rather benign condition which becomes more noticeable when she's tired or when she excited/nervous or after excursion. .

Fwiw-she's truly hypothyroid (she had her thyroid gland removed due to thyroid cancer)---now that she supplemented the shaky legs are more frequent and more noticeable (her prior T4 was always <0.4--normal for her). So, will I guess it wouldn't hurt to run a full panel on your girl I would be very surprised to find that her shaky legs are a reseult of hypothyroidism.

[tbhounds]

Oh-I wanted to add that it's more prominent in one leg.

[msjpk]

My Lou has that but he is 12 and I take him to the chiropractor, I would take that route.

[Guest PiagetsMom]

Mirage does the same thing, with the same leg. I've always thought that he's a little weak in the hind end (he raced until he was 5, and he'll be 9). His vet has run an xray, and suspects the beginning of arthritis, so we supplement with Cosequin DS. It is worse after exertion or excitement, but I've noticed it happening more often recently, so it worries me some. It's something I'll be asking his vet about on our next visit.

[Wonder]

Passion has an Elvis leg too. I took her for acupuncture and it hasn't happened since.

[Guest zombrie]

This happens to Mira every time she runs. She has a weak hind end and I assume that is why. I just walk her out afterwards and she's fine.

Edited July 24, 2012 by zombrie

[GreyPoopon]

an Elvis leg

 

Ooooo, I'm going to steal this. I've been calling it shake-a-leg.

 

Betsy has it, but she's 13 1/2. Graham gets it after running. Both are on thyroid meds (after a full panel). Some of the others do occasionally too, but it's much less consistent and only after way more exercise.

[Guest HHHounds]

Vanilla also does this, nervous, excited, post zoomies...

[Guest OPointyDog]

Zoe has this problem fairly commonly and she just turned three. She had a broken hock in that leg and two surgeries, and is currently in physical therapy to strengthen the leg muscle. She also has arthritis in that leg. The vet who is her physical therapist diagnosed her with some muscle strain and spasms in her hip and groin, and in her case at least, that's what causes the tremor. She can usually walk it off and it goes away.

 

So in Zoe's case, it's soft-tissue issue rather than neurological, and one thing the therapist recommended was having her do a warm up (walking/stretching) before letting her run at all (she's currently restricted from running but that will change soon). So I wonder if Katie pulled a muscle? If you gently touch the leg in the hip and groin, does it seem sensitive?

[hikinghounds]

Zephyr gets this this a lot in his left rear leg. That is his weaker leg and he has an old injury in his left lower back that might contribute to that leg being a little weaker. I think the shaking is just from exertion and it shows in that leg because it's weaker. If he has run and played really really hard, occasionally I see it in his right leg too.

[Guest KennelMom]

I see this from time to time in our hounds...usually when they run too much/too hard for their current conditioning level. Kinds like if I took off sprinting down the road for a quarter mile (assuming I didn't drop dead ), my leg/s would be quite shakey when I finished because I've been a couch potato for the last few months.

 

I'd only make a vet visit if I saw other symptoms, ie, limping or "off" gait - something that happens regularly or is re-producable so the vet could see it. Yelping or tenderness in the leg, limited range of motion, etc...Otherwise you end up at the vet and they can really only run bloodwork and/or take an x-ray to go looking for something. I have btdt and if it allays your concerns, go for it...but sometimes you're just jumping down a rabbit hole of lots of diagnostics and nothing to really diagnose.

Edited July 24, 2012 by KennelMom

[greysmom]

My 12 yr old Copper does this all the time. I haven't discussed it with the vet (as yet) because I have assumed it's either neurological or orthopedic related to his getting older. It also doesn't seem to bother him at all, it just happens. He can walk and even run and jump around (as much as he does) with no problems.

 

He does have an appointment tomorrow for something unrelated and I will probably bring it up. Will let you know what the vet says.

[winnie]

Yup, our Darcy has a shaky right leg (LOVE the Elvis leg - totally stealing!). Our vet got a new cold laser and used Darcy as one of the test cases to evaluate it. We did treatments 2x per week for 3 weeks. No real improvement. She also came to the conclusion that it was essential nerve tremors. It doesn't seem to bother Darcy at all. She is our most active grey at 11.5 y/o (after racing until nearly 5 y/o).

[greysmom]

So I discussed Copper's "Elvis Legs Syndrome" with the vet today. She did a very thorough exam (including an internal prostate exam which obviously wouldn't apply to Katie) and found some tenderness all along his spine, and bi-lateral muscle wasting. We have rimadyl and gabapentin to try - one at a time to see if one or the other works better or if he needs both. Plus, we'll be consulting with an accupuncurist to see if we can get him some relief that way.

 

No xrays at this time. If the drugs/accupuncture don't work, then we'll have to explore more spine-related issues like arthritis or LS. There are also other drugs to try like steroids, and depo medrol shots.

[Guest DeniseL]

I just adopted 2 greyhounds so I'm certainly not an expert in the breed. However, my bridge baby, Maya, who was a lab mix, started shaking when she was about 7 yrs. It was arthritis. First only after exercise, then as she aged, anytime she started to get tired.

I managed it over the years with nsaids, tramadol, acupuncture, adaquan....did a pretty good job. But, yeah, I didn't know what the shaking was for a while, but it turned out to be that and as her arthritis progressed, so did the shaking....

[Guest Carsons_mom]

Carson's legs shake if he stands for too long --in Carson's case, not that long, as he's 12. It started a couple of years ago, but even when he's shaking, he can still walk and run just fine. Lately, I've noticed that it's shaking even before he stands for a while, so I imagine it's getting a bit worse and we take shorter walks on those days. He still gets up and down quite easily, but sometimes, just doesn't feel like going upstairs.

 

I've done Reiki on him but not as consistently as I should. I might search for an acupuncturist if he becomes impaired.

[brindlehound]

Magic has the same problem. It occurs most often after he stands for a while especially on a harder surface. He lost quite a bit of muscle in his left rear leg due to surgery after an attack and has the "Elvis leg" on the right. I always figured it might be that he's putting more weight on the right leg because the left is weaker due to muscle loss.