Settle My Mind... Hound Knocked Inside Rear Leg, Vet Trip?

[Guest blondealonso]

Hi all,

 

Been a while since i've posted but its usually because i'm concerned with my grey :-)

 

We were playing in the garden about 8 hours ago and I was knealing down and my grey suddenly spun around on the spot. As he came round the inside of his rear left leg smacked into my knee as I was bent down (caught between the inside of his upper part of the leg to his body). He yelped out and the leg shaked for about 10 seconds whilst I rubbed it. He walked with an initial slight limp for 30seconds aftwards then seemed to get back to normal.

 

Bare in mind he just spun on the spot and I think it was the shock that set off the yelp. I've felt the leg and couldn't feel anything unsual other than a bit of a tension. He didnt show a great deal of discomfort when checking his leg.

 

We went on his evening walk just fine although he had a slight limp when he went into a slight jog. Although pulled on the lead... as he usually does.

 

Fast forward to now, he's just got up after a couple of hours of sleeping and had a slight limp going down the stairs, not wanting to put an awful lot of weight on the leg he hit.

 

So, the question is do I need to take him to the vet? A couple of months ago he had his back and legs x-rayed post adoption (just to be sure) and the initial signs of arthritus showed up but nothing severe. Its new years day tomorrow and no vets will be open... i'm not sure if I can afford the emergency vets over this.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated? Is it a case of monitoring to see if we need to go to vet on the 2nd?

 

Many thanks

 

Edit: He's coming up to 7 years old, never had an injury on his leg before (as far as we know).

Edited December 31, 2012 by blondealonso

[Trihounds]

Sounds like just a bruise. Personally, I would monitor and not go to the vet.

[Time4ANap]

I would watch for bruising, and if he'll let you, maybe apply a cold pack (crushed ice in a ziploc inside a towel) a few times. Unless he's yelping every time he moves, starts limping all the time, or the leg swells, I doubt that I would go to the e-vet based on what you've posted so far.

 

Good luck to you and your boy.

[tbhounds]

I would wait. He may be fine in the morning :-). If he's not sound in a couple of days then, I would get him looked at.

[silverfish]

I would monitor and wait, too.

 

Unless the leg swells a lot, or he begins not to weight-bear on it, this will wait until the vet opens.

 

Greyhounds are big wimps most of the time and will scream at nothing - it's just the way some of them are!

 

They do spin, and they do knock themselves. I'm trying to imagine what injury he could possibly have done in that scenario... he could have torn a muscle or ligament, he could possibly have hurt his hip, he could have bruised himself or twisted a knee. However, greyhound knees are extremely strong and don't twist easily. Muscles and ligaments can tear, but are not emergencies - if he's torn his gracilis (inside the thigh) there'll probably be a lot of ugly bruising, but it's actually not too serious. Hips can potentially dislocate, but to be honest, it would normally take a huge amount of force to dislocate a greyhound hip, like being hit by a car.

 

He might just possibly have come down wrong and broken or dislocated a toe, which is actually not totally unlikely. But again, it's not a true emergency requiring a call-out over a Bank Holiday, unless it's displaced and causing a great deal of pain. You could take a look and see if there's one swollen or one he won't let you touch, or just looks 'funny'. If there is, you could wrap his foot to support it, if he'll let you.

 

I would watch him. As long as he's eating and behaving normally and doesn't appear to be in a lot of pain, I wouldn't worry too much. If he's still limping on the 2nd, pop him in for a check up when you can get to the vet.

[Guest blondealonso]

Ok, thanks all :-)

 

Last thing you want to be worrying about on New years eve!

 

He's more than happy for me to massage his leg, although not keen on me stretching it a little. We'll keep an eye on him tomorrow and if he's still limping by Wednesday we'll ring the vets.

 

Hope everyone has a good new year,

 

Cheers!

[Guest IrskasMom]

Cheers to you .

 

I hope your Baby is feeling better soon.

[Guest FullMetalFrank]

Give him a banana or a spoon of molasses; he might have some cramping in an overextended muscle, the potassium helps. Also if you have arnica pellets or external muscle rub, and a little ice doesn't hurt. Those are my go-to "first aid" for possible strains or bruises; minor injuries usually will begin to bother them less in a day, day and a half maybe. If limping persists or things get worse, then we'll go see the vet. Hope your sweetie is feeling better.