Spontaneous Limping

[Guest Mr_Owski]

Planning on going to the vet for the first time tomorrow if this issue persists.

 

Our 4 year old boy, Nattie, started limping today for no apparent reason.

He had some fast running in our small dog run yesterday which consisted of not all-out sprints but rather tight circles. After that exercise for about 3 minutes, he showed no signs of injury or pain. He walked back to our apartment, and on our evening walk 5 hours later he showed no signs of discomfort. This morning we went for another walk and, again, no issues. We all ate breakfast, and the dogs then laid on their beds for about an hour. Suddenly, he gets up from his bed and starts limping.

 

In the house he will put absolutely no weight on his front left leg. There are no visible corns or injuries on his pads, paw, or foot area. I've tried flexing his joints independently and gently applying pressure on different parts up and down his leg to no avail. These dogs are tricky creatures to try and figure out what is ailing them. When it was time for a walk, Nattie gets excited and does mini jumps onto his hind legs where his front paws come off the ground 6"-12". He did this and winced/whined very loudly when he landed back on his paw. On our walk he toughed through the limp and applied a bit of pressure onto that foot so that he could spare himself the inconvenience of only using 3 legs. The limp persists whether on hard or soft ground.

 

I'm overall just perplexed as to how this happened all of a sudden when he stood up from his bed.

 

Any help or insight would be much appreciated.

Edited October 21, 2013 by Mr_Owski

[Tallgreydogmom]

X-ray for Osteo.

[NeylasMom]

The more likely scenario is he did just tweak something yesterday and is sore/painful now. However, given the seeming suddenness of the limp and the amount of pain that he's in, I would absolutely x-ray his leg from wrist to shoulder. I don't want to cause you to panic; it's unlikely for a dog his age to get osteo, but it's also not unheard of so I would want the x-rays to be safe and would not let a vet convince me otherwise. and please let us know what your vet says.

Edited October 21, 2013 by NeylasMom

[TwiggysMom]

The phrase "spontaneous limping" sends chills down the spine of those who have experienced an osteo diagnosis. Fortunately, usually in a dog as young as your boy Nattie, it is much more likely that it is something like Jen mentioned.

 

Still, best idea to get the x-rays anyway - for peace of mind if nothing else! It sounds like you have done all the checking at home already that you can.

 

I hope to hear that x-rays show nothing remarkable tomorrow!

[robinw]

The phrase "spontaneous limping" sends chills down the spine of those who have experienced an osteo diagnosis. Fortunately, usually in a dog as young as your boy Nattie, it is much more likely that it is something like Jen mentioned.

 

Still, best idea to get the x-rays anyway - for peace of mind if nothing else! It sounds like you have done all the checking at home already that you can.

 

I hope to hear that x-rays show nothing remarkable tomorrow!

yep, if for no other reason than for peace of mind.

[Time4ANap]

Did you check his toes individually? He may have tweaked or dislocated a toe on the foot that he's limping on, especially since he was running in tight circles.

[JJNg]

It's easy to jump to the possibility of osteosarcoma whenever a greyhound limps for no apparent reason. But while it's possible, it's less likely with a younger dog. I'd start with a vet visit and thorough exam to see if an area of discomfort or subtle swelling can be identified. It certainly wouldn't hurt to x-ray his entire leg, but if an exam is able to reveal the source of the discomfort, x-rays may not be necessary, or they can be focused on a particular area.

[GeorgeofNE]

You don't say how long you've had him, but every newly adopted dog should be taken to the vet for a check up--if for no other reason than for your vet to see him when he's not sick.

[Charlies_Dad]

That can be several causes for a limp: corn, soft tissue injury, toe issue (e.g. cracked/broken toe), torn pad, Osteo, etc. Unfortunately not all of these are easy to diagnose at home so I agree with others, spontaneous limping is concerning however these pups tend to hurt their paws/legs a lot so a vet visit is warranted and I personally would request an x-ray for piece of mind.

[cleptogrey]

hopefully your vet will manipulate all of his joints, extend legs, check shoulders and be able to determine the root of the problem before and expensive xray. have you checked the webbing in between his toes? as well as nails, etc? he may just need a hit of anti-inflammatory drugs and that's it.

 

hearing osteo must have sent your heart way down to the bottom of your gut. let's hope that he pulled something, knocked something or has a soft tissue injury while running and that's that. greyhounds are like a fancy race car, one thing is out of alignment or off and they sputtter!

[kudzu]

This has happened several times with my Greys. The source has run from bad ligaments in toes to loose nails to broken toes to soft tissue injury to strained shoulder to neck issues. Don't get too stressed out.

[Guest Mr_Owski]

You don't say how long you've had him, but every newly adopted dog should be taken to the vet for a check up--if for no other reason than for your vet to see him when he's not sick.

The one I'm having the problem with we've had for about 8 months now. He had just come back from the vet when we adopted him for his checkup, teeth cleaning, rabies shots, etc, so I didn't see the need to shell out unnecessary cash for a post-adoption evaluation right away. This is the first issue we've had with him.

 

Almost $300 later (I admit I was disappointed that this vet visit cost as much as the whole adoption fee for our dog....I guess that's my reality check to the world of dog ownership) we still don't have any conclusive answers as to what the cause is. The vet reassured us that from the several xrays that osteo is likely out of the picture. When she did her joint and flexion tests it seems the root of the problem is somewhere in his shoulder region, and we received some Metacam to help with the pain.

 

This morning his limping was still just as bad, in that he was hobbling around on 3 legs for the first several hours of the day. However, as we went on our walk he definitely was using all 4 and seemed to be placing more weight onto that leg. The significant other was crying prior to the vet visit because the thought of osteo crept into her head, but we're very glad that that's ruled out. As of right now I'm just keeping a watchful eye out. His mood and overall demeanor hasn't changed at all, so my fingers are crossed. The vet postured that Nattie had perhaps slept on it wrong in the same way that a human might wake up with a stiff neck or limb. I've never heard of that happening in dogs, and most of the medical explanations usually resort to more serious injuries or ailments right off the bat.

[MP_the4pack]

I just had a scare with my little girl. She started limping on her right front. And at age 9, that's prime age for OS. I just had a hemangiosarcoma scare 2 weeks earlier. She had the dermal kind and I ultrasounded her abdomen to make sure it was dermal and not a met.

 

So at the vets he knew I was worried about OS. He said he's almost sure it's the tendon. Tendonitis. But what I didn't know is that it's very hard to clear up and if you can't clear it up, you can get crystals in the tendon and end up with a permanent limp.

 

She was on Rimadyl for 3 weeks and no running or playing. Just leash walk.

 

She did heal thank goodness.

 

So check the tendonitis route. I don't know if metacam works on tendonitis. My vet said tramadol, while a pain killer helps with pain, it's not a good antinflamatory. That's why he put her on Rimadyl.

[Guest k9soul]

I think the adoption fees for the dogs are actually very low compared to the cost of all their care before adoption, but if they made it too high they'd certainly have more trouble with adoptions. Unexpected vet bills can be very devastating, but I'm glad at least it is seeming that osteo is ruled out. However it must certainly be disconcerting not to have a definitive answer of what the problem is. Many good thoughts going your way that whatever is going on will heal soon. It's so hard to see them sick or hurt in any way.

[tbhounds]

Check for Lyme disease :-). You also may want to consider looking into obtaining health insurance for you hound. While we have made great strides and advances in veterinary care it comes at a price.

Edited October 22, 2013 by tbhounds

[TwiggysMom]

I'm so glad to hear that the x-rays were negative. Of course, I know you wish you had a reason why Nattie is still limping. It seems a little bit of a stretch for them to say it was just him sleeping funny since he's been limping for several days now.

 

Hopefully, it's a little muscle strain and the Metacam helps resolve it quicky!

[GeorgeofNE]

You really CAN'T rule out osteo because one set of x-rays is clear.

 

I know someone who just KNEW her dog had osteo. The tumor didn't show up until the third set of films...

 

Your boy is pretty young, so it's probably not. But when George was limping, my vet said, "Because he's a greyhound, I want you to bring him back in two weeks and we'll do another set."

[Guest Mr_Owski]

So we've passed the 1 week mark since this all started happening.

Overall, the issue absolutely has gotten better, but it's still not resolved completely.

 

The day after the vet visit we no longer saw him walking on only 3 legs, and he's been returning to more of a normal trot during our walks. We've made sure not to let him run and have tried to massage the muscle in his shoulder each day for about 5 minutes. The limping is still present though, especially during the first several hundred feet of our walks and whenever he gets up from laying on one of his beds. The severity seems to have gone way down, and the few times he has done his little hops and excited runs down the hallway to greet us there hasn't been any whining or whimpering in response to putting more strain on that leg.

 

I'm still perplexed as to what the underlying cause is, but I won't say no to improvements.

[tbhounds]

Did you check for Lyme??

[TwiggysMom]

I am happy to hear that Nattie is feeling noticeably better!

 

It may help to keep him as quiet as possible so that whatever he may have tweaked can heal more quickly. (For some hounds this is easier said than done - I know from personal experience )

 

I hope he continues to improve!

[Walliered]

Have you thought of insurance for your grey? I have Trupanion and it has saved me many thousands of dollars in the last 3 years. Probably over $25,000 to be exact.

[Guest Mr_Owski]

No, I didn't get him checked for lyme disease.

We will be looking into pet insurance, although based on our current financial situation I don't know if it's absolutely prudent to spend that money. However, as the two dogs age I'm sure it's gonna be something we'll go for.

 

He has gotten a lot better. We've continued to give him the medication past the vet-recommended 7 days, along with refraining from exercise.

His limp is 95% gone. There's still a barely noticeable limp, again, when he gets up from a resting position, but he's been great on walks and no longer winces when we move his shoulder joint. Hopefully another week and we'll be back to normal and will ease back into running.

[Guest Mr_Owski]

Just a brief update, but the limp is entirely gone. We still wonder what the heck happened; however, we're very relieved our doggy-filled lives have returned to normal.

 

Have they invented that talking collar device from the Pixar movie "Up" yet so that we can have our dogs communicate?

[galgrey]

Glad to see he's no longer limping. That's always scary.

[dken105]

My black greyhound (age 6) had a bout with limping on his left front leg in July. I had him X-Rayed right away and it was found to be an old racing injury. He is on Rimadyl and still lets out yelps occasionally. Last week, he came in from outside carrying his left back leg up and whimpering. We checked it immediately and it was really swollen by his ankle. It was Friday night and he carried it up all evening long. By Sat. he was bearing weight on it and it was less swollen. By Monday, it seemed OK. Just wanted to let you know, we always worry when our babies are hurting, but many times it is something minor and that is hopefully what Nattie has experienced.