Leg Sprain

[rsieg]

Hello,

 

Logan (4 yo) woke up limping on his right rear leg this morning. I am pretty sure it is just a sprain (or mucle strain). He showed no limping last night, and we walked for 2+ hours yesterday so he definitely had the opportunity to stress it and I'm thinking it took overnight to get bad. I looked at the pad and did not see anything that looks like a corn, though not sure I would be able to identify one -- but that would not come full on overnight, would it? I can manipulate the leg without him crying.

 

He ate this morning, and wanted to go for his usual walk, even convinced me to put his coat on and get him out -- but then he stopped holding up the foot, so only Max went for a short walk. (Aside - Max seemed confused at first that Logan was not next to him on the walk :-) I'm in the living room now, and Logan just climbed into a chair, so I don't think he is in too much pain.

 

My thinking is to give it two or three days to see if it goes away on its own, and if not then go to the vet to have it checked out. My questions are:

(1) Is there any significant risk to waiting to see the vet?

(2) Can I give him aspirin or any other painkiller (and/or maybe antiinflammatory)?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice,

[macoduck]

NO aspirin. No anti-inflamatory without checking with your vet. I'd give him a few days without any walks other than to go potty and see if things improve.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Don't give pain meds. If it continues and your vet wants to give meds, you may have to wait through a wash-out period (of days) before you can change meds. Even aspirin requires a longer wash-out period than you'd expect.

 

But you might want to call your vet's office. Tell them you suspect a strain, but will be in in a few days if it doesn't clear up, and ask if they would prescribe something. Often, the vet will insist on seeing your dog, but if Logan was at the vet's recently, they might agree.

 

If a corn, limping will be worse on hard surfaces like concrete and asphalt, but much less severe on grass and carpet.

[rsieg]

Thanks for the quick replies. Logan really doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain right now, so I don't think he needs pain meds, but good to know to avoid the aspirin. He is limping equally on the carpet and hard floor so that argues against a corn.

My last dog was prescribed Rymadyl for arthritis, so I suspect that might be my vet's first choice if it gets to needing pain meds. I seem to recall seeing some posts on GT about problems with Rymadyl, so should I avoid that as well?

Thanks again,

[a_daerr]

 

My last dog was prescribed Rymadyl for arthritis, so I suspect that might be my vet's first choice if it gets to needing pain meds. I seem to recall seeing some posts on GT about problems with Rymadyl, so should I avoid that as well?

 

The only issue that I ever had concerning Rimadyl is that it seems to cause my boys an upset stomach. It makes them both inappetant. Batmom suggested giving Pepcid 30 minutes beforehand and also making sure you give the Rimadyl with a meal. That helps.

[Aidansmom]

I just had a very similar problem start with Aidan in the past week. He has started limping a bit on one foot. It is worse when he gets up from laying down for long periods of time and seems to get better the more he walks around. In VA it has started to get cold and since Aidan lived most of his life in FL I know this is a big change for him. I think the colder temps might be affecting some old injuries or some arthritis is setting in. I picked up a bottle of Dasuquin from my vet today in hopes that it might just be a little arthritis. A joint supplement might be worth looking into if the problem continues with Logan and the vet doesn't find anything more serious.

[rsieg]

Hi all,

 

Logan is still limping tonight, but he is barely letting it slow him down. Let him out to go potty and he started running -- not full speed, but definitely moving, part-tripod style. But when he is standing he still holds it up. He wants to go for his evening walk, as does Max of course, but I'm not taking either out tonight except to let them in the backyard.

 

I don't think I need any more input at this point, just wanted to give everyone an update. Thanks again for your help.

[rsieg]

Hi again,

 

Logan seems to have recovered. He was still limping yesterday but is walking normally today, except every once in a while favoring the right rear leg. Took him for short walks with Max both this morning and evening (about 30 min each, very slow) and he did fine.

 

Thanks again for the help,