Random Pain Yelping

[Guest karab21]

My grey, Desmond, will be 5 on May 3. For the past week, he has very randomly been yelping as if in pain. This only ever happens when he is laying down, and usually later in the evening or early mornings (before he has gotten out of bed). He will be laying down peacefully (not sleeping) and then suddenly yelp and whine. It's definitely a pain yelp :/ He will do this on and off for anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour at a time. Like I said, mostly two instances per day, later evening and early morning. Once he is up and moving, no more yelping.

 

Otherwise, he seems absolutely fine. He does have corns on all four paws, so he does limp/walk slowly on hard surfaces, but this seems very unrelated to the corns and walking around actually seems to help, as when he is up and moving he doesn't yelp. It has only ever happened while he's laying down. I have been all over his body, poking and prodding, and I can't pinpoint a source or recreate the yelp. He's acting fine otherwise, eating and pottying and playing all as normal.

 

I thought at first it might just be a pulled muscle, knowing those can sometimes spasm and cause pain. I especially thought that since he did not have any yelping episodes from Tuesday morning to Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, it came back Thursday morning so I got him into the vet yesterday.

 

Vet did an exam and range of motion on him and found he's a little tight (but still full range of motion) in his front right shoulder. He noticed muscle quiver when he ranged that shoulder so suspecting the pain is originating there. The vet tentatively diagnosed tendonitis and/or arthritis in that shoulder and sent us home with Rimadyl and Tramadol and strict rest (only leash walks for potty) for 14 days. If it's not better - or if it gets better and then worse again after the meds are done - we are to go back for x-rays. So far, on meds the yelping has subsided, though not altogether stopped, and he still limps on hard surfaces (I'd kind of hoped the meds would help him with the pain from the corns, too, but that doesn't seem to be the case, at least not yet).

 

Any experience with something like this? I am of course worried about the possibility of it not being arthritis and/or tendonitis at all...My (grey-experienced) vet said we don't have to "go there" yet but I kind of can't help it. 14+ days is a long time for me to turn possibilities over in my mind!

[Guest BiancasMom]

Did they check him for neck pain?

[Ragsysmum]

Cramp?

[tbhounds]

Sounds like neck and/or back pain. My boy tweaked his neck and did occasional cries for 2 months. He may need medications-typically a NSAID (rimadyl, Deramaxx, metacam....), a pain killer (Tramadol) and a muscle relaxant (robaxin-aka methocarbamol) are prescribed. Rest and only leash walks (only with a harness-no more collar) are recommended. In more advanced cases often a corticosteroid will substitute the NSAID.

Edited to add--you will often notice front end lameness with neck pain--the pain runs down from the neck via the radial nerve. I would ask your vet to prescribe robaxin esp because the other two meds already seem to be helping.

Edited April 19, 2015 by tbhounds

[cleptogrey]

sounds like what i am going through with annie. it started as random pain and after a year escalated to screaming. but she's a true drama queen. she also did one of those crazy leaps of fear while on leash. i figured she sprained her neck. we drove for 2.5 days north to ny from sarasota, fl with a screaming dog in the back seat. it was not a pleasant experience of any of us.i was sure the police were going to come knocking on our hotel door since her nighttime screams bellowed down the hallways.

 

i did bring her in for the best quality x-rays- DIGITAL-(make sure you get digital and she will need to go under to really position her well for the rads), at an orthopedic surgeon. of course he wants to do a costly MRI and CAT scan, but my pocket book will not allow it. calcification of the shoulder bone show up, right where the ligaments and tendons bundle. and there is a good possibility for soft tissue injury(they can't tell by just an x-ray). so, she has been on bed rest since march 30th. also the meds she's on are: tramadol/gabapentin/metacam. finally no sign of a limp and we can start to walk her and go off the meds in 1-2 weeks. my chiropractor who adjusts dogs (he said acupuncture, not chiropractor for her) looked at the rads and saw one vertebra in her neck that can stand adjustment and suggested massage.

 

personally, my first greyhound had osteo in the shoulder. she didn't display 1/2 the pain until the very end. so, i had and still have the bad taste of osteo in my mouth. hence the x-rays. for piece of mind, even if it's a soft tissue injury. having a set of x-rays as a base line if things continue will not hurt.

 

wishing you the best of luck- and yes, it's really frustrating keeping them at home do nothing. yesterday it was in the high 70s and beautiful. i let annie out to sunbath- a squirrel got her going! YIKES....a yelp, but what can i do. i'm a bad bad mom....and yes, we are going the harness route as well. no more collar walks for her.

 

just re-read your post...."and he still limps on hard surfaces"...CORNS???? do some corn research on GT and see if something looks familiar to his front paw's leather surface. corns need to be hulled, but it does sound deeper in the shoulder.

Edited April 19, 2015 by cleptogrey

[racindog]

Yes-seen this quite a bit with several hounds. What tbhounds says is what you need to do. Use a harness-No collar/restrict activity/ and then give him Robaxin & Tramadol. Unless it is a serious disc problem he will probably get well within 2 weeks if treated like this. Do not be surprised if it happens again from time to time. And don't be mislead by front leg 'lameness'. Front leg lameness-often intermittant- is associated with this as tbhounds said. This is no biggie. Just get him some tramadol and robaxin. I stayed away from the NSAID's due to possible side effects and they apparently were not needed because they all recovered with just Tramadol & Robaxin. Robaxin helps a lot. I always only gave 1/2 of a robaxin to greyhounds twice a day because if they relax too much it could actually exacerbate the issue. And try to restrict his activity at the very least 2-3 weeks-zoomies are out of the question until he recovers as he could hurt himself worse overdoing it before he recovers completely. I also give Duralactin(generic:microlactin). This is an effective anti-inflammatory that is SAFE and won't cause side effects like the usual Rx ones tend to do.

Edited April 19, 2015 by racindog

[Guest karab21]

Did they check him for neck pain?

Yes, the vet initially was thinking neck/back pain, but because the only pain response he got on exam was on the shoulder, he's guessing that for now.

 

Cramp?

That's what I was thinking at first, cramp/charley horse or pulled muscle, since he doesn't have the yelping with movement. So hard to tell, though!

Sounds like neck and/or back pain. My boy tweaked his neck and did occasional cries for 2 months. He may need medications-typically a NSAID (rimadyl, Deramaxx, metacam....), a pain killer (Tramadol) and a muscle relaxant (robaxin-aka methocarbamol) are prescribed. Rest and only leash walks (only with a harness-no more collar) are recommended. In more advanced cases often a corticosteroid will substitute the NSAID.

Edited to add--you will often notice front end lameness with neck pain--the pain runs down from the neck via the radial nerve. I would ask your vet to prescribe robaxin esp because the other two meds already seem to be helping.

 

 

 

Yes-seen this quite a bit with several hounds. What tbhounds says is what you need to do. Use a harness-No collar/restrict activity/ and then give him Robaxin & Tramadol. Unless it is a serious disc problem he will probably get well within 2 weeks if treated like this. Do not be surprised if it happens again from time to time. And don't be mislead by front leg 'lameness'. Front leg lameness-often intermittant- is associated with this as tbhounds said. This is no biggie. Just get him some tramadol and robaxin. I stayed away from the NSAID's due to possible side effects and they apparently were not needed because they all recovered with just Tramadol & Robaxin. Robaxin helps a lot. I always only gave 1/2 of a robaxin to greyhounds twice a day because if they relax too much it could actually exacerbate the issue. And try to restrict his activity at the very least 2-3 weeks-zoomies are out of the question until he recovers as he could hurt himself worse overdoing it before he recovers completely. I also give Duralactin(generic:microlactin). This is an effective anti-inflammatory that is SAFE and won't cause side effects like the usual Rx ones tend to do.

 

Thanks for the tips, both of you. It helps my peace of mind to know this is something others have seen! I will ask the vet about Robaxin.

 

He has front leg 'lameness' due to corns, anyway, not just from this more recent issue...

 

Do you have harness recommendations? Type/style/brand that work best for greys?

[Guest karab21]

sounds like what i am going through with annie. it started as random pain and after a year escalated to screaming. but she's a true drama queen. she also did one of those crazy leaps of fear while on leash. i figured she sprained her neck. we drove for 2.5 days north to ny from sarasota, fl with a screaming dog in the back seat. it was not a pleasant experience of any of us.i was sure the police were going to come knocking on our hotel door since her nighttime screams bellowed down the hallways.

 

i did bring her in for the best quality x-rays- DIGITAL-(make sure you get digital and she will need to go under to really position her well for the rads), at an orthopedic surgeon. of course he wants to do a costly MRI and CAT scan, but my pocket book will not allow it. calcification of the shoulder bone show up, right where the ligaments and tendons bundle. and there is a good possibility for soft tissue injury(they can't tell by just an x-ray). so, she has been on bed rest since march 30th. also the meds she's on are: tramadol/gabapentin/metacam. finally no sign of a limp and we can start to walk her and go off the meds in 1-2 weeks. my chiropractor who adjusts dogs (he said acupuncture, not chiropractor for her) looked at the rads and saw one vertebra in her neck that can stand adjustment and suggested massage.

 

personally, my first greyhound had osteo in the shoulder. she didn't display 1/2 the pain until the very end. so, i had and still have the bad taste of osteo in my mouth. hence the x-rays. for piece of mind, even if it's a soft tissue injury. having a set of x-rays as a base line if things continue will not hurt.

 

wishing you the best of luck- and yes, it's really frustrating keeping them at home do nothing. yesterday it was in the high 70s and beautiful. i let annie out to sunbath- a squirrel got her going! YIKES....a yelp, but what can i do. i'm a bad bad mom....and yes, we are going the harness route as well. no more collar walks for her.

 

just re-read your post...."and he still limps on hard surfaces"...CORNS???? do some corn research on GT and see if something looks familiar to his front paw's leather surface. corns need to be hulled, but it does sound deeper in the shoulder.

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences...I will definitely get him in for x-rays if the yelping comes back after the meds are done.

 

Yes, it's definitely frustrating keeping them home doing nothing! The weather is absolutely gorgeous this weekend here, too, and we were at the beach yesterday with extended family. I know Desmond was just wanting to run and wrestle with my brother, which is what they always do when they are together. He kept going up to him and whining and pawing at him and didn't understand why uncle didn't play

 

Regarding corns...yes, as I said in my post, he does have corns on all 4 paws. We treat with epsom salt soaks and bag balm massages, and I hull at home when necessary. Been dealing with that for a year. This is definitely a different issue. I only mentioned the limping because I'd hoped maybe the Tramadol would help ease his discomfort from the corns, as well, but that hasn't seemed to be the case yet.

[Guest Scouts_mom]

I would seriously consider acupuncture in addition to what you are doing. Acupuncture can really help with soft tissue injuries and is not that expensive.

[tuff]

This sounds like my boy who was yelping when getting up (also some limping at first) and it was his neck. I followed the advice of tbhounds and asked my vet to add Robaxin to the already prescribed Rimadyl and tramadol. We did laser therapy and I'm convinced this really, really helped. He went from waking us up at night screeching to back to new in 1 week. I'm a laser therapy believer now for any soft tissue injury.

[lukasmom]

My boy Carter would do the scream of death whenever you tried to put a leash on him and get him up for a walk. Took him to a vet chriopractor who found stiffiness in his back, neck, shoulder and jaw. Has had 3 adjustments with huge improvement.

Does your hound shake when he gets up? If not that is probably due to pain.

Joint supplements should be used as well. My vet recommends any hound over 2 to use joint supplements,says studies do show it makes a difference. Good luck.

[XTRAWLD]

Chiro sounds like just the ticket to help him overcome his pain. I started taking Ryder when he was three, and take him semi regularly now. Kasey goes in regularly as well. It's a great relief for them both.

[tbhounds]

Regarding different harness types--I have used many brands --happy with all of them--Ruffwear front range and premier (GEM has a greyt price and super fast shipping) are two that I like.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Robaxin (methocarbamol) is lovely stuff. My vet prescribed a loading dose for the first couple of days, then a maintenance dose. We saw a big difference in less than 24 hours.

 

(If Desmond is walking "funny" because of his corns, that might have caused some back trouble. And if a dog is tensing muscles against back pain, the Robaxin will help.)

 

I've been through this with two different dogs. These days, my girl dog's vet file has a standing order for meds; the vet says I can call and get the prescriptions filled any time Silver's back is bothering her. She's an older girl (nearly 10) with shoulder arthritis that we saw on an x-ray two years ago. She's normally fine (roaches like a champ), but if she's ouchy, I just put her back on the meds for a few days.

 

I'd be careful about seeing a chiropractor without x-rays first. When Sam saw a chiropractor years ago for back trouble, the adjustment was extremely painful (the only time he ever threatened a person, but the chiropractor was suitably impressed), and he was in severe pain again in just two weeks. From then on, we just did the drugs and not the adjustments, and he was much more comfortable.

[Guest karab21]

Thank you so much to everyone who responded to my post. Desmond has had NO episodes of yelping since 2 days after starting the Rimadyl and Tramadol and rest regimen. We have a few days left to the meds, and after that, I'm hoping (of course) it doesn't return - but if it does, I'll be taking him in for x-rays and talking about other possibilities (like the Robaxin like several of you suggested).

 

To answer some questions: Yes, Desmond does still shake when getting up - but does not roach as much since this all started :/ Hoping he's just gun shy and this isn't an indicator of actual pain. I'm actually looking forward to stopping the meds so I can see if the pain returns or not - that would answer some questions, at least! If it turns out to be more a back/neck issue than the shoulder the vet is currently thinking, I'll also look into a harness for walkies.

 

I'll also look into chiropractic care - and certainly surprised by KF_in_Georgia's reminder to not start chiro without x-rays - I was under the impression that one would never start chiro without x-rays! My own human chiropractor never starts treatment without seeing films - and even though I'd been seeing him for years, when I was returning for care after about 6 months of not being seen, insisted on new films before he'd do an adjustment again. A good reminder to be vigilant in who cares for my boy! Thanks for the advice, Kathy!

 

Also considering joint supplements...my vet had previously suggested glucosamine once Desmond got older, so that's definitely a possibility to start sooner rather than later. Thanks again to everyone!