Limping In The Right Font Leg

[diglesias0625]

I am trying to find out if this has happen to anyone else. My greyhound is 6 yrs old and a retired racer. One day in October I noticed he was limping and it was getting worse. I took him to my vet and we did x rays and biopsy to clear out that it is not bone cancer. That came back negative(thank god, I was a mess), the next step, was to take his metal plate out of his leg. That was done more than a month ago. He was still limping some what because now he needed to strenghten his leg without the metal plate. He was on Carprofin once a day but now that he is finished with it last week. His limping is worst then before prior to taking the plate out. The surgeon did tell me that we will not know if taking the plate would help him and I took that chance because I want to do what ever I can for my baby. The surgeon did tell me if taking the plate does not work he may have to get some kind of hormone shots. Has anyone ever had this promblem before and are you giving your greyhound shots? He is go back to the surgeon next Tuesday which I am sure they will have to do surgery to see whats going on with that leg.

[XTRAWLD]

I'm sure more people will chime in, but as you know these guys used to be high performing athletes, so there is a lot of wear and tear on their bodies. The plate aside, he might also be suffering from arthritis. I have been chasing a mystery limp for years and it turned out to be an issue with the discs in his neck. So while the limp could be a result of the leg and the plate directly, I'm trying to highlight that it could also be because of pain elsewhere in the body. Is he on any supplements?

[MP_the4pack]

I would get another x-ray or CT.

At Tanzi's post osteo check up Dec 19, she had been limping, so we did hind end x-rays.

I cried when they said they didn't see osteo.

Three weeks later she wasn't improved so we did a CT scan. It showed multiple lesions on her spine and pelvis.

[greysmom]

There's also the issue that a month isn't enough time to heal, and not enough time to rebuild muscle in that leg. Especially if the carprofen was helping when he was on it. And as said above, it could definitely be some issue in his neck or back that's causing the limp. He's reached an age where those kinds of problems begin to surface. He may need to be on an nsaid fairly permanently from now on, something that happens to lots of dogs. He may also need an actual pain medication like tramadol or codiene sulfate, and a drug to decrease nerve pain like gabapentin.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by a "hormone shot" for your boy unless the vet is talking about using bisphosphonates (like allendronate/Fosamax) which help increase bone density. It could help if that is actually what is needed.

 

I also don't believe that further surgery would be of any use without a concrete issue that it would help. Xrays and perhaps an ultrasound are in order.

 

Good luck.

[smurfette]

Does your vet have a physiotherapy or chitopractor he can recommend? Check for blockades in the atlas or those little joints that connect the rips with the spine. Even a blockade in one toe can result in severe limping.

[DustysMom]

Does he limp the same way whether on hard surfaces or soft like grass?

[Walliered]

Check for corns. Corns are often overlooked.

[NeylasMom]

Any chance he has a bone infection? That can happen with hardware if it starts to move and could explain why he's not healing as he should.

[diglesias0625]

Thank you everyone for your input I really appreciate it and respect all of your inputs. They did check for corns and he did not have any. He is going back to the surgeon next tuesday. The surgeon who took his plate off is the original surgeon who put the plate on him when he broke his elbow on the track in three different areas. He is a huge surgeon and a lot of these dogs that come off the track go to him. The vet hospital his huge and they deal with everything there from cancer to everything else. I am to drop him off on tuesday and I am 100% sure they are going to do x rays on his leg to see whats going on. In regards to osteo, his regular vet who also deals with a lot of dogs from the tracks did x rays back in September and a biopsy when he started with this and the x rays also went to a specialist and to the surgeon before we went forward to take the plate out and it came back negative.I also had x rays of his chest done to see if it may be osteo and his lungs were cleared thats when the surgeon decided the next move was to take the plate outin case it was bothering him or if an ingection was building up. When he was in there taking the plate he did not see anything that would cause him to get a biopsy or any infection. I believe the shot he may be considering is adequin something for his joints like a lubricant for his joints. I hope the news is good where all he needs is just time to heal. Someone did mention to me that sometimes it can get worse before it gets better because he needs to strenghten it without the plate now. I have him on tramadol right now for the pain.

Does he limp the same way whether on hard surfaces or soft like grass?

Yes he does limp the same on what ever floor he is on. It seems like sometimes his leg goes from under him while he is walking as well.

I'm sure more people will chime in, but as you know these guys used to be high performing athletes, so there is a lot of wear and tear on their bodies. The plate aside, he might also be suffering from arthritis. I have been chasing a mystery limp for years and it turned out to be an issue with the discs in his neck. So while the limp could be a result of the leg and the plate directly, I'm trying to highlight that it could also be because of pain elsewhere in the body. Is he on any supplements?

No. He is currently on no supplements, I had him on cosequinn and it gave him such bad diareah that I had to take him off it. He has a very sensitive stomach and everything makes him sick.

[GeorgeofNE]

My dog had a plate in his leg, and he got a bone infection and almost died a full year after his surgery when the plate was put in. He wasn't a greyhound, but dog bones are dog bones, more or less. He didn't heal and didn't heal and didn't heal. I knew something was wrong, but since I was using a fancy board certified orthopedic specialist from a well known teaching hospital, I was confident in the doctor. More and more time passed, and my dog was STILL limping.

 

One day I came home and the dog was in dire straights--very high fever, screamed when I touched him--I raced off to my regular vet who admitted him immediately and put him on IV fluids.

 

Turns out he had a bone infection all along, and on top of that, one of the screws in his tibia had broken. So they went in, took out the plate and screws, drained all the infection out of the joint, and put him on a powerhouse antibiotic regime for three months. Total cost for both surgeries and aftercare? $15,000. (Thanks Dad.)

 

Now as to your dog--it COULD be something like arthritis. It could be That Which Shall not be Named (but I'll hope not). And it could be any number of totally different things.

 

If the specialist has ruled out cancer, bone infection, and arthritis, I would suggest testing for tick borne diseases (which can cause persistent lameness) if you haven't already, and I would suggest trying an NSAID for a couple of weeks.

 

If that helps a lot, it's probably just arthritis.

[diglesias0625]

I am glad they figured it out and wow on the charge.they have taken his medal plate out and he said everything look fine, no infection, loose screws no reason to biopsy anything. He did mention to me that if he conti ued to limp the next step was goung to be some kind of shot to lubricate his joints and help with what could be his arthritis. We did not go to much into it because we were hoping that removing the plate would help him. He does go to the surgeon next tuesday and I am sure they are going to x ray it to see whats going on with his leg.