What Is It Already?

[Guest Seemoj]

Hi there, first time poster but long-time lurker here. My 9-year-old boy, Homer, has shown some discomfort in his back feet since around Christmastime. He has a really wonky outer toe that (we think) healed badly after dislocation from his racing days, and sometimes gets "stuck" underneath his foot...but he started appearing to shift weight to the bad foot from the good foot, and not want to stand firmly on both back feet. He's shifting weight from foot to foot the way you see horses do.

 

It's been like a roller coaster trying to figure out what's wrong. Our vet did a thorough physical exam back in December and couldn't find a thing wrong, and we speculated it was muscle pain that should resolve itself. We did acquire a second little houndie (Archie) back in late October, who does bounce around like a freight train and admittedly bumps his older brother a lot.

Alas, he's still shifting weight from foot to foot, so back to the vet this week. He has been bounding through the snow, though, and loves a walk as always. He's sometimes stiff when he gets up from bed, and sometimes there's a hitch in his stride while he walks. We're still going to low-impact agility class and he's happy to go and do it!

 

Another grey owner suggested I think about corns, and I posted some pictures to that Facebook group, the group thought it was a corn. Back to the vet, and the vet thinks no corns, but suddenly we find that Homer's lower back is very, very sore. He cried out when palpated, and now come the x-rays (looks like the tender spot was around L 3-4). It could be some arthritis in his back, but the x-rays looked basically clear to my vet. Sent those films to the radiologist and haven't heard back yet. Could be spondylosis?

 

Meanwhile, for his pain, vet wanted to think about NSAIDs, but wanted to check blood and urine first. Good idea, and the results come back about the same as his baseline chemistry last year. A touch elevated, but "mild." Vet today suggests we take some more blood and send to Cornell for a more sensitive Lyme test, since the kidney values + lameness could suggest Lyme, even though he has always been vaccinated and the preliminary blood test came back negative.

 

It's just so frustrating. He has been a healthy dog, and I now know he's in pain but can't help him (yet). Feeling really guilty about not being able to resolve it, honestly. Just generally venting, but wondered if anyone had the same experience with the lower back pain and shifting weight between the hind feet? Grateful this resource is here, too!

[greysmom]

Your boy has been limping for three or four months and you haven't even *tried* an nsaid yet??? That's just about the very least you can do. At nine years old his kidney levels will most likely be elevated due to age anyway. You could still be giving him pain medication (tramadol or codiene sulfate) and a drug to aleviate nerve pain like gabapentin.

 

And, FWIW, corns are the one thing I would definitely trust the internet over the vet about. Many vets know next to nothing about corns (even if they say otherwise), and they could be the entire issue here. If he is better walking on soft surfaces than hard ones, and has the hard, callous-like lumps in his pads, it's most likely corns. Can you post the pictures here you posted before? Or take new ones? There is a great Facebok group called Greyhounds with Corns that is very informative and helpful as we've all dealt with our dogs having corns.

 

Corns could also be causing his back soreness, as he alters his gait to deal with the pain in his feet.

[Guest Seemoj]

Hi, sorry if I was unclear--it's been less than a month, not three or four, and the limping is infrequent. The weight shifting is what seems clear to me. I posted the photos to the corns Facebook group as I said. My post there is on 1/13 if you'd like to look.

 

Photos here.

 

[Remolacha]

I am not an expert, never had a corn dog, but that clearly looks like a corn to me, and your description of his behavior immediately said "corn" to me also. That being said, there could also be some spondylosis starting in his spine. Pain meds should help that, and if you have access to a vet that does acupuncture, it was a life saver for my girl that had spondylosis.

[Time4ANap]

Rocket just turned 12 and occasionally started limping for no apparent reason last year, just an intermittent thing. He did have some pain reactions when his shoulders were pressed on by the vet. I put him on a maintenance dose of 1 Tramadol per day (with the Vet's blessing) and he is pretty much back to spinning, running etc. The limp rarely appears now, and when it does he just gets an extra Tramadol that day. He has also stopped jumping into the car, so we are working with him on ramp training since he loves rides. It obviously just hurts too much to jump high now.

 

The picture above does look like a corn or some other pad issue. so that may well be what's bothering him. As your dog gets older, you may find that he needs a little pain medication of some type simply because of aches and pains like all of us. I was fortunate that Rocket didn't need it until he was 11.

[JohnF]

It looks like corns to me. If he walks with less discomfort on grass than on a road or pavement then that's one of the signs.

Has he been in the very cold snow? If his feet were wet before going out (licking them) then it could cause a 'freeze burn' too.

[lukasmom]

Have you thought about a chiropractor visit for him? They really helped two of my greyhounds. Acupunture too.

[Guest Seemoj]

It looks like corns to me. If he walks with less discomfort on grass than on a road or pavement then that's one of the signs.

Has he been in the very cold snow? If his feet were wet before going out (licking them) then it could cause a 'freeze burn' too.

 

Not really, this came on before snow really hit us here. There's really only pavement for him to walk on where we live, so the difference we notice is that he will bound with abandon on the back deck, for instance, when it is covered in snow. He seems to prefer the rug to the hardwoods too, but he has always done that.

 

Rocket just turned 12 and occasionally started limping for no apparent reason last year, just an intermittent thing. He did have some pain reactions when his shoulders were pressed on by the vet. I put him on a maintenance dose of 1 Tramadol per day (with the Vet's blessing) and he is pretty much back to spinning, running etc. The limp rarely appears now, and when it does he just gets an extra Tramadol that day. He has also stopped jumping into the car, so we are working with him on ramp training since he loves rides. It obviously just hurts too much to jump high now.

 

The picture above does look like a corn or some other pad issue. so that may well be what's bothering him. As your dog gets older, you may find that he needs a little pain medication of some type simply because of aches and pains like all of us. I was fortunate that Rocket didn't need it until he was 11.

 

Good point, I guess we all do get aches and pains as we get older. Vet really did a thorough job squeezing those pads, and Homer didn't react at all. He reported that it could be the beginning of a corn, but that he couldn't feel anything in the pad. I messed with it a little myself by squeezing and he didn't seem to mind it. FWIW, I couldn't feel any difference in the pad. No harm in using Epsom salts and moisturizing, which we are doing.

 

I am not an expert, never had a corn dog, but that clearly looks like a corn to me, and your description of his behavior immediately said "corn" to me also. That being said, there could also be some spondylosis starting in his spine. Pain meds should help that, and if you have access to a vet that does acupuncture, it was a life saver for my girl that had spondylosis.

 

Thinking about that and we are on a waiting list for an alternative vet who does chiro and acupuncture.

 

Have you thought about a chiropractor visit for him? They really helped two of my greyhounds. Acupunture too.

 

Yes, we are on a waiting list. 4-5 month wait to see one here, apparently.

[tbhounds]

Looks like corn troubles. Have you tried boots to see if they seem to allevate the pain?

Edited January 18, 2018 by tbhounds

[MaryJane]

What were the elevated kidney values ? Also did they do a urinalysis ?

 

While checking for Lyme, they might also do a check for other tick disease as they may have the same symptoms.

 

It does look like corns on his feet - do you have boots ? Using those for a few days will usually let you know if corns are the problem

[greysmom]

If you start the nsaid and it doesn't seem to work, that's another indicator that corns are your primary trouble. An nsaid doesn't help when you're walking on a rock in your foot, which is esentially the situation a corn presents. Though it should help his back issues. Like I said 9 years old is about when age related issues can crop up if they haven't before.

[GeorgeofNE]

Wow. Sure look like corns to me, although admittedly I've been lucky so far and not had a dog with corns.

 

Did your vet pull his tail up? There is a really simple test for LSS (which it is far more likely to be than any other back issue, IMHO). It would be simple enough to treat for Lyme if your vet thinks that is possible, but frankly I'd be suprised at a 9 year old NOT having some lameness from time to time, and I too am surprised he's not already on an NSAID. My vet always takes blood, gives the meds, and tells me to wait until I hear from her (which is typically the next day) before I give them.

[XTRAWLD]

Those look like corns, or at least some sore footsies. They can be painful for sure, or for some (like my boy) not even acknowledge they are there. Epsom soaks you are doing are greyt. What helped my boy was duct tape! I had tried all the other creams and such. Some just respond better to other treatments.

 

The only other thing i can suggest is it could be spine/neck/back issues mixed with arthritis. At 9, it wouldn't be surprising for any of those to be the culprit. If your vet can get him on some meds to help, you'll be able to identify pretty soon what's going on.

 

Is he limping at all? You only mentioned shifting weight. He could benefit from a chiro (I'm surprised you have such a long wait!) It was the only thing that helped my boy for the longest time before moving to an nsaid. If his back is sore, a chiro would be able to identify that quick and being relief. You'll have to go regularly for a few weeks but can taper off as he begins to feel better.

 

Gentle skritches and keep us updated.

Edited January 20, 2018 by XTRAWLD

[Mistysmom]

Misty had corns and they looked just like that. I used Dr.Scholl's corn pads (for people) and reinforced the little round band-aids that come with them with duct tape. Yes, I duct taped my dog's toes--as long as he doesn't chew them off and eat the pads it should be safe. It sounds like other issues too, but the corns can cause quite a lot of pain and limping. Best of luck--it sounds like you are taking good care of your boy.