Woody's bum leg?

Yesterday morning FW calls and asks if I know why Woody is limping. Right front leg.
He was fine when I left. She had to carry him down the steps to do his duty.

When I came home he was still limping and didn’t seem to flinch when I palpated his leg and foot pad.

This morning he was stiff and once he ate, I carried him outside again although he climbed the three stairs to get in the house limping. Seemed worse this morning.
He’s 14 or 15 years now.

He’s been such a good ankle biter, I don’t want to see him in needless pain.

Any suggestions besides a vet run?

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Dealing with same here on a 10 yr old rottie. Rear left leg. He can’t put much of any weight on it. Giving him dog aspirin and hope its just a sprain.

***Dog aspirin from the pet section at Fleet Farm. Chewable beef flavor.

-J.

If it persists, go to the vet. It could be simple, or it could be the beginnings of something bad.

It can be a symptom of Lyme’s. My yellow pulled up lame on one leg. Checked the inteweb and found it could be Lyme’s. Roving lameness. Can switch from limb to limb. Took to the vet and after an expensive fleecing, for a battery of tests, it turned out to be Lyme’s as I suggested. Simple treatment of antibiotics. But in the end it had damaged her kidneys. Drinking gallons of water. She suddenly went blind as a result of the kidney damage. In the end we had to put her down due to the constant incontinence occurring in the house. RIP Micha.

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Thanks Jon. Ryan I’m thinking that’s the route to go.
He’s got enough bumps on him that one might be growing on the inside and effecting his let. Damn I hate that dogs get old.

Thanks Giz,

He’s about totally deaf, (only the loudest of noises and then wonders where it came from)
Drinks lot’s of water.
Holds it until he’s outside.

I’m a believer that when it’s time a person can see it in their eyes. Even if I don’t want to see it.

Even when you know, in your heart, it’s time. It still can be one of the hardest things you can do. All the best.

It might be simple too. Our 10yr old pointer pulled a muscle three weeks back. She was limping, whiny, and would not walk the stairs. I had to carry her up and down the steps.

We have a good affordable vet and have no problems with dropping in for a quick check.
$50 for the visit and a couple prescription pain meds, and we were back home with the instructions to watch closely over the next 24-48 hours to verify that the pain didn’t wander to a different leg.

As pointed out, wondering pain would mean something more serious, Lymes or a pinched nerve/bad disc.

Turned out to be a pulled muscle. Some pain and anti-inflammatory meds combined with crate rest when we weren’t around.

Note, if you go to the vet and they have tile floor, you might want to carry him over the slippery floors when he has a bad wheel. I found that from experience. When I took ours in for the pulled muscle the bad leg slipped on the floor, went out sideways and she couldn’t pull it back in. Carried the 50lb pointer around the vet for the rest of the visit.

She’s 100% again after some rest.

On Sun I heard my youngest yipe outside then she came limping up. She was on 3 legs the rest of the day and most of Monday but now its seems all better. I gave her Rimadyl Sun-Tue.

Move to Florida. Athena has been gimp limp free for 2 years.

We actually thought she had lymes disease. One day she started sitting on her hind legs and refused to use her front legs. This was 2 years ago. Tests came back negative and we were given Rimadyl to help her and used it a few days (we still have the rest on hand). She has not had a gimp episode since. She also doesn’t have hot spots like she did back in MN, however she does a lot more paw licking, which at least doesn’t get raw. The only other change is we shaved her long hair.

You never know, it could be something that just goes away. Otherwise hopefully it is something minor like arthritis which you can manage.

By the way Tuffy has had a bad cough since last fall. He’s on meds to manage it, but we don’t know what the real cause is without expensive tests which would lead to expensive treatments. Despite having one bad eye, one half operational eye, 1/4 of his teeth and a man made virginia to prevent bladder stones, he still seems as happy as ever. I guess I am saying it could be worse?

My GSP had Anaplasmosis which caused this symptom also. It was painful to watch such a chipper and fast pup move at a snails pace. Hope all is well, he looks like quite the licker and lap dog.

Sorry to hear about the bum leg…..

On a side note did you lose a bet or were you trying to win a bet?

Kyhl wrote:

It might be simple too.

Thanks for the tile note and….I hope so.

You might try Glucosamine-Chondritin. I take it every day for my joints. It’s also the basic ingredient in the dog med Jack Hanna sells on TV for pet joint issues.

http://www.akc.org/content/dog-care/articles/glucosamine-for-dogs/

http://www.petsmart.com/dog/food-and-health/vitamins-and-wellness/hip-and-joint-health/

I told my family I don’t want another dog because the last one was so good and I never want to go through the process of putting another family member down…

That being said, she had a limp… didn’t do anything for a week. And then she came down the stairs with a cry and fall. Took her to the vet and it was bone cancer, the leg had fractured going own the stairs. X-rays showed the cancer had metastasized to her lungs. Matter of time, so put her down.

Moral of the story is that if it were just a minor injury we would have had the confidence to keep her going for as long as possible. Better to go in and find out either way ~

Tough stuff, feel for ya!

Take her in and find out what’s wrong. Could be nothing but a dog can’t tell ya. If it’s serious you can make an educated decision on a plan of action on family member that has been around for that long.

We talked tonight. Leaning toward getting some meds but how can I treat something when I don’t know what it is?

FW is worried that it’s something worse and doesn’t have to want to deal with that decision. But if it’s that bad (which I doubt it is) we can’t have him suffer for our selfishness.

Thanks guys. I’ll let you know when we know.

FryDog62 wrote:

Took her to the vet and it was bone cancer, the leg had fractured going own the stairs.

That sucks. It’s how we lost our last dog, too.

I know it’s tough, Brian. They get to their late years and not only do people have to deal with deciding to put them down, but there are also decisions with how much do we run tests, diagnose and treat. Which is really, how much $ do we throw at a dog that could passes from natural causes tomorrow.

Aside from the limp, how is Woody behaving? If he is depressed and/or not eating I would bring him in. That’s the first thing a vet asks because those are the first signs of something bad going on.

He’s happier then the FW when I come home and would wake me up a half hour early to eat in the morning prior to this.

Now he really doesn’t want to move unless he has to.

It appears it’s more sore in the morning but then I have the same problem in the mornings…

I haven’t heard if she can get him in today yet.

Well that sucks. Hope it’s just something like arthritis or something similar that is just part of getting old, but manageable.

Message from the FW:

Just home from vet and think sprained shoulder or pulled soft tissue in his shoulder. Gave him some pain pills and if not getting better by next week then xray. He was a good boy!

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Good news!

@mbenson

Woody update. He’s bouncing around like a 3 year old again.
Thanks for everyone’s help and even though your comments may not apply to Woody, you might be helping others without knowing it.

Good to hear.

Glad to hear of Woody’s recovery. I don’t know how I missed this thread.

A good thing to remember A poem from your dog!

You feed me when I’m hungry,

You keep water in my dish,

You let me sleep on anything,

or in any place I wish.

You sometimes let me lick your hands’

or even lick your face,

Despite the fact I’ve licked myself

In every private place.

You taught me how to come when called,

youtaught me how to sit,

you always let me go outside,

so i can take a $#!@#-stroll.

You”ll always have my loyalty,

up to the bitter end,

cause after all, its plain to see….

You are a dog’s best friend.