Limping doggie:(

[blover27]

I was hoping for opinions on this issue we are having with Jack. Sarah told me not to post about this but bc she was afraid of what she may hear but I trust u guys to not scare us and besides she’s not home yet.

History: Jack is about 15 months old and we’ve had him for 5 of those months. When we got him we knew he was bow legged but the shelter folks said that was just a cosmetic thing and I didn’t really care because he was such a good dog and if it wasn’t going to effect him it didn’t effect us. Our initial trip to the vet for all his "stuff" we asked about it and the vet did some flexibility tests and she said he didn’t show any signs of dysplasia(sp?) so he was just fine. I came to my own conclusion after some time with him that he just lacked exercise and room to stretch out and he would be ok since after putting on weight the bow leggedness seemed to correct itself over time and although still not “normal” he looks much better.

Well over the last week or so we have noticed that whenever he takes long naps or after a night of sleeping he wakes up and doesn’t put any pressure on his left rear leg AT ALL until he has moved around and stretched a bit…after a few minutes he is good as new. Today for instance when I came home it was pouring out and I guess he didn’t hear me enter as usual and I must have woke him from a nap so his whole wiggle butt routine was on 3 legs. This kind of scares me. We have set up an apt. with a specialist recommended by a family friend earlier this week but it isn’t until next Wednesday.

This problem seems to worsen when it rains or high humidity. He doesn’t appear to be in any pain other than not placing any pressure on the leg until he stretches it out. The only other change in behavior is that when we play fetch he loses interest a little quicker than in the past. He hasn’t hurt himself to cause this problem and it really looks like a joint problem. Could it be arthritis? He is basically just a puppy at 15 months old isn’t that early for something like that? Believe me we have been watching him extremely close and if I thought this was an emergency situation we would have had him at the vet already. I just can’t wait for Wednesday to get here so I can have some peace of mind.

Any ideas which will not scare the crap out of us?

Thanks!

Brad

edit:should anyone require more info about him or the situation please ask...thanks again

[Vitaliy]

I have the same thing happening to my Bulldog, and it does worsen for him when it rains or high humidity too. At one point it got so bad, I almost had a heart attack, he could not stand on his back legs, I would pick him up and he would just drop to the floor.

After the vet checked him out he said nothing seems to be wrong with him, he did say that this may be early signs of arthritis and no big signs show because he is still young. He suggested we give him these special vitamins for joins and chances are he will out-grow it.

He gave us these vitamins called “Arthogen” but after doing some research and asking the vet again any vitamins that have high dosages of Glucosamine should do.

[jmann4]

My dog Honey does this as well. After a hard day she can't walk with her back legs. She has very bad Arthritis and HD is developing rapidly.

You should know after you visit the specialist what is causing the problem. I give Ascripton to Honey to soothe her joints after walks.

[blover27]

thanks for the replies so far...jmann: HD? i'm guessing dysplasia?

[jmann4]

thanks for the replies so far...jmann: HD? i'm guessing dysplasia? :dunno:

Yeah, Hip dysplasia.

[blover27]

damn i hope thats not it..is it normal to have these symptoms so young? i mean 15 months is young right? that just gets worse and there really is no treatment correct?

[jmann4]

damn i hope thats not it..is it normal to have these symptoms so young? i mean 15 months is young right? that just gets worse and there really is no treatment correct?

Honey's been this way since she was 13-14 months old. Yeah, 15 months if fairly young.

[pocketpit]

It could be a luxating patella too. If there's a malformation of the patellar groove, it can cause the patella to pop out of place. When this happens, the dog is usually three legged until it pops back into place. It's not painful and is a very common thing in toy breeds of dogs but can be found in larger breeds as well. Ever see a little dog run and they suddenly seem to skip or get a hitch in their back end? Those dogs have luxating patellas.

[blover27]

aww crap i sure hope that isn’t it...i cant stand looking at him hopping around when he gets up after being at rest for a while...that’s degenerative from what i understand and you can only treat it...i really dont know allot about it other than the breed is prone to it

[barbponys]

I had a boxer that had HD, it became aparent at a very young age, like a year. His was significant and he had the atrophy in the hind end, he crabbed when he trotted, and did some bunny hopping when he ran. Got worse as he aged and we ended up putting ramps up any where there were stairs. He just couldn't negotiate them.

He was on glucosamine/chondroitin, I gave him bromilane(1000mg/day) for pain and inflammation. He was quite active till he hit about 9 then slowed way down, walks were at his pace and when he slowed we went home.

I have arthritis, nothing shows up on blood tests or xrays but boy do I have the pain. Right now with the humidity so high I'm NOT a happy camper. With Jack having joint issues I would medicate prior to heavy excersize, makes the after math far easier on him. Depending on what you find out at the specialist............you can go from there as far as what and how much. I wish you the best of luck on Wed. I will be sending good juju's your way

[blover27]

WOW...thanks Pat even though thats rough to take in...what if we moved to a low humidity climate like arizona??? you think that would significantly help this? if that ends up being the case which i hope its not can i ask where abouts you live to get an idea of the humidity you're dealing with today? thank you so much for your reply

[barbponys]

I would imagine dogs are like us. I LOVE Nevada, it's so dry I hardly hurt when I visit. I want to move there for that reason, that and my pug would have far fewer problems there with his allergies.

I live in Washington State so the humidity isn't as bad as the east coast but it's been bad the last week or two. Usually we run about 30-40%, I don't know officially what it's been but it's higher than normal, way warmer too. I think it's been in the 70% range? Miserable.

I will get an idea of true misery, I'm going to Kentucky next week. 95 degrees with 100% humidity. Ugh. I already know I'm gonna be hurting, I'll have a fresh bottle of asprin along.

[blover27]

Thanks again Pat! You just put your location in your avatar right? I will feel really stupid if you didnt

[Ariel Payopay]

Stitch had a similar problem. Even the slightest jump on that leg would dislocate it. It was real bad. I was worried he had to get surgery. We took him to the vet and said that he injured his knee somehow and got luxating patella. And me running on his leg everyday wouldn't help heal it. He also said Stitch's joints weren't fully developed and the way his bones grow make his knee cap pop out of place easier. He recommended me to keep Stitch from running and going up and down stairs for about a month. Which was hard, since there are stairs in my house. I asked him if a supplement like glucosamine chondroitin would help with the development of his bones. He said it would. So I would buy the tablets at Petsmart. I hardly saw a change. So I heard of this other liquid stuff that is supposed to be real good, Synflex. And within a week or using it, Stitch was running around jumpin like crazy and his leg never buckled. Weird.


You can checkout this supplement here...

http://www.activexamerica.com/pets/

[blover27]

Ariel thanks man! That site is very informative...I will mention this to the specialist on Wednesday and go from there...its a nicer day here today and Jack is much more energetic and playful but he still does the 3 leg thing when he pops off the couch after a long time...thanks again for all the replies and I will let you know what happens on Wednesday