Hello. My eight-year old shepherd/lab mix has occasionally been favouring
her left hind leg. There doesn't seem to be any apparent cause for it, and
most of the time she seems fine. In fact, it only seems to happen indoors,
often after she's been lying down. When we're outside she doesn't have any
problem, and still likes to run and retrieve. She also doesn't indicate any
specific areas of pain, since she doesn't react when I prod her leg to see
if I can find a source of the discomfort. But when it's bothering her, she
sometimes doesn't even like to put her weight on it, and hobbles around
looking at me pathetically. After a few minutes, though, it seems to clear
up. Does anyone think this is a sign of hip displasia? I'm not even sure I
know what displasia is, but I know it can occur in labs sometimes. So
before I head to the vet and spend big dollars on a diagnosis (possibly only
to find there's nothing wrong--that's happened to me before), I wondered if
anyone has had any experience with this. Thanks in advance for any feedback
you may have. Feel free to post or e-mail me.
Regards,
Colin.

It could be the onset of some mild arthritis or hip problems. Usually mild
arthritis the dog will still walk on the limb and limp until the joint
loosens up. But you mention that she hobbles that to me seems more serious.
Either way you really need a good xray to tell what's going on so you can
treat it correctly.

Celeste


"Colin" wrote in message
...
Hello. My eight-year old shepherd/lab mix has occasionally been favouring
her left hind leg. There doesn't seem to be any apparent cause for it,
and
most of the time she seems fine. In fact, it only seems to happen
indoors,
often after she's been lying down. When we're outside she doesn't have
any
problem, and still likes to run and retrieve. She also doesn't indicate
any
specific areas of pain, since she doesn't react when I prod her leg to see
if I can find a source of the discomfort. But when it's bothering her,
she
sometimes doesn't even like to put her weight on it, and hobbles around
looking at me pathetically. After a few minutes, though, it seems to
clear
up. Does anyone think this is a sign of hip displasia? I'm not even sure
I
know what displasia is, but I know it can occur in labs sometimes. So
before I head to the vet and spend big dollars on a diagnosis (possibly
only
to find there's nothing wrong--that's happened to me before), I wondered
if
anyone has had any experience with this. Thanks in advance for any
feedback
you may have. Feel free to post or e-mail me.
Regards,
Colin.

Colin said in rec.pets.dogs.health:

So
before I head to the vet and spend big dollars on a
diagnosis (possibly only to find there's nothing
wrong--that's happened to me before), I wondered if anyone
has had any experience with this.

An X-Ray isn't overly expensive and can rule out many potential
problems, from arthrisis to osteosarcoma. I really think that
you should talk to your vet about it.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.