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#1
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Hip Displaysia or Arthritis?
I have a Shepherd/Sharp-ei mix female who's about 6 years old (looks more
like Shepherd, so that is probably the predominate gene in her). About 3-4 weeks ago, she started limping when she got up from having laid down for a length of time. The area giving her problems is one of her rear legs. I hadn't thought much about it at first, as she is always playing rough with my other dog, falling off the bed, or doing something or other in the past that caused temporary limps. After so long however, I'm probably going to take her to the vet - but wanted some opinions first. She is not indicating that there is any pain whatsoever in this leg. No licking or yelping at all. It's just when she lays down or sits for a while, when she first gets up it seems very stiff and/or weak. Sometimes she just barely limps, and a couple of times it looks like she can't put any weight on it at all. However, once she's up and walking around for a couple of minutes, everything just about seems to return to normal. If I let her outside for a while, when she comes in she's trotting like nothing's going on. I've massaged her leg and felt around, and nothing feels abnormal. To the more experienced - what does this sound like? Thanks Greg |
#2
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If there was no problem prior to a month ago then I'm going to guess that
she has done some damage to her cruciate ligament. Because she can "walk it off" it quite possibly is a strain or partial tear.A vet can manipulate the leg to test for the ligament holding or being gone. It is called a drawer test. In addition x-rays are taken to exclude fracture or joint problems like dysplasia. See a vet. If it turns out that I am right (hope not) check in at the Yahoo group "Orthodogs". Lots of info specific to this injury and lots of support if it turns out that she requires surgery. Carol Ann "DigitalCameraBasics" wrote in message hlink.net... I have a Shepherd/Sharp-ei mix female who's about 6 years old (looks more like Shepherd, so that is probably the predominate gene in her). About 3-4 weeks ago, she started limping when she got up from having laid down for a length of time. The area giving her problems is one of her rear legs. I hadn't thought much about it at first, as she is always playing rough with my other dog, falling off the bed, or doing something or other in the past that caused temporary limps. After so long however, I'm probably going to take her to the vet - but wanted some opinions first. She is not indicating that there is any pain whatsoever in this leg. No licking or yelping at all. It's just when she lays down or sits for a while, when she first gets up it seems very stiff and/or weak. Sometimes she just barely limps, and a couple of times it looks like she can't put any weight on it at all. However, once she's up and walking around for a couple of minutes, everything just about seems to return to normal. If I let her outside for a while, when she comes in she's trotting like nothing's going on. I've massaged her leg and felt around, and nothing feels abnormal. To the more experienced - what does this sound like? Thanks Greg |
#3
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If there was no problem prior to a month ago then I'm going to guess that
she has done some damage to her cruciate ligament. Because she can "walk it off" it quite possibly is a strain or partial tear.A vet can manipulate the leg to test for the ligament holding or being gone. It is called a drawer test. In addition x-rays are taken to exclude fracture or joint problems like dysplasia. See a vet. If it turns out that I am right (hope not) check in at the Yahoo group "Orthodogs". Lots of info specific to this injury and lots of support if it turns out that she requires surgery. Carol Ann "DigitalCameraBasics" wrote in message hlink.net... I have a Shepherd/Sharp-ei mix female who's about 6 years old (looks more like Shepherd, so that is probably the predominate gene in her). About 3-4 weeks ago, she started limping when she got up from having laid down for a length of time. The area giving her problems is one of her rear legs. I hadn't thought much about it at first, as she is always playing rough with my other dog, falling off the bed, or doing something or other in the past that caused temporary limps. After so long however, I'm probably going to take her to the vet - but wanted some opinions first. She is not indicating that there is any pain whatsoever in this leg. No licking or yelping at all. It's just when she lays down or sits for a while, when she first gets up it seems very stiff and/or weak. Sometimes she just barely limps, and a couple of times it looks like she can't put any weight on it at all. However, once she's up and walking around for a couple of minutes, everything just about seems to return to normal. If I let her outside for a while, when she comes in she's trotting like nothing's going on. I've massaged her leg and felt around, and nothing feels abnormal. To the more experienced - what does this sound like? Thanks Greg |
#4
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"DigitalCameraBasics" wrote ...
licking or yelping at all. It's just when she lays down or sits for a while, when she first gets up it seems very stiff and/or weak. Sometimes she just barely limps, and a couple of times it looks like she can't put any weight on it at all. However, once she's up and walking around for a couple of minutes, everything just about seems to return to normal. If I let her outside for a while, when she comes in she's trotting like nothing's going on. This sounds very similar to Murphy, who has arthritis in one hip. She used to get really stiff and sore after a big playing session, and if she and her sister had been really going mad she'd be sore all the next day. Eventually the limp just never went away, so we went to see the vet, who said it was arthritis. We tried the cartrophen shots, but they didn't help much, so we're keeping them up 3-monthly to try and prevent further deterioration. Rimadyl helped, but it upset her stomach (she's allergic to beef and it's beef flavoured) so we've settled on Norocarp tablets (given to her in a piece of cheese each morning) and a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement on her food. She's doing great now - in fact the vet reminded us that we need to always bear in mind that she *does* have arthritis, even if she doesn't look like it, and not to let her run or play too hard as she will aggravate the hip joint. When it's quite bad we can feel the muscles just in front of her hips, they get quite tight and any time she stops next to either my partner or myself we'll give them a wee massage - your vet can probably show you exactly where they are. Definitely see your vet, but if it's just arthritis chances are it can be managed very well with injections or anti-inflammatory pills (we were going to try acupuncture on Murphy, but it settled right down so we didn't need it). Some dogs even become pain-free just with a glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM supplement. There are definitely a few options for treatment of arthritis. cheers Rachel & Murphy (New Zealand) |
#5
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"DigitalCameraBasics" wrote ...
licking or yelping at all. It's just when she lays down or sits for a while, when she first gets up it seems very stiff and/or weak. Sometimes she just barely limps, and a couple of times it looks like she can't put any weight on it at all. However, once she's up and walking around for a couple of minutes, everything just about seems to return to normal. If I let her outside for a while, when she comes in she's trotting like nothing's going on. This sounds very similar to Murphy, who has arthritis in one hip. She used to get really stiff and sore after a big playing session, and if she and her sister had been really going mad she'd be sore all the next day. Eventually the limp just never went away, so we went to see the vet, who said it was arthritis. We tried the cartrophen shots, but they didn't help much, so we're keeping them up 3-monthly to try and prevent further deterioration. Rimadyl helped, but it upset her stomach (she's allergic to beef and it's beef flavoured) so we've settled on Norocarp tablets (given to her in a piece of cheese each morning) and a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement on her food. She's doing great now - in fact the vet reminded us that we need to always bear in mind that she *does* have arthritis, even if she doesn't look like it, and not to let her run or play too hard as she will aggravate the hip joint. When it's quite bad we can feel the muscles just in front of her hips, they get quite tight and any time she stops next to either my partner or myself we'll give them a wee massage - your vet can probably show you exactly where they are. Definitely see your vet, but if it's just arthritis chances are it can be managed very well with injections or anti-inflammatory pills (we were going to try acupuncture on Murphy, but it settled right down so we didn't need it). Some dogs even become pain-free just with a glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM supplement. There are definitely a few options for treatment of arthritis. cheers Rachel & Murphy (New Zealand) |
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