lab with a limp in the back left

timrev8

hi everyone i have a 3 year old lab and he developed a limp more than a month ago. It gets worse after he runs a lot. He will pick up his leg and hop sometimes. the vet gave me some anti-inflamitory pills and they did nothing for him. I would love to save the money and figure this out myself. in the meantime what can i give him to temporrarily ease the pain when it gets bad?

I appreciate any ideas and thoughts.

P.S. this site is awesome

ChathamHillKennels

Schedule for OFA tests and see if the inflammation is due to hereditary joint problems.

animalcraker

There's numerous different things that could be causing his limp and pain. The fact that the limp still exists after more than a month means that it's not healing ad is something worse than just a sprained muscle. There's about half a dozen different pain meds designed for dogs, so if one isn't working another may work better. Keep in mind that any medicine you give your pet should be done with the advice of your vet. The best thing yo can do for our pet is to go back to a vet and get x-rays done. If you can find a vet with good orthopedic expericence that would be best.

dch

It sounds like a torn cruciate ligament. Get him to a good orthopedic vet ASAP!!! This is not something to wait on. It will only get worse. Pain meds will only hide the problem (if they work at all).

Good luck!

debrud

I am new here and am wanting to actually expand my business, which was all started because of our dog Otto....however, I just saw your posting regarding your limping dog. So sorry to hear that he is in pain...I have a extralarge St. Bernard/Newfoundland mix named Otto. Because of him, we have started a business called Otto Step...point here, is because of the difficulty we had loading and unloading him in our vehicle, we created a portable platform step. Beyond our business, I'm hoping people are aware of the injuries that we can cause to our dogs when we have them jumping down from high places, ie: pickups? SUVs, most vehicles may seem harmless to our furry friends and the jump doesn't seem like much, however; the force that jumping down causes can be devestating to their joints. If your dog has injured himself due to loading or unloading, the best advise I can give you is to get some sort of loading device...whether it is an Otto Step or a ramp, or even back up to a raised area to load and especially unload, you will do Fido a huge favor. Just because they are young and capabable of jumping up, we need to protect them especially when they are coming down, especially when they are young. Most of the osteoarthritis in dogs, hip and joint problems could be avoided if we start at a young age of protecting them from injuries that later turn into these forms of ailments. Thank you for reading this post, I hope it has been helpful and I do hope you will take a look at our website and see our beautiful Otto...if it weren't for him, we would not be a company specializing in helping dogs travel...please check out www.OttoStep.com and good luck with your lab!

timrev8

hi and thanks for all the good info
i have sceduled another visit for xrays.
how does a torn cruciate ligament get fixed??
can i suggest to the vet that this may be the problem?

animalcraker

You can most certainly sugest to your vet anything that you think may be the problem. The vet should then be able to say "yeah you're right" or show/explain why it isn't possible. You should never be afraid to ask your vet any and all questions you have about your pets health. The only stupid question is the one that wasn't asked

My first thought from your op would be hip dysplasia. Reason being that he's a Lab, which have a high incidence of HD, and that the limp was not the direct reuslt of an injury and hasn't gone away. HD is realtively easy to spot, though it can be difficult to treat/repair properly. There's also alot more difficult to spot things that may be causing the limp. Hence the recomendation for an experienced orthopedic vet.

dch

The only way a torn cruciate ligament gets fixed is to have surgery.

If he has hip dysplasia, then he may need meds. If it is sever enough, he may need to have surgery.

If he isn't treated, no matter what the problem, it will affect his other leg and could result in more skeletal problems.

Personally, I would of course, get him to a specialist. And keep him lean. If he is too heavy, this will put a lot of strain on his body.

I agree with animalcraker, ask a bazillion questions!

Good luck with him, let us know what the vet says! I hope for him and you it's just a sprained muscle!

Kittis14

yes it sounds like your dog has a acl tear. My dog has had both her back legs repaired. That was exactly what she did. She held it up and limped and somtimes put it down but she wouldn't use it. The surgery was pretty awful for about 4 days, but she recovered and is doing well. I didnt have both done at once, she did one in Dec last year and one this Jan a year apart. Your dog is young get it done, my girlfriend didn't get her lab done and she was horrible to look at when she walked, she eventually had to put her to sleep because she couldn't stand to do her business without falling it was heart stopping. This injury is very very painful to them the meds don't fix it they just make them feel alittle better than they hurt it again and again. If you can get over the first 4 days it will be ok. just remember they will cry out loud when u bring them home, but they give u alot of pain meds and a morphene patch, we just kept her comfortable as we could. I stayed down stairs and slept near her, because they can't do steps until at least 5 weeks after surgery. good luck