Another One Bites the Dust
You can add Finnigan to the list of limping dogs. I don't know what is wrong with him. His problem started a couple weeks ago. We had a meet up at the dog park for Finnigan's birthday and we stayed longer than we normally would. Finnigan was having so much fun running around as he always does at the park, but toward the end of the night I noticed that he was waddling more than normal and wondered if his hips could be causing him pain or if he was just completely worn out. We took him home and put him in his crate while we ran out to get something to eat. When we got back and let him out, he was very slow getting out of the crate and he walked a few steps then sat down. Normally he'd come racing out. I called him and he walked a couple more steps then sat again. This time I noticed he was limping. It appeared to be his back right leg causing the problem. We felt around for cuts or thorns and found nothing. We moved the leg around and he didn't react. He didn't want to walk the rest of the night. The next morning he got out of the crate limping but as the day went on it got better. It was worse after he'd been lying down. I gave him a baby Aspirin and the next day he seemed fine.
Jump ahead two weeks to least night. We went to my Mom's and took Finn with us. He played all night with her Cardigan as he always does when we're there. Again I noticed his hind end swaying more than usual by the end of the night. This morning we let him out of the crate and he is limping and doesn't want to walk. I can't even tell this time which leg it is, or maybe it's both hind legs. He has not been doing anything out of the ordinary so I don't understand why he keeps ending up with a limp. I instantly worry that it’s something serious because Finnigan is said to have bad hips. We had his hips x-rayed when he was 8 months old and the vet said he had "bad hips" but may or may not ever have problems because of it. The breeders I've talked to said Cardi hips often look bad compared to nondwarf breeds but are typical for the breed and suggested that perhaps our vet isn't familiar with dwarf breeds. I don't know what to believe so really he may or may not have bad hips. Seeing hip limp like this makes me worry about his hips though. I don't know what to do with him. He's only a year old. He loves to run and burn off energy so I'm not about to keep him from doing that. He doesn't get to do it often anyway because we don't have a yard. Any ideas what could be wrong? Hips, sprain, sore muscles from exercising? We are giving him baby Aspirin and limiting activity while he is like this but is there something else we should be doing?
Jump ahead two weeks to least night. We went to my Mom's and took Finn with us. He played all night with her Cardigan as he always does when we're there. Again I noticed his hind end swaying more than usual by the end of the night. This morning we let him out of the crate and he is limping and doesn't want to walk. I can't even tell this time which leg it is, or maybe it's both hind legs. He has not been doing anything out of the ordinary so I don't understand why he keeps ending up with a limp. I instantly worry that it’s something serious because Finnigan is said to have bad hips. We had his hips x-rayed when he was 8 months old and the vet said he had "bad hips" but may or may not ever have problems because of it. The breeders I've talked to said Cardi hips often look bad compared to nondwarf breeds but are typical for the breed and suggested that perhaps our vet isn't familiar with dwarf breeds. I don't know what to believe so really he may or may not have bad hips. Seeing hip limp like this makes me worry about his hips though. I don't know what to do with him. He's only a year old. He loves to run and burn off energy so I'm not about to keep him from doing that. He doesn't get to do it often anyway because we don't have a yard. Any ideas what could be wrong? Hips, sprain, sore muscles from exercising? We are giving him baby Aspirin and limiting activity while he is like this but is there something else we should be doing?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alice on
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Another Cardi breeder told me that some vets who have not worked much with dwarf breed hip x-rays may position the legs in such a way that the hips look bad when they are not. She said one of her females was said to have poor hips by one vet then when she went to another vet that was recommended to her the x-rays showed good hips. I don't know how likely this is. I want to believe that Finn may be a case like this because I don't want him to end up crippled and possibly lose him at an early age but to me, these x-rays don't look good. I will post them later today if I can. I borrowed the x-rays from the vet so I could email them to Finnigan's breeder; I've just been having trouble getting a clear image onto the computer. The vet's office has very old equipment so they were unable to make copies or put them on cd. I found that holding it in front of a window and taking a picture works pretty well but then you see images of stuff through the window as well. Still, you can see the hips. What is the Lyme/Anaplasmosis/Ehrlichia test? I'm not familiar with that one. I would take him right in if money were not an issue but at this time it is. When we take him in for shots I will ask the vet and see what he recommends. I appreciate your input and it's good to see a Cardi hip x-ray for comparison so thanks for sharing Clue's.
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Permalink Reply by Joanna Kimball on
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The reason I'd advise getting his knees checked is that the better follow-up studies that have checked in with owners whose dogs were diagnosed with hip dysplasia-related pain have found that there's actually very little benefit associated with the surgeries (like the femoral head replacement) because the surgeries themselves cause so much pain and resulting arthritis that having a tighter hip doesn't seem to be worth it. But owners who treated KNEES (because ACL/CCL tears are very common in dysplastic dogs because of the inflammation - inflammation causes the ligaments to be more easily damaged) saw a much better result.
Lyme is a tick-borne disease. It's found in every state of the union and it's underdiagnosed virtually everywhere. It causes arthritis-type symptoms and some of the exact things you're describing - pain that comes and goes. Ehrlichia and anaplasmosis are related to Lyme and the good test checks for all three. It costs about $50 for the test and, if he's positive, about $20 for the antibiotics. So it's by far the best-case scenario in terms of treatment and would provide him with a huge amount of relief.
In terms of those x-rays - it's going to be something you'll have to discuss with your breeder and it would be really wrong of me to get in the middle of it. Positioning DOES matter, though usually positioning errors show up as one bad hip and one good hip.
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It wasn't my breeder who brought up the issue of positioning so don't worry about getting in the middle. Unfortunately my breeder got very defensive when I told him the vet's diagnosis and it did not go well. He later emailed me and said he would like to see Finn's x-rays after all which is why I went and got them from the vet. In the meantime I wanted more information from other Cardi breeders and there is one here in Az that I've talked to when looking for advice on other issues so I asked her and she brought up the positioning issue. I like to get as many opinions as possible.
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Here's Finnigan's x-ray. Ignore the lines and such in the background, it's the blinds since I was holding it in front of a window to take a picture of the x-ray.
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Permalink Reply by Judi, Dawn, Soffie & Griffyn on
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Our Soffie is recovering from a torn cruciate ligament. It was caused from a sudden injury, she was running across the yard and I'm guessing she stepped in a hole and caught it just right. She is about 9 weeks into conservative management which, simply put, means we are keeping her activity to the absolute minimum and hoping that surgery will not be necessary. We knew she had this injury right away, because it was sudden and she pulled up on it immediately. But in some cases, like Bev's Sparty, it can be there and not noticed. Soffie walks fine, but if she tries to exert herself in any way (and I do mean any way), she pulls up that left hind leg and limps for several steps. I suggest you have your vet take a look. Also, I can't be 100% certain, but I thought I remembered reading something that baby aspirin isn't good for a dog. I know for sure, you should never give them tylenol/acetaminophin!!
We're wishing all the best for Finnigan! It's not fun being hurt!
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I looked into it before hand and Aspirin was the only human medication that dogs can also take for pain. It's important that it not be coated and that it is buffered or at least given with food as it can be rough on their tummies.
Do they have to knock them out to x-ray for a ligament injury?
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Yes they knock them out to do a diagnosis for ligament injury but it's not so they can do x-rays. They do what is called a "drawer test", that is to say they manipulate the joint to see if it slides in a movement similar to a drawer sliding in an out. My vet also did an x-ray of Soffie's hips too just to be sure, but that was by my ok. From what I understand they need to be anesthitised(sp?) so that they don't resist when the vet tries to manipulate the joint. But don't be "rail roaded" into surgery if it turns out to be CrCl injury. Dawn has done much research, (as well as I'm sure many others here have) and from all we understand, surgery can be saved as a last resort. And if (and I mean IF) you opt for surgery, the specialist we consulted with told us the minimal proceedure is best recommended for Corgis, Pembroke and Cardigan. Please let us know if we can be of any more assistance and or support.
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Thank you for all the information. I know Finn had to be out for his hip x-ray which is why we had it done at the same time we had him neutered. Anytime anesthesia is required it becomes quite expensive and that would be an issue right now.
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Permalink Reply by Edward and Gemima on
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I hope Finn will be OK!!! I am a nervous Corgi mom now that Edward is in a cast and it seemed like he and "Gem were just playing albeit roughly when his injury happened!!!! I just about fell over when he came back from x-rays in a soft cast!!!! So, I guess it can happen fast!!!! Anyway, I'm hoping Finn recovers quickly, I have to tell Edward to slow down as the cast does not hinder him at all!!!
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Yup, I hear that. Fortunately I have insurance for Soffie and Griffyn. Luckily I didn't cancel it a few months ago when I was wondering if I wasn't wasting the money on premiums. They can make an educated diagnosis though without anesthesia, it's just not the complete exam. Both the emergency vet and my regular vet were able to tell by manipulation of Soffie's knee that it was most likely a torn ligament. And as I've said we opted to give her a chance to recover without surgery, which the specialist was totally on board with. So you might be able to get some kind of a diagnosis, either ruling in or ruling out a CrCL injury without having have Finn anesthetized.
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That would be helpful. I'd just hate to pay a lot just to have them tell me it's a sprain or something else less serious.
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Permalink Reply by CorgiLove on
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Sounds like Philip just a month or so go, he also had a limp, it went away, and came back in 3 weeks or so. It must be a common thing around this age as they finish growing and really learn to get their energy out, but not quite realize when they need to stop and take a rest :D
I called the vet when Philip got his limp a second time, but they said not to worry unless it lasts for several days without improvement. I limited his activity, and it went away, and hasn't happened again, we'll see how the next big dog park outing goes.
I hope Finnigan will be back to his normal self soon and it's nothing more than a sore muscle of sorts. In case you want to take a look, here's the thread I made earlier for Philip.
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