Corgi Limp in Back Right Leg
I've been quite concerned this past week, as Bailey had started to acquire a limp this past weekend randomly after playing or even after lounging. It is on her right leg, and the limping was worse this weekend, but she now seems to be walking/running okay, just still favoring the left leg and putting less pressure on the right. I've taken her for a long walk today to see how she was feeling, and no limp. When we got home tonight though, she woke up from a short nap and I noticed she was still slightly favoring the other leg again. I've looked through the health forums here, and it doesn't seem as if she could have hurt her leg because when I touch it she doesn't yelp or shows signs of pain. She's definitely a lot better this week, but she still seems like she's putting less pressure on her right foot. I'm worried that it could be hip dysplasia? I'm considering taking her in for an x-ray, but I don't want to overreact and go through a round of tests for the vet to tell me she is fine. Does anyone know if there are more obvious signs of hip displaysia? Could it be something else? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Nicole & Bailey
Thanks,
Nicole & Bailey
***UPDATE 2/6/10***
After watching Bailey for a few months, the limp in her hind right leg came back. We took her to a Orthopedic specialist yesterday (Apparently one of the best ortho vets specializing in small breeds in Southern California-Dr. Olds) and got x-rays done. He palpated her hip and leg area for a while, but Bailey only started to yelp when he touched the area around her knee. We took at look at the X-rays and he informed us that it was not hip dysplaysia as we had suspected. He said that if it were a German Shep or a larger breed dog, he would be concerned about the hips, but they looked normal for a Corgi. However, he compared both right and left knee, and noticed that her right knee had a lot of fluid in it compared to the other. He said he is not sure if it is genetic or if she had injured it playing, but that her ligament was attached slightly lower than normal on her right knee and there may be a partial tear due to the strain. He suspected a partial ACL tear, but would need to confirm with the radiologist next week. If it is an ACL tear, we would have to consider surgical options. Are there any corgi parents out there who have gone through this, had surgery, or opted for conservative management? Is this something that could eventually heal on it's own? What is the best way to go in your experience? The vet has given us Rimadyl (anti-inflammatory medication) to be given to Bailey for the next 2 weeks, and it already looks like her pain is letting up. However, I don't want to have her on meds forever. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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How old is Bailey?
Front leg or back?
Only certain sorts of injuries cause a reaction when palpated. If a large muscle group or a joint is sore, it won't hurt any more when you put pressure on it and so the dog (or horse or person or whatever) won't react.
Personally, unless a dog is three-legged lame and in distress, I would give something a couple weeks to resolve on its own before seeking the advice of a vet. Jack started limping randomly and when I finally thought about it for awhile I remembered he'd caught is foot running into his crate. Had I not been there to see it, I would never have known as the whole incident took about three seconds. He would sometimes favor the leg a bit after sleeping, and would come up three-legged lame for a minute or so if he landed hard on his front leg chasing a ball, then would be fine again. It resolved on its own after a few weeks.
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Permalink Reply by Bailey on
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Bailey is a little over a year old. I don't think that she injured it running, playing, or jumping, but you are right, you just never know. We waited a few weeks to see if the limp went away, and it did for a while, and came back this week. It seems like she shows more struggle when waking up from a nap, and then stretches her right back leg out and limps for about 5 minutes then favors the other back foot for a while. I think we may just bring her in for an x-ray because when we touch her leg/hip area, she doesn't yelp or get upset. We just really hope it is not hip dysplasia.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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My Buffy had torn CL 's in her back legs and never yelped when it was manipulated. Sparty had one partial tear and yelped if the vet even looked like he was going to touch it! That is not a real good indicator in some dogs. Pursue this with the vet.
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Permalink Reply by Alice on
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Finnigan was doing the same thing for well over a month. We had his hips checked when he was 8 months old and he was diagnosed with bad hips. Now at a year old he began limping and it would come and go. activity would bring it on the most. resting would cause him to be stiff and limp until he warmed up with a little walking. It could be Bialey's hips but it could be other things as well. We took Finn in when he started limping because it seemed too early for his hips to be hurting him and we wanted to make sure he didn't have an injury. The vet palpated the leg and after finding nothing he attributed the limp to his loose hips.
I spoke to a specialist who said there are injuries of different severity that may not be found in a physical exam. I was advised to watch him for another couple weeks (which would bring us close to two months) and if the limp kept coming back or got worse we would need to bring him in for x-rays. The limp would come back just slightly then seemed to disappear. It has been about a month since the specialist said that and since he has not had any major limping we have not moved forward with tests. He is a little stiff when he gets up after napping and seems achy after a long play session but seems to be doing better over all. The specialist basically told me that if he did have another injury, waiting two weeks to evaluate it further before bringing him in would not make the condition worse. Limiting hard play was advised but that was it. If you want to keep an eye on her a while longer before going in for tests, I think it would be ok.
Do you give her any joint supplements? If not, you may want to put her on some and see if it helps her. Finn has been taking them since he was 8 months old.
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Permalink Reply by Judi, Dawn, Soffie & Griffyn on
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Soffie is in recovery from a torn CrCl, 4 months so far. She did not yelp or make any kind of noise when we manipulated her knee. She has now progressed to where she will just take a little hop with the injured leg if she breaks into a trot, which we still try very hard to avoid.
After she has been resting the limp is very noticeable. However after she has taken a few steps it goes away.
I agree with Beth, (especially if you have no record or recollection of Bailey actually having some sort of an accident that would cause an injury.) and give it a little time. Xrays are expensive and they need to be anesthiatized (sp) to get a good image, and the less you need to do that the better! I would not let her jump up on or down off furniture. And would try to avoid stairs.
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Permalink Reply by MollyJo on
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Tegan is only 4 and does this same thing. His conformation isn't very great and so I think it's something with his joints or hips. He gets on and off furniture a lot, so I think that could be part of it. He limps A LOT more after exercise (especially if we go run in circles [he likes to herd me lol] in the park!) so I think it's just bad joints. I am going to start him on some joint support supplements and see if he becomes less sore, I have heard great things about some supplements...
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Permalink Reply by Anne Pinkerton on
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Ours has arthritis that has been hugely helped by daily glycosamine tablets. Doesn't mean he doesn't limp occasionally after a long hike or a little too much tennis ball, but we can curb his pain with a prescription called Tramadol, and then he acts good as new. We find that the corgi spirit tends to make them "over-do." Be careful with jumping off furniture and such - even an ottoman is high for a corgi.
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Permalink Reply by David Hernandez on
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Sampson is now a year very active and now for the second time is limping, It's his front right paw. He favors his left front paw. The Vet said to wait it out and Sam was on the stockier size at 38lbs since then we switch to Wellness adult from the the Wellness Puppy and hes lost his baby fat and is nice a trim. But is limping again he didn't limp for like 3 months.
I'm concerned because he'll run and play non-stop and looks like hes having a blast but after a nap he walks with a little gimp. Its not a major limp but I'm just concerned after reading all these posts. I guess I'll start him on some supplements.
If he is limping still monday or tuesday I'm going to take him to the Vet.
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Permalink Reply by Angel, Holly, & Mere on
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our corgis randomly limp, too...
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Permalink Reply by Katy on
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It could be anything. My Buddha has a chronic ACL tear from playing and running in a field when he was 2 yrs old. Have not gotten the surgery yet as the pain comes and goes (it's not there more often than it is) but I had XR done on both needs to get the for sure diagnosis and have also checked into the TPLO surgery just in case. I'd say go to the vet and get XR done.
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Permalink Reply by Ray Lee on
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Our boy injured his back right leg also from running in the park 2 weeks ago. Been to the vet and clear from xray for bone injury. On anti-inflammatory and pain control atm. His condition has improved and now use his injured leg when walking but still limp when standing. Hes had similar injury but always recover within a few days. His medicine will run out in 2 days. Vet suggest taking another round of x-ray with him under anesthiatized or even do an MRI. I've read on other web site that most of the time we should just let it rest but it seems to me 2 weeks is a long time already.
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Permalink Reply by Dyllan on
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My daughter and I each have a corgi they are brothers,they just turned one and both limp on the right front leg..She took hers to the vet and he said its something in short legged dogs called valgus deformity that has somthing to do with one bone growing faster than the other. He said if we had seen it when they were very small he would of put a pin in the leg but now they are adults and not to worry about it. it usually shows up after alot of running he says to limit playtime and not to let them jump up and down to much.He didnt even x-ray ,the foot is turned slightly outward and he knew just by looking he is a surgeon.He said it is not hereditary. They dont act like it hurts at all
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