Limp - should we switch vets?
Hey everyone! :) Mickeys limp (it has happened about 5 times for usually two to three days at a time) is back but it has lasted for a week now. It is his back left paw. We just notice he is not putting weight on it and decided after a week of rest to bring him to the dog park last night. He ran for about 30 seconds and it was back.
We went to the vet today to see if we could come up with a solution. I have one concern. When we brought up hip dysplasia to the vet as a possible concern he told us no, it was not that as that is not a worry for small dog breeds in general and only in large breeds like labs, etc. I wasnt comofortable with this answer because of the threads I have read on here regarding that topic. He checked his ligaments and it wasnt that so he said it was probably a sprain or something (that is obviously what I hope it is) He gave us antiinflammatories for two weeks and we will rest him for he suggested three weeks. The three weeks rest is basically no dog parks, because Mickey really loves to fly! He said on leash walks were ok in moderation.
So my question is: Should his disregard of hip dysplasia be a concern for us? He said we will do xrays if it doesnt get better. He didnt seem to be aware that this was even a problem. Or is it a problem? I have only read a few people on here with the problem but a few on this online site is enough for me to see it as a possible problem, especially since the limp has happened a few time sin the past
Any advice would be great :)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Markley on
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Seanna recently ruptured her cruciate ligament, and from what they told me the only way to definitevely diagnose it (without surgery) is to sedate them and look for a "drawer sign". They have to have them sedated because if the dog is awake they are too painful and the muscles stiffen up, perhaps masking the movement of the femur against the tibia. They can have hip dysplasia, as a matter of fact, they did Xrays of her hips and legs before they did surgery to make sure she didn't have any other problems they needed to deal with. Obviously if the hips are bad, it places extra stress on the knees--so why fix just the knee if the hip needs it too? The vets here made it sound like if the dog was still lame 72 hours out, it was almost surely a partially or completely torn ligament. If you wait the three weeks, I can guarentee you the dog will get better, but if it's torn it's only going to become lame again, and get severe arthritis without intervention. Hopefully it is just a sprain, but if you have doubts then I'd go for a second opinion....
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Permalink Reply by christy fry on
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It looks like your puppy is still young under a year? He might be experencing growing pains...another member had his young male puppy diagnosed with this expect it had a fancy name but meant the same thing in the end. I'm sure you've read alot about young Finn and his owners experiences with hip issues in a young dog a set of x-rays would provide you with deffinent answers though and might be worth the expense. As far as if this is a problem I don't think the corgi breed is most known for displasia issue as much as they are for DM and being long back dogs...most everyting I read about this breed prior to getting one is advice on back care really watching the weight .proper picking up techniques,and height restrictions on jumping.
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Permalink Reply by Julia on
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Since the corgi is a somewhat unusually shaped dog, not a typical small dog, more a dwarf of a medium dog, are most vets as familiar with their structural issues? Or do these type of things (hips, knees) present in a way that most vets would recognize, regardless of breed? Do we need to look for vets who are specifically familiar with this breed, or are most vets as competent as their peers in corgi care?
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Hmm. Whether or not to switch vets is something that you want to look at the big picture with. I switched vets once because I didn't like the way their lack of thoroughness with cats. There were other issues too, mainly very long waits in the waiting room for appointments.
As for this, if it were me I would ask myself if I was otherwise pleased with the practice, the care, and the knowledge of the vet, and also if the vet is open to your suggestions. I don't expect any vet to be an expert on every breed, and if he doesn't see many Corgis he might not be familiar with their particular issues. It is generally true that hip dysplasia severe enough to affect a young dog is more of a problem with large breeds, but of course Corgis have those weird hips and do not have the bones of a small breed. If you discussed with him that based on what you've learned, Corgis can get dysplastic, would he be willing to discuss it with you, or would he get defensive? That would be my own personal deciding factor.
The other thing is sometimes doctors don't clearly articulate what they really mean if they are thinking out loud during an exam. SO in his head he might have been thinking "It doesn't present itself the way dysplasia normally does, he does not react to palpation or manipulation the way a dysplastic dog normally does, and on top of all of that he's not one of the highest-risk breeds" but what came out to you was just the end part.
So ideally upon further questioning he should be able to explain why he feels it's not dysplasia. No doctor (human or animal) should dismiss a concern outright just because it's not so common in a certain animal, but frequency of occurrence does weigh in on their thinking.
I hope Mickey feels better soon!
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Permalink Reply by justine moeller on
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I think we will consider switching vets. We have a bit of a language barrier as well as he doent speak English fluently and my French is not up to par to have a in depth conversation about some concerns I have. I find he has some hostility towards me sometimes. When I tried to explain that corgis could have Hip dysplasia although I was not sure how common it was he got defensive and said well fine we can do xrays but there is no point right now. I just said ok we will wait. So even if e is right I did not like the way he dismissed me.
Hopefully Mickey feels better soon. We tried a short walk this morning and although he doesnt seem to be in pain he is slower than normal so I have a feeling he is hiding the pain. Dogs are good at that!
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie on
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I find first impressions and "heebie geebies" are quite accurate. Trust your instincts.
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Ditto that.
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Great description. I think I knew it was time to switch vets I just needs to actually write it down! As soon as I wrote this thread and posted it I thought to myself, why did I weven start this discussion, if I come home from the vet everytime feeling the same way... yeah it is time to switch!
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Permalink Reply by MagnoliaFly on
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Go with what feels right. If you don't feel comfortable with this vet and would question his diagnosis in the future, try someone else. You want to do what is best for your dog.
I had a similar experience earlier this year when my corgi got sick with a UTI. I didn't feel comfortable with the vet saying they'd immediately jump to surgery if it was a bladder stone. I don't like putting my dogs under unnecessary anesthesia. I switched to a new vet who reiterated the same thing without me even prompting her and fell in love. She ended up saving Bernie's life and wrote off a bunch of charges for a weeks hospitalization because she knew I wouldn't have been able to afford the care easily. She felt it was more important to get Bernie better than to make a huge profit off of it.
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Thanks for all the great replies. It has been about two weeksand Mickey still has a slight limp, we are going to switch vets in the end but I have one more question if anyone knows. When a vet is looking for a torn ligament or ACL what exactly does he look for? I have read numerous times that dogs were sedated in order to properly tell if this was the case. Our vet manipulated Mickeys leg (pretty intensly, with Mickey growling and snapping at him) and said that he would be able to feel it if it was. So I was curious why some would be sedated when he says he could just do it tis way? Or is this way completely not right? ughhh....cant wait to find a vet we love :)
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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Usually they will put them out but can sometimes tell with out it. The problem is an awake dog especially a muscular corgi will often not relax enough for the vet to manipulate the joint enough to see if it is too loose. The vet is doing it by feel so a tense, snapping dog can make that much more difficult. In my Sparty's case he needed to have his teeth cleaned anyway so the vet checked then. We decided not to do the surgery because it appeared that Sparty's was a partial tear (from the manipulation, x-rays and the fact that he could walk on it) and that was several years ago. He was on anti inflamatories for several months and has been just fine for about three years. We have cut back on some of his more wild activities (no more herding the soccer ball) but otherwise he walks just fine. It is really important to have a vet you trust so good luck.
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