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Limping - time to see the vet? (Video included)

dandelos

Well-known member
We noticed Skippy start limping a little less than 2 weeks ago. At first we thought it might be a slight sprain resulting from his falling off a picnic bench, and weren't too worried as it seemed to become more and more gradual in the days following that. But this week it still seems as pronounced as it first was. I've thoroughly (to the best of my non-expert abilities) examined his paws, front legs, and shoulders, and he does not appear to exhibit any pain or discomfort when I move or apply pressure to any of those parts.

I'm worried that it might be a Luxating Patella or something more sinister than a sprain -- are general vets typically able to diagnose this on a basic visit, or will he need to be referred to a specialist and have x-rays done?

Here is a short video showing Skippy's current walking movement, if anyone is able to recognize what the issue might be just from seeing his gait. His limping in the video is a little more pronounced initially and he appears sluggish because he had just woken up from a nap in our kitchen (as you can tell from his pressed-in face), but he has no problems running when going for a treat or ball --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eWYXDa15mM
 
As far as I know, only the hind legs have a patella. The front legs are more elbow and wrist. That's how I remember our vet explaining it to me. Skippy looks like he is favoring a front leg, if I saw that correctly.

Our Sophie, who is almost five years old, has got that same limp in her right front leg. We first noticed it in early July. She walks slowly, more like plodding along. Often when she gets up from lying on the floor, she'll use three legs and keep that fourth one held up. Some days, we can see the pain in her face.

And like your Skippy, she has no trouble running for a treat or to get petted by a neighbor when we're out for a potty walk. This past Saturday, she engaged me in play, so I figured she felt well enough for a romp in the house. So we did, and she was no worse for the wear.

Sophoe was put on Deramaxx for a week and we saw no change. She has been kept relatively inactive since early July, and no change. Was boarded in a kennel for two weeks in early August and kept very quiet, while we were on vacation, and we've seen no improvement. Lots of walking makes it all worse, though.

She has been X-rayed and the vet can't find anything. He is currently doing some research to determine whether she should see an orthopedic specialist or a neurology specialist.

So, I think our dogs possibly might have the same issue and I'll be following this topic.
 
Sorry to hear Sophie is also limping, hope she gets it straightened out soon! But yes I just did some more reading on Luxating Patellas and you are right in that it only appears to apply to hind legs (I think Skippy's issue is with his front left leg), so one potential major issue averted for now, I suppose.
 
maile limped in the front for a few weeks. I was worried and took her to the vet. they could not see anything from the xrays wrong. it cost a small fortune as I knew it would. she limped for about 4 months after that and suddenly stopped. not sure if she jumped down from the couch or bed and hurt her shoulders or not, but it seemed to take forever for her to get back to normal. good luck hope your baby gets better fast
 
Just wanted to provide a quick update...

So 2 weekends ago we brought Skippy in to see his vet, who ended up recommending some anti-inflammatory pills. He also told us that if Skippy's lameness did not improve after 3-5 days, to bring him back and he would examine him again at no cost.

Sure enough Skippy's limping did not improve, and in fact we began to notice that he was favoring his right hind leg over the left very heavily. It thus dawned on us that his lameness was not in his front legs, but in his left hind leg instead.

I brought him back to the vet yesterday, and suspecting that it was either a luxating patella or an ACL-type injury, he performed an x-ray in order to rule in/out more possibilities.

It turns out that the x-ray shows Skippy has "moderate to severe" hip dysplasia. Though the vet was careful to qualify that Skippy's lameness may or may not be because of his hip condition. His knees and ACL looked fine, otherwise. The vet said he is going to forward the x-ray to a surgeon to get his recommendation, but he did explain my 3 options --

1) Do nothing and Skippy will probably develop arthritis
2) Femoral head ostectomy (removing the ball of the bone)
3) Hip replacement surgery (much more invasive than #2, using metal implants)

Has anyone found themselves in a similar situation, and what did you end up doing (and how were the results)? Any advice/insight would be much appreciated! Skippy's already had one somewhat invasive surgery before (to relieve a cyst caused by non-expressive anal glands) so we'd hate to have to put him through another one, but I'm not sure if that is something that can be avoided.

I can even attach Skippy's hip x-rays here if anyone is interested in seeing them. Thanks!
 
I am sorry your boy has hip dysplasia. I get frustrated when cavalier breeders don't find Hip dysplasia screening important for their breeding dogs. Can you remind me how old your skippy is? One thing I think might help is getting your dog on a diet. Extra weight will cause more demand on his joints so that is something you can control. I have a rottweiler with mild HD. Our ortho vet recommended we keep him thin. He is eight and shows no signs of HD. I have kept him thin as recommended, he was diagnosed at age 2 with xrays. I would go to an ortho to get a second opinion and possible new xrays depending on how well your vet did them. Some vets don't know how to properly position a dog for xrays.
 
Skippy turned 4 in June. While he is generally bigger and taller than most cavaliers, I think he is carrying a few extra pounds more than he needs to. That said, I wouldn't necessarily call him pudgy/obese, just not slim/athletic, so somewhere in-between perhaps. He last weighed in at 29 pounds 2 weeks ago. The vet did tell us that we should lower his weight (even before the HD was diagnosed) -- he currently only gets 2 cups of food a day, with some treats sprinkled in here and there, but on the exercise front it is very limited. The tricky thing is I'm even more hesitant to walk/run him now seeing him limping around and also knowing that he has HD...
 
Skippy turned 4 in June. While he is generally bigger and taller than most cavaliers, I think he is carrying a few extra pounds more than he needs to. That said, I wouldn't necessarily call him pudgy/obese, just not slim/athletic, so somewhere in-between perhaps. He last weighed in at 29 pounds 2 weeks ago. The vet did tell us that we should lower his weight (even before the HD was diagnosed) -- he currently only gets 2 cups of food a day, with some treats sprinkled in here and there, but on the exercise front it is very limited. The tricky thing is I'm even more hesitant to walk/run him now seeing him limping around and also knowing that he has HD...

Bosco also does not have a small frame. He is currently 22 lbs, down from 25 lbs. It tooks 6 months of gradually decreasing his food. Two cups of food a day sounds like a lot to me. Bosco gets 3/4 cup per day, with some wet mixed in and occassional treats. I used to give him a full cup per day, but have gradually cut back, and have been successful in the weight loss. He has knee issues, and I've got to keep his weight in check. I think cavs put on weight very easily. He is two years old and gets his fair share of walks.

Joan
 
Bosco also does not have a small frame. He is currently 22 lbs, down from 25 lbs. It tooks 6 months of gradually decreasing his food. Two cups of food a day sounds like a lot to me. Bosco gets 3/4 cup per day, with some wet mixed in and occassional treats. I used to give him a full cup per day, but have gradually cut back, and have been successful in the weight loss. He has knee issues, and I've got to keep his weight in check. I think cavs put on weight very easily. He is two years old and gets his fair share of walks.

Joan

Thanks Joan! I off-handedly used 'cup' as my unit of measurement only because we've literally been using a sports drink bottle that we had cut into 1/3 as his kibble scooper, so our 2 cups might not be an exact description. That said, we've already started cutting down on how much we are giving him.
 
To help fill him up, you can also add fresh vegetables or fruit to his bowl or use as treats. My vet had suggested green beans when I needed to get Sydney to lose weight. Now I add some to BellaMia's food to keep from overfeeding.
 
Not to make light of this situation, but he walks like I do when I first get up. OTOH, I'm 66 and probably 25 pounds overweight.

Good luck. Your dog looks just like my "Charlie".
 
Your joke made me "lol" Tim!

Anyway, here's another update -- I talked to our vet yesterday after he had heard back from the surgeon who reviewed Skippy's x-rays. The surgeon felt that based on the x-rays and Skippy's current behavior, that we should dry managing his condition with meds and exercise first, and see if that helps any.

Our vet gave me a week's worth of Tramadol, and we've also cut down on Skippy's food and are trying to give him a little more exercise to get his weight down. I asked about supplements and he recommended Nutramax' Dasuquin.

Hopefully we'll see some improvement in Skippy's lameness over the next week or so.
 
Hope Skippy is doing well. My Leo is also a "Bigger than average" cavalier. He weighed 13.5kg at one point but Ive got his weight down to 10kg now. Exercise was a big part but I stopped feeding him the doggie treats and substituted them for rice cakes/veg sticks which he loves just as much. it was a slow process but worth it....keep at it and good luck.
 
I asked about supplements and he recommended Nutramax' Dasuquin.

Hopefully we'll see some improvement in Skippy's lameness over the next week or so.

Bosco is also on Dasuquin (1/2 tablet per day), and some chinese herbs. It has worked wonders for him. Hopefully, it will help Skippy as well.
 
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