Comments on: Causes Of Limping On Front & Back Legs

By: Russ Baum

Russ Baum — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 01:09:42 +0000

In reply to Andrew. Andrew, thank you for your reply. Much appreciated. A good point about weight, and worth me keeping in mind. She's at a steady 14.5 kg, and I can even 'clamp' my hands around her loin (left & right hand finger and thumb tips touching). I like the idea of a CT, to be sure, and I am pleased that you say a skilled ultrasonographer should be able to spot ligament and tendon damage. Thank you again.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 23 Oct 2022 08:46:43 +0000

In reply to Russ Baum. Hi Ross. I have no experience with MRI, but at this stage we would often order a CT to look for subtle changes to the joints and bones. If this were negative, a skilled ultrasonographer can often identify ligament and tendon damage. This is what is likely to be wrong with your dog given the recurrence after a relatively short period of rest. Your choices are a longer course of meloxicam and rest (4 to 6 weeks) or as you suggest, further diagnostics or referral. Make sure at the same time that your dog is close to their ideal weight as excessive weight has a surprisingly large influence on sporting injuries in young dogs.

By: Russ Baum

Russ Baum — Sat, 22 Oct 2022 23:53:05 +0000

Hello,
I have a two year old border collie, who is very active and enjoys open hillsides (Scotland). After a few days of long hill walks recently, she has started to pull up her rear left leg after resting; the length of time that she holds it up for correlates well with prior activity levels, and can range from seconds up to a minute. X-ray at the vet and mobility check of knee (while under) showed nothing. Loxicom for the last three weeks; the first two of which she was housebound with short walks on lead round garden. My question is how long would one advise, typically, to bring the dog’s activity level up to normal (though the new normal is more restricted on endurance activity)? I ask, as the third week (this last week) was spent ramping up time of exercise off lead – and her ‘lameness’ has returned. Second question – is ultrasound a good alternative to MRI for looking for strains / sprains? Kep is insured, so we’d be happy with asking for either, or both. Many thanks.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 20:20:15 +0000

In reply to Karin Bohanon. Hi Karin. You’ll need a vet check to answer that, sorry.

By: Karin Bohanon

Karin Bohanon — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 14:35:51 +0000

My 12 year old dog is limping on the real left side. She was diognosed 5 weeks with diabetic. What could be the cause

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 23 Sep 2020 01:14:53 +0000

In reply to Matt. Hi Matt. There is no reason to be alarmed yet if it’s only been happening for 24 hours. It’s also worth pointing out that dogs with a limp probably almost always have pain, it’s just that they don’t demonstrate it in any obvious way. My advice is go to the vet but unless they find something, they are likely to treat for a soft tissue injury and that will almost certainly be effective.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 22 Sep 2020 12:30:45 +0000

We have an almost 11 month old Goldendoodle pup, not fat who started to limp on his left front leg a day or so ago. He has no pain with palpation to his leg. He does use the leg to hold his toys, put it on your lap when wanting affection or to be pet and will run or walk on it, but if he is sitting or standing he will lift it up almost all the time when stationary. No injury or trauma to the leg that we saw or know of prior to this, also no wounds found.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 15 Apr 2020 00:45:14 +0000

In reply to Kira Hiscock. Hi Kira. The most likely reason it’s happening is simply because Staffies are not good at listening to their body! Limping is always most obvious after rest, but when a dog gets excited (such as when chasing the ball) they forget about the limp and run like there’s nothing wrong. The answer with these dogs is usually to enforce a period of leash-only activity as you can’t trust them to make the right decision on how much to use the leg during the recovery phase. Good luck.

By: Kira Hiscock

Kira Hiscock — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 11:06:06 +0000

Hi. I’ve got a 7 year old staffy. 2 months ago she fell off the sofa and hurt her front left leg. We went to the vets and they gave her anti inflammatory tablets for 4 weeks which didn’t seem to do much. After a while she stopped limping. 2 months on she has now started limping again. It’s very odd tho cos she will run after a ball fine and some days walk on 4 legs properly,but after rest she’s limping alot again. I’ve put her on joint care but it’s not working very well. Does anyone have any ideas on what it could be.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 20:17:50 +0000

In reply to Natasha. Hi Natasha. The only common fracture of the knee of a young dog is avulsion of the tibial crest. You can find it on the sister page: Help! My dog is limping. There is a x-ray of a typical repair. Other than that, will have to wait and see what the x-rays say. Hopefully there isn’t a fracture at all but feel free to get back to me once you have more information.