Oh no!!! Is this hip dysplasia?

While I would never suggest excessively bothering the joint, I don't think feeling it once to get a better grip on what is going on hurt it more.

I completely understand your point, Susan and blacknblue, that you shouldn't try to 'play vet' but a small amout of triage can help you decide on what plan of action is needed.

Hugo, if you are feeling something odd in his knee, I would get him into the vet before you try him on supplements. A 1 year old dog should not be having that problem, and while it may be nothing, it could be something like a torn ACL (just a thought) or something more going on in the joint.

Keep us updated!
 
susanl143 said:
Hugo,

Please stop articulating, compressing, and messing with your dog's leg.
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blacknblue said:
I agree with Susan. Leave it alone, stop messing with it, let him rest it today, and if it's not better in the morning, take him to the vet. It sounds like he injured it to me.
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Huh, it's not like I spent half my day toying with his leg.

When your dog is standing in the middle of the kitchen, his ears down, not moving because he hurts, making crying sounds, what do you do? You tell him «sorry pal, I'm not touching that leg, you gonna have to wait till tomorrow. KTHXBYE!»?

No, I don't think so.

I simply helped him out and noticed what was the issue. We limited his activities and hope to take him to the vet ASAP.

I wouldn't jeopardise his health by playing vet and making assumptions.

Snowy said:
While I would never suggest excessively bothering the joint, I don't think feeling it once to get a better grip on what is going on hurt it more.

I completely understand your point, Susan and blacknblue, that you shouldn't try to 'play vet' but a small amout of triage can help you decide on what plan of action is needed.

Hugo, if you are feeling something odd in his knee, I would get him into the vet before you try him on supplements. A 1 year old dog should not be having that problem, and while it may be nothing, it could be something like a torn ACL (just a thought) or something more going on in the joint.

Keep us updated!
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Indeed. He was a little more playful tonight, wanting to play with his ball and all, but I didn't really oblige, I didn't want him to hurt himself even more.

I will keep you guys updated.
 
I wasn't trying to be rude to you Hugo, it just sounded like you were messing with it alot and trying different things with it, and I was thinking if it is an injury, that may not be a good idea. I'm glad he's a little more playful tonight, hopefully it's nothing serious.
 
Could this be it?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070728212157AAexDrB

Help!! What is wrong with my dog's leg?
I have a dog, and she is limping, but putting weight on her foot. She isn't eating much, but is drinking a lot. My mom's dog broke his leg (twice) and never let his broken leg touch the ground. My dog is being very quiet (not like her) and it concerns me. I made an appointment for tomorrow morning, but am anxious and am not sure what to think. When I touch her leg, she puts her ears back, and looks at me like she is in a little pain. She is a sheltie and just turned a year old. She got down on the ground from the couch and this is how it started.... she has had a limp leg in the past from playing rough with other dogs, but it normally goes away in about an hour... but not this time, it's been about 8 hours.

Any ideas?


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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker
oooohhh poor pup, a Luxating Patella (dislocated knee) is a super common problem in Shelties. There actual knee cap pops outta place. Painful and sore the leg will support weight but it wont let the dog have full range of motion. Often it happens while the dog is jumping or extending the leg in a full run... this is a likely candidate for whats wrong, otherwise it could be a sprain, a muscle pull, a dislocated socket, a hurt toe... many different options. Best to keep her calm and still, no jumping until you get to your vet tomorrow. If shes not screaming in pain then she will be OK till tomorrow dont dose her up with Tylenol or anything cause you want her to be able to feel her injury when you get to your vet so that they can asses the damage and the injury the best they can for you.
7 months ago
Source(s):
9 years as Shelter manager, wildlife rehaber, raising orphaned animals, investigator for animal abuse\neglect and years of owning,training, breeding many types of animals.

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That's what it was. He told us to watch her for 6 months and see from there. Her luxation is a Grade 1, so it's not too bad. We gave her pain meds and she seems to be doing better. If it's not tighter in 6 months, we have to do surgery.

But, thank you and the others for all of your help!
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Wow, that's exactly like me.

Started without warning, happens only if he runs/jumps and, well, the pooping sound it makes when he either sits or I compress the leg sounds very, very similar.

I'm bringing this article to the vet. So there is, some sort of hope, although babying the dog for 6 months seems like a hell of an hassle.
 
Hugo,
Good going finding out what the problem was.

Years ago I had a Puli with double luxated patellas. She needed surgery as all she could do was drag those hind legs. The surgery worked perfectly, although she did need a second operation. She was about one year old when she had the surgery and moved perfectly until she died 13 years later. She didn't even have arthritis. Her method of getting into and out of the car was to cleanly leap through the open window. Hope your dog doesn't need surgery but thought you'd welcome hearing of a dog with good results. Sasha had her surgery in the early 70s. I'm sure they do it even better these days.
 
Good Going Hugo !!

Glad you found a site with an answer you are comfortable with. I placed this site in my favorites. I've said before, we learn something new every day!:yes: Please just keep us on updates on how he's doing ,Ok .:o I really do care ,I love animals as I know you do . We all do! That's why sometimes some of us choose words that come on strong but the meaning is only meant as good; To try to help each other. So let us all just get along now !!:eek2::lol:
 
All right, that link I posted was right on the money.

The vet chuckled and was like «man, this is almost exactly the same thing, good job diagnosing your dog's problem yourself!» (although mine is more severe).

So here's the lowdown :

He has a Grade 3 knee luxation, therefore the knee cap doesn't stay in place at all. The vet popped it out, and the dog stopped moving.

What happens is this : the knee cap, which is supposed to be located in a «channel», gets pushed out of this channel by the inflammation. With each pop in/pop out cycle, it inflammates even more, creating a vicious circle.

Thankfully, the right rear leg is fine.

Therefore, my dog gets anti-inflammatory meds for 6 days, which aim to reduce the swelling and help his knee cap stay in place.

At the same time, my dog, who is 30 lbs, has to go down to 24-25 lbs. I thus switched from Nutro to Prescription Diet r/d. Apparently, Nutro's diet food is as rich as other brands weight maintaining food. :eek2: The w/d is to lose weight, and r/d is even more drastic. I chose the latter for faster results.

I asked about glucosamine to reinforce his joints, and the vet look impressed at all the research I had done. :wink2: He told me that it was a great idea to combine all this. Glucosamine for humans works, but you have to use twice as much. So the bottle is half price, but... get the point? So I bought a bottle for him, to help the whole weight loss/joint rebuilding/inflammation eliminating process.

On top of all that, here is the not so fun part :

No running at all for 4 months (!!!!)
Walking should not be done if the street is icy, as any loss of traction could cause him to slip, fall and hurt himself.
No going up the stairs
Avoid slopes if possible
Check up in one month for weight loss
X-rays in 4-6 months
Other x-rays in a year
Possible surgery in a year if things do not improve (although he believes we will probably won't have to resort to that)
Anti-inflammatory medicine might be a lifetime thing

Oh well... for 178$, I have results, peace of mind, a bag of food, a bottle of glucosamine, anti-inflammatories, a weight loss/exercise plan, and a dog who's not arthritic, not suffering from hip dysplasia and not going under the knife just yet.

Could be worse I guess. :o
 
Luxated Patella

Hi Hugo

Sorry to hear about the results. My youngest Tara was diagnosed with Patella in both hind legs, recently we had an appointment with a Bone specialist who strongly advised Hydrotherapy if you can get access to a Hydrotherapy Centre it truly does help.

I was given as much information as you Tara is on Glucosamine/chondroiton/msm but I have used NUPRO for my older girl Jura's arthritis for two years now I'm giving it to Tara as it is a joint supplement.

Tara is doing very well but her Patella is at Stage 1 not as advanced as your dog.

Good luck

Linda
 
Well, as much as it does suck, the dog is not in need of urgent surgery, nor is it something that will only go downhill, and I don't have to put him down.

It's gonna be a real hassle to deal with all this, but I'll pull through...
 
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