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Intermittant Lameness


kymbo
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My papillon Sam ( whole male, 14 months) seems to want me to own the vet surgery via vet bills :rofl:

Sam thinks he is a border collie, so is full on everywhere. He doesn't know the word walk I am sure. He plays...hard.

For the last two weeks, I have noticed that occassionally he pulls up lame when he is playing hard with the other pap or playing fetch. He hops around with a back leg held up in the air for like 30 seconds ( usually still running full force back to us etc while doing it) He will put the back leg back down after a little while but you can see he is not putting weight on it, and then give it another minute and he is ( what seems) back to normal.

Usually when I see him lame, even tho it is for such a short time and he seems to recover, I call it quits with whatever he is doing.

After watching for a little while, it *looks* like it is when he does a turn. I haven't seen him do it when just running straight.

He has no pain that I can determine, and no swelling, no nothing. It is always the same hind leg. He never yelps etc. It actually doesn't seem to worry him at all, especially if a ball is in play.

He is due for his needle soon, so I am going to see if I can get the vet to do a home visit and see it in action, as there is NO way that the vet will see the lameness any other way. I just wanted to see if there are others who have had something similiar, as this is really puzzling :cry:

Has anyone had anything similiar? :rofl:

TIA

Kym

Edited by kymbo
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It sounds like he has a luxating patella. When they straighten their leg and keep it in the air he may be try to get the patella to slide back into the groove.

If it is his patella the vet will be able to feel if it stable or not or if he himself can sublux it.

I may be wrong though, just a guess.

Good luck with the little man, I hope it's nothing too serious. :rofl: Keep is updated. :rofl:

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The vet should know straight away if its the patela, but what happens to a lot of dogs is that there is a fracture os stress fracture at the head of the fibula, have not known of mant vets to pick this up, Garry

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Thanks for all the replies :( I will just take him to the vet then and see where we go from there. I was wondering about luxating patella but I thought it was more in front legs ( off to google now)

Thanks again :laugh:

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Thanks for all the replies :( I will just take him to the vet then and see where we go from there. I was wondering about luxating patella but I thought it was more in front legs ( off to google now)

Thanks again :laugh:

There elbows are in the front legs. Patella in the back where their knees are. Very similar to humans. :thumbsup:

Edited by kleintjie
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I have NO idea why I thought they were in the front. Anyway I have hit google and read up and going by what I read, you^^ ( collective you) are right. So I will get the vet to check when he has his needle. I am presuming also if it is SP that it is Gr1 ( low) going by the table I read.

Jumping the gun a bit here, but it is only one leg at the moment ; what are the chances of the other leg being affected later on if it is SP? Is it common if one is affected both will be?

Again I don't know if it is hereditary or injury induced, but I know this pups sire & dam are totally ok in that regards ( tho again I know that is no guarantee)

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Your vet can check both and see if they are ok or not. If it's hereditary I assume it's more likely that both legs can be affected. If it's from an injury or too much jumping etc. it may just be the one.

I would suggest you try to avoid him to do ANY jumping. If he does need surgery, he shouldn't jump afterwards either, so it will be good for him to learn now. Not that I have any tips on how to do that! :o

Let us know what happens. Good luck!

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I have a wee Chihuahua that had bad floating Patellas, but they never effected her and she never required surgery, and she used to jump up and down on the couch,depends on the dog fingers crossed he isnt to bad.

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I have the same thing with one of my standard poodles, I have had him to the vet so many times. He has been x rayed from the tip of his toes up to the middle of his back and so far no one can find anything wrong.

A couple of weeks ago it started to play up again so I was refered to a specialist, after two visits one him being heavily sedated and checked out properly, we still have no answers. We have been asked to video him when it happens and bring a copy of it in but it happens so quick so far I have had no luck.

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Hi - I have seen some people recommend glucosamine for these types of problems - has anyone tried it and what are/were the results. I know its a long term treatment for humans so imagine it would be the same for dogs - I'm considering adding it to my 9 month old pups diet .

I have noticed recently that after he has a burst of running he sort of does a little limp, then a little skip and it looks like he is popping his leg back into place. We're going to the vet in a week or so, so I'll ask her to chekc out LP but wondered about glucosamine if thats what it is....to stop his joints getting worse rather than progressing to need surgery.

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Jumping the gun a bit here, but it is only one leg at the moment ; what are the chances of the other leg being affected later on if it is SP? Is it common if one is affected both will be?

Again I don't know if it is hereditary or injury induced, but I know this pups sire & dam are totally ok in that regards ( tho again I know that is no guarantee)

my little boy Arnie had what we thought was LP and when he went in for his xray and operation, the vet found he actually had a fractured hip and his patellas were perfect.

he probably did it jumping off the bed. he's a very jumpy dog.

anyway, your vet should be able to tell by seeing if he can move or click the patella at all. if his patellas are ok, ask for an xray because he may have injured himself like my pup.

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Hi everyone,

From my experience I have learnt that if xrays show nothing and your vet is at a loss it might be because problems with nerves may not show up on xrays. I had similar problems with my border collie girls Zoey and Ziggy who are 8 and 10 and starting to slow up. The thought of an operation was terrible. I have since invested in a chiropractor in Brisbane who is great (pm me for details). He adjusted them and they walk perfectly now which I now realise they havent done for years. They were walking lame/limping as a result of having a pinched nerve and being in pain, no operation needed, we're all very happy! He these symptoms can result from a bad birth, mum stepping puppies, rough play, jumping/falling the wrong way, accidents, slipping on slippery floors or using stairs. I have had the best results I could ever have imagined and wish someone had told me earlier - so glad I didnt keep going to the vet and just medicating without treating the problem. Even with elbow displaysia and arthritis which the xrays showed there is now no sign of lameness so maybe this wasnt the cause at this point in time for my girls limping.... Good luck

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