bc4ever Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 After last night's lameness, Scooter was lying on the floor this morning, unable or unwilling to move. Finally got up and ate, played a little with his toys and seemed to be better. Then, the limping seemed to come back. Didn't follow me up the stairs, just laid there. Took him to the vet and of course he bounced around and jumped up on the seat with no apparent discomfort (adrenalin?). Vet pushed and prodded and could find nothing wrong with the foot. Took x-rays of the knee. Found "a tiny amount of fluid" on the knee and prescribed Rimdadyl for two weeks. This seems to come and go, sometimes barely noticeable but other times he's obviously having trouble walking on the foot/leg, usually after lying down for a while. What's disturbing me the most right now is his lying around, uninterested in anything. He just lies there and stares up at us or falls asleep. Normally, the minute we walk out of the room, he's right behind us. He's eating and drinking, but seems so listless. I'm wondering if he's depressed because all our Thanksgiving guests have gone home. We had three people stop in today, all at different times and he perked right up, seemed his old self--energetic, bright eyed, alert, eager to visit. What am I missing here? What is the vet missing? Should I be asking for different tests? He's never been this way before. I'm really worried there's something else going on. Am I making too much of this? Wouldn't be the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trailrider Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 This seems to come and go, sometimes barely noticeable but other times he's obviously having trouble walking on the foot/leg, usually after lying down for a while. Sounds like pain, mayber a pinched nerve anywhere up to the spine. Can you feel any heat anywhere on the leg? That could indicate damage and inflamation. Try light squeezing massage very slowly up and down, all over the leg to the spine. Any tender areas should give you a sign. Pain is tiring and irritating for the dogs, but they tolerate it better that we do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 Sounds like it could be a torn cruciate ligament, which does sometimes require full sedation to diagnose correctly. With a CCL rupture you want to do surgery sooner rather than later if that is the route you decide to take. The longer you wait, the more scar tissue and arthritis will develop in the joint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 I would definitely have him checked for a CCL tear. When the CCL is not fully torn lameness can come and go for a long, long time before it fully tears and the dog becomes fully lame on that leg. Some people have found conservative treatment works but others find that surgery is needed. My acd has had TPLO on both knees. For 2 years she came up lame on the one leg off and on. It would literally come and go and it could be one day to the next. Pain can make dogs seem lethargic. Think about it - if you are in pain, do you really want to get up constantly following folks around? Also, if the lethargy started after giving the rimadyl you may want to check with the vet as some dogs cannot handle it. We switch between rimadyl and deramaxx for our dogs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc4ever Posted December 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 I would definitely have him checked for a CCL tear. When the CCL is not fully torn lameness can come and go for a long, long time before it fully tears and the dog becomes fully lame on that leg. Some people have found conservative treatment works but others find that surgery is needed. My acd has had TPLO on both knees. For 2 years she came up lame on the one leg off and on. It would literally come and go and it could be one day to the next. Pain can make dogs seem lethargic. Think about it - if you are in pain, do you really want to get up constantly following folks around? Also, if the lethargy started after giving the rimadyl you may want to check with the vet as some dogs cannot handle it. We switch between rimadyl and deramaxx for our dogs. After doing a lot of research last night, I'm beginning to think it might indeed be a CCL tear, but am still hoping it's just a little muscle pull. This morning, he's back to his old self. No sign of limping, much like you describe. I'm going to watch him carefully for a few days and see how it goes. Money is really tight right now, so the thought of major surgery seems overwhelming but I know from reading the boards there are ways around that little glitch if it's something that's necessary. I don't want him to be in pain the rest of his life--he'll be five December 3 (also my birthday). The lethargy started before the Rimdadyl, which makes it a little more difficult to gauge whether he's having a reaction to the meds or not. I know there are other signs to watch for, so will keep an eye on him. Rimdadyl makes me nervous even though I know a lot of people here use it on their dogs without a problem. Just my personal issue--I'm very careful about the meds I take. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2 Devils Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 With a CCL tear you can try conservative management. At this point crate rest is probably needed whether a pulled muscle or a tear. No play time, no running, minimal stairs, etc... for a couple weeks at least. It sucks when our dogs get injured and we don't quite know the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 I don't have anything to add to the above excellent information and sage advice, except my sympathies to you and Scooter. I hope he feels better permanently soon! Ruth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildFlower Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 Oh no. Poor Scooter! I hope that he is feeling better with a bit of rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvw Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 bc4ever, where in Ohio are you? One of my dogs had lameness on and off. I was fortunate to get him a referral to Dr. Dejardin at Michigan State Vet Hospital. He is a world renown ortho surgeon. He was able to see things in the xray that were not apparent to others. The ligament was not torn but he predicted it would tear at some point. I did not want to do surgery. I went the conservative route first. But in the end we did do the TPLO surgery before the ligament tore. There was much less damage that way and the recovery was much faster. FWIW Jennifer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejano Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 After last night's lameness, Scooter was lying on the floor this morning, unable or unwilling to move. Finally got up and ate, played a little with his toys and seemed to be better. Then, the limping seemed to come back. Didn't follow me up the stairs, just laid there. Took him to the vet and of course he bounced around and jumped up on the seat with no apparent discomfort (adrenalin?). Vet pushed and prodded and could find nothing wrong with the foot. Took x-rays of the knee. Found "a tiny amount of fluid" on the knee and prescribed Rimdadyl for two weeks. This seems to come and go, sometimes barely noticeable but other times he's obviously having trouble walking on the foot/leg, usually after lying down for a while. What's disturbing me the most right now is his lying around, uninterested in anything. He just lies there and stares up at us or falls asleep. Normally, the minute we walk out of the room, he's right behind us. He's eating and drinking, but seems so listless. I'm wondering if he's depressed because all our Thanksgiving guests have gone home. We had three people stop in today, all at different times and he perked right up, seemed his old self--energetic, bright eyed, alert, eager to visit. What am I missing here? What is the vet missing? Should I be asking for different tests? He's never been this way before. I'm really worried there's something else going on. Am I making too much of this? Wouldn't be the first time. As someone who's had ortho injuries since my high school tennis days, - you do have good days and bad days depending on weather and whether or not the nerve is pinched, how swollen it might be that day, and yes, if something interesting enough is going on to get you to rise above the irritation/pain. Thinking back to our older dogs, they weren't really much different...having their "achy" days and good days. One can be very stiff after lying down and it takes a while to "get loosened up." One suggestion I had that was helpful in diagnosing behavioral problems is to get out a notebook and every now and then, glance at the dog and note what's going on with him along with the time of day and any other things that might be useful such as stimuli present. You could adapt this to help diagnose a medical issue as well. Write your notes randomly throughout the day for a week and see if any patterns emerge. This might be especially helpful as you've started the meds, to document any (or no) improvement. Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc4ever Posted December 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 bc4ever, where in Ohio are you? One of my dogs had lameness on and off. I was fortunate to get him a referral to Dr. Dejardin at Michigan State Vet Hospital. He is a world renown ortho surgeon. He was able to see things in the xray that were not apparent to others. The ligament was not torn but he predicted it would tear at some point. I did not want to do surgery. I went the conservative route first. But in the end we did do the TPLO surgery before the ligament tore. There was much less damage that way and the recovery was much faster. FWIW Jennifer We're in a suburb of Toledo. Wouldn't be that far for us to go. Thanks for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burdock Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 Our Black Lab had that happen to her but hers was bad enough for when the surgeon worked the knee he felt the give and new right away what it was, but took x-ray to confirm, cost us $1600.00 to have her fixed, but was well worth it she was stiff once in a while for her last 5 years of her life, till cancer of the elbow of the opposite rear leg finally took it toll on her life on this planet. Well good luck, we also gave her Chrondrotin and Glocusamine those last 5 years at the request of the surgeon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DebnKirk Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 Have you had him checked for Lyme lately? We had a lame foster dog who would get better with rest, then come up 3-legged lame again (front leg/paw). She showed positive for Lyme, which is included in the heartworm test suite. 30 days of Doxycycline and she's a new dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IPSY Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 Definatley check for lyme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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