Advice, please? 'Lame' dog (long)

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MollyMoomin

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www.petandanimalfeeds.co.uk
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OK so I haven't posted much recently, but I have been lurking and keeping up with everyone *stalker*

I'm not sure what to do with Herman - LH Weimaraner, for those that don't 'know' him. He'll be 2 in a couple of weeks.

Took him to the vets about 2 weeks ago (off the top of my head, I'll check) because while he wasn't LAME, he sure as hell wasn't sound either. He paces in trot, rather than trots properly and his canter is incredibly disunited (to me, others can see 'something' but not what I see). Walk and gallop/charge are both normal. For a weimer.

So, we went to the vets, vet felt everywhere, no pain response, am sure he thought I was imagining it until he saw him trot. Agreed it wasn't right but couldn't see where or why. Put him on a course of 50mg Rimadyl twice a day. No difference. When we went back for his check up, still no response, both thought he was marginally worse so we booked him in for X rays which, obviously for Herman, showed nothing out of the ordinary (hips, back & elbows were done). Vet has now put him on 1 Previcox 227mg a day for a month. He's been on them a week and is noticably worse. My friend who last saw him a week and a half ago and thought I was over reacting can now see it and agrees he's getting worse. He's still having his off lead walks, he doesn't play with other dogs (his choice) but at the start of his walk he's bouncing about, charging off, chasing birds having a right old time of it. By the end of his walk today (we were out maybe 20minutes cos I was late for work :badmum: ) he was walking to heel off the lead and looked about 10. An arthritic 10, obvs. That isn't quite normal for him.

So what do I do? He's still got 3 weeks of pills to take but if he's getting worse while on them then I fail to see the benefit. I'm going to ring the vets again tomorrow but what do I push for? Have asked about a physio but vet wasn't keen until we knew what we were treating for. Should I take him to a hydrotherapy pool - we're lucky and have 2 within 5 miles. Do I push for an MRI? Thankfully he is insured.

I have videos of him running, if anyone wants to see them and comment on them - he's worse now though than he was in the vids. He's always excited to go out on a walk, he has never shown any inclination of pain (by which I mean crying etc). Oh, a couple of times after he's been for a walk and then I've left him in the car for a bit when he's got out he holds his left back leg up for about 5 minutes. Just dangles, won't put it down - if you pick the other leg up, he 'wheelbarrows', it's like he has cramp. After that though he's 'fine'.

THoughts? :(
 
Hi mollymoomin - saw your post and realise you're still looking into the cause of your fella's problem, but another path to follow might be Canine Bowen once you start down the exercise, bodywork route. It was devised on horses and greyhounds originally, and although mainly it's used for humans over here there is a strong network of canine and equine practitioners too.

It CAN (not magic though!) get change when nothing else seems to work. Here's the link - http://www.caninebowentechnique.com/. Feel sure they would talk to you initially, and you could see if there was a therapist near you.
 
Something is clearly bothering him. If he were mine I would push for more diagnostic tests to figure out what is going on. I would start with a referral to a specialist and see what he recommends next, whether it be MRI or something else.

Hydrotherapy and physio can all be extremely helpful, but I would wait until you have a diagnosis and know what you are dealing with.

Best of luck with him!
 
I would firstly put him on strict on lead exercise, if he is on pain relief he probably won't be feeling any discomfort at first when he charges around, and then it sets in, which is why he is so sedate at the end of the walk. Give him a week on this regime and see if there is any improvement, if not then I agree maybe ask your vet for a referral. I wouldn't go down the physio or hydrotherapy route until you can find out what you are dealing with.
 
Thanks for suggestions - I'll ring the vets first thing in the morning and book him in again.

2Conker, Bowen is something we've already (sort of) looked in to - a friend of mine is a human practitioner, I'll remind her again about giving me the numbers of people who are canine qualified. She did a couple of basic moves on Herman (she isn't canine-qualified but has done part of the course) but he had huge reactions to it (which I appreciate is what I want, if that is what he needs -make sense?) but then he refused to come anywhere near her after that for the whole time she treated me (full body plus the breaks). So I'm unsure if she/the movement unwittingly hurt him or if he was just being a bit of a pussy (utterly possible).

Just want him sorted - he never seems to be in any painful-pain (do I make any sense at all?) but he was so stiff this morning by the time we finished our walk it was horrible to see. It's never actually limping either, more just his general way of going.

MM - we'll start lead walking him tomorrow. He still paces on the lead though. And pulls like I don't know what. Wears a headcollar. Never been pulled round on it but he does put his heart and soul into pulling. He isn't crated anymore - used to get really stressed and throw himself about so we've stopped that too just in case that is aggravating 'it'.
 
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I would get a spine x-ray. B's lameness was only just perceptible and I knew something was wrong, it turned out to be he had tweaked his lower back. But it appeared as lameness in his hind, he was carrying one leg carefully to avoid hurting himself by striding out.
Did a lot of full-body stretches too.
 
2Conker, Bowen is something we've already (sort of) looked in to - a friend of mine is a human practitioner, I'll remind her again about giving me the numbers of people who are canine qualified. She did a couple of basic moves on Herman (she isn't canine-qualified but has done part of the course) but he had huge reactions to it (which I appreciate is what I want, if that is what he needs -make sense?) but then he refused to come anywhere near her after that for the whole time she treated me (full body plus the breaks). So I'm unsure if she/the movement unwittingly hurt him or if he was just being a bit of a pussy (utterly possible).

If he's sensitive, very little Bowen intially perhaps would build his confidence? - strong reactions can put off even the toughest human who knows why it's being done.
Didnt get if there was any change? Did he get 3 sessions or just the one?

Hope you find a solution, and what the cause is. Worrying for you.
 
MurphysMinder said:
I would firstly put him on strict on lead exercise, if he is on pain relief he probably won't be feeling any discomfort at first when he charges around, and then it sets in, which is why he is so sedate at the end of the walk. Give him a week on this regime and see if there is any improvement, if not then I agree maybe ask your vet for a referral. I wouldn't go down the physio or hydrotherapy route until you can find out what you are dealing with.
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This ^^^^
 
I wouldn't go near anyone but a vet i.e physio/bowen until he was diagnosed/problem concentrated on one area.
 
Thank you everyone.

I rang the vet this morning (the guy we have been seeing has been away until today) and he fitted us in to his evening surgery tonight. Spent an hour in there - much to the obvious disgust of people who'd been waiting :blush: and to add insult to, er, bad humour, the bloody dog came out, spied my friends puppy and proceeded to spent the next 10 minutes leaping about trying to play. Very obviously Not Very poorly. Oops?

Anyway, upshot is my vet is completely out of ideas. He is to come off the Previcox and to go on one long off lead walk this week so we can film the entire thing - the videos I took before were too shaky. Other than that he is to be on restricted (lead) exercise.

We have another appointment to see him next week to enable [the vet] to examine his x rays even closer as we FINALLY managed to get a pain response out of him this evening after trotting him up twice then essentially flexion testing him - previously this has had no effect. Vet has 2 theories, but that is all they are (one is OCD, the other is a canine form of Azotoria) and wants to read more/consult other vets and see what they think.

If he's still no better next Wednesday after being off painkillers for a week and on lead walks then he is being referred to Nigel Harcourt-Brown in Harrogate for more detailed tests. If it turns out that he needs muscle biopsies or MRI then he [the vet] has said NH-B will refer him down to AHT in Newmarket. Thankfully(?!) my parents live about half an hour from there, so if it comes to it, it's not the huge journey it could be.... Am unsure why he'd go to the AHT as I know there are vets nearer that will do the MRI at least but am more than happy for him to go to AHT. If it comes to it, fingers crossed, touch wood, etcetc.

Am a bit meepy, tbh.
 
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