Dog suddenly lame in front

[Abi90]

My spaniel has suddenly gone lame in front. He was fine on his run earlier but got off the sofa after a nap earlier and is now limping. He also looks very sad and sorry for himself. I’ve examined the limb and can’t find any heat or swelling and he doesn’t react as if there is any pain.

My plan had been to keep him in to rest for a couple of days and if no improvement to take him to the vet but I made the mistake of googling and it said to take to the vet ASAP. So now unsure so was wondering what anyone else with a similar experience had done.

 

[Dusty M Yeti]

See my thread from Wednesday 'can you poultice a dog's paw'.....my terrier did exactly the same!

I still don't know what she did but try not to panic, if there's no obvious wounds or swelling then rest is only thing you can try.

Try to stay away from Google hopefully he'll be better in the morning x

 

[planete]

If one of my animals goes lame and it is nothing obvious I tend to first rest them for a few days then take them to the vet if they get no better. Most mild muscle injuries will sort themselves out with rest. If the dog seems distressed by the lameness however he might need some anti inflammatory/pain killer but it is not normally an emergency. You know your dog and you need to judge how much the lameness is affecting him, however much we wish to help we cannot do that.

 

[Abi90]

Well he looks a bit sad but I cannot find anything obvious. He’s still wagging his tail when he sees me. I definitely don’t think it’s an emergency. He’s still weight bearing just hobbling about a bit.

 

[Abi90]

He seems a lot better today, still lame but not as obvious and he’s more keen to move around. Seems he’s on the mend!

 

[planete]

Good. Thanks for updating us. A few quiet days will hopefully see him fully mended.

 

[maisie06]

Mine did this on a back leg...like your's nothing obvious I just kept him resting and only went out on a lead for pee and poo. All fine now.

 

[Abi90]

Took him into the vets this afternoon, vet thinks he has OCD in both elbows as his lameness kept shifting leg. Just been through all this with my horse and now my dog

 

[Clodagh]

Oh no. Is he young?

 

[CorvusCorax]

What age is he and has he had x-rays?
If he's young and it is switching legs it might be Pano. ED can only be diagnosed with x-rays.

 

[Abi90]

He’s having X-rays on Thursday. He’s 2. And Pano?

 

[gunnergundog]

Panosteitis

 

[Clodagh]

What age is he and has he had x-rays?
If he's young and it is switching legs it might be Pano. ED can only be diagnosed with x-rays.

Is pano what I call growing pains? My lab had those, which was why I asked if he was young. She was about 6 months I think and my vet said switching legs is a sign. I didn't have x rays as he was pretty sure.

 

[Abi90]

Is pano what I call growing pains? My lab had those, which was why I asked if he was young. She was about 6 months I think and my vet said switching legs is a sign. I didn't have x rays as he was pretty sure.

He’s also a bit old for OCD. As that normally presents between 6-9 months in dogs.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Pano is growing pains. Have seen dogs crippled with it in youth, make a full recovery.

Elbow problems can present at any age. I've seen dogs start to show lameness after jumping at 3 (medium ED) to 7 (severe ED) after quite a heavy workload.

 

[Abi90]

Pano is growing pains. Have seen dogs crippled with it in youth, make a full recovery.

Elbow problems can present at any age. I've seen dogs start to show lameness after jumping at 3 (medium ED) to 7 (severe ED) after quite a heavy workload.

She didn’t mention elbow dysplasia actually, just OCD, which very rarely presents after a year but does occasionally. No idea what the prognosis is but she seemed pretty cheerful about it. Have spoken to his breeder and isn’t aware of any dogs in his lines or Boots’ sire’s lines that have elbow dysplasia but given the luck I’m having this year he will probably be the first

 

[Abi90]

He also definitely has one hot and swollen toe, which my money is on for him being lame... not his elbows just because he’s a Spaniel

 

[Clodagh]

He also definitely has one hot and swollen toe, which my money is on for him being lame... not his elbows just because he’s a Spaniel

I do hope so. Vets are normally so careful bandying about diagnosis I do this one is wrong.

 

[druid]

OCD of the humerus is considered part of the elbow dysplasia complex, maybe that'll be where the bit of confusion is coming from?

Not unusual in spaniels - I've got one here with elbow dysplasia although his is fragmentation of the coronoid process.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Yes, apologies, was using ED as a catch-all term, why scoring is important over several generations.

Hopefully it is just his toe!

 

[Abi90]

Yes, apologies, was using ED as a catch-all term, why scoring is important over several generations.

Hopefully it is just his toe!

His breeder is super careful with health stuff and initially said it must be because I had overexercised him as a puppy... which we didn’t and were so careful with! So there is absolutely no family history and he’s not been overexercised so it will be very unlucky if he does have it! And super unlucky for me to have had 2 animals with suspected OCD in 3 months! She did say she was jumping the gun a bit but wanted to x Ray to be sure

There is certainly an issue with his paw though, so we shall see.

 

[CorvusCorax]

The only way to lessen the risk is through several generations or more of x-raying/scoring of breeding animals, being ruthless and only breeding from animals below the mean score/within the accepted threshold for the breed, nothing will ever convince me otherwise.
I could type an essay/rant lol (not directed at you ), but I won't, different topic for a different day, I wish you the best of luck and hope it is nothing serious

 

[Abi90]

Thank you. I’m hopeful that it’s just his foot. He’s never been lame before and it came on quite obviously suddenly on Saturday.

He’s getting a rescue little brother Springer x Podenco on Friday so he needs to be well

 

[CorvusCorax]

Fingers crossed - my (now seven year old) pup got one of his back legs trapped under a book case when he was only a few months old, screaming, not weight bearing, emergency vet trip, career over before it was started - they were talking snapped cruciates over the phone and all sorts.
By the end of the consult, all four were on the floor and he was running around the surgery like a loony, although the comment was 'he's very loose'.
Fast forward, hips and elbows were all normal at 13 months, and has been working like a Trojan ever since - I hope yours is also being a Drama Queen (or King )

 

[druid]

His breeder is super careful with health stuff and initially said it must be because I had overexercised him as a puppy... which we didn’t and were so careful with! So there is absolutely no family history and he’s not been overexercised so it will be very unlucky if he does have it! And super unlucky for me to have had 2 animals with suspected OCD in 3 months! She did say she was jumping the gun a bit but wanted to x Ray to be sure

There is certainly an issue with his paw though, so we shall see.

When you say super careful, is she actually elbow testing her dogs? There's few and far between spaniels elbow tested in the UK unfortunately

 

[Abi90]

When you say super careful, is she actually elbow testing her dogs? There's few and far between spaniels elbow tested in the UK unfortunately

I don’t think they were tested tbh. But when I asked I was told there was no history of any elbow disease in any of the lines and if there was a problem it’s because I overexercised him as a puppy. Which I was very careful not to do. I’m not looking to blame anyone if there is an issue, just want to help my dog with as much information as possible... if it comes to that and isn’t the very sore paw causing the sudden lameness

 

[Pearlsasinger]

She did say she was jumping the gun a bit but wanted to x Ray to be sure

There is certainly an issue with his paw though, so we shall see.

Is this dog insured?

I am pretty sure that my vet, knowing that my dogs are not insured, would have suggested keeping the dog quiet for a few days, monitoring the toe/lameness and possibly antibiotics, in case of infection in the foot, maybe a pulled claw.

I find that vets rush to do tests when insurance companies are paying.

 

[{97702}]

Mild “head desk” at the experiences OP has described on this thread...breeder does not health check parents but blames forelimb lameness on over-activity of puppy at a young age (well ain’t that a handy get out excuse!)....

vet suggests elbow problems (which I agree might very well be a problem!) despite clear toe soreness....

 

[Abi90]

Toe much better this morning and he’s no longer limping... so now at a bit of quandary as feel I should get the elbows x rayed “just in case”

 

[Clodagh]

When I took my dog with undiagnosed lameness to the vet earlier this year (turned out to be a cracked paw) he manipulated her elbows quite strongly to see if there was a pain response. Did your vet do that? If she did, and there was, then may be worth it. If you have insurance it is likely that the vets verbal diagnosis will rule out any future elbow or possibly even joint claims. If he had the x rays and they were clear, would the vet remove all mention from his records? (I don't know the answer to that).