Whippet not quite right

[I'm Dun]

Its driving me demented! I took him for a walk today on a hard flat surface and he was happy, not frolicking which is a sign he's really happy, but he looked good. I kept him to a steady walk thinking if exercise helped yesterday he might just need to walk some stiffness off. I'm letting him sleep now and will take him out on a flat surface later today to see if the hopping lame comes back. I am now wondering if there's mild arthritic changes in the foot. Hes the right age and his feet will have taken a beating over the years. The rougher and faster the game the more fun it is apparently!

 

[pistolpete]

Aww. So well behaved with that cheeky terrier! I hope you get to the bottom of it. Give my Lurcher yumove without it she occasionally limps and whines. She’s only 6 but was run over as a two year old.

 

[I'm Dun]

Aww. So well behaved with that cheeky terrier! I hope you get to the bottom of it. Give my Lurcher yumove without it she occasionally limps and whines. She’s only 6 but was run over as a two year old.

They are such lovely boys, especially Floyd, he tolerates a lot. Cooper is protective of him since the lab attacked, but still wont over react. The little terrier really needs a life upgrade, he's obsessed with me as I think I'm the only person to ever show him attention, so he chases my car down the drive and lays outside for hours waiting for me My two tend to ignore him unless he behaves in a rude way.

Ive ordered them both some joint supplement tablets. It can't hurt and Cooper is destined for lure racing/long jump competitions, so its going to be hard on his joints, so they can both have it.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Its driving me demented! I took him for a walk today on a hard flat surface and he was happy, not frolicking which is a sign he's really happy, but he looked good. I kept him to a steady walk thinking if exercise helped yesterday he might just need to walk some stiffness off. I'm letting him sleep now and will take him out on a flat surface later today to see if the hopping lame comes back. I am now wondering if there's mild arthritic changes in the foot. Hes the right age and his feet will have taken a beating over the years. The rougher and faster the game the more fun it is apparently!

My Jesse has never been one to spare herself. Gets high on running and has done since a pup. Used to do wall of death round the living room leaping on and off the furniture. Now has arthritis in some of her toes, ankles and elbows and has had for several years now. Sometimes gets up lame but it wears off quickly and she still runs just as madly when she works sheep. Her own worst enemy. I have had her on a joint supplement most of her life which I think has saved her getting too bad. 13 years old now and has only just fully retired from agility, been doing very low jumps for the last couple of years. She is a dog who lives to work and hates being left out but is content to chill when I do. Hopefully yours has just tweaked something and will get over it. I am neurotic about my two and watch them like a hawk for any sign of a problem.

 

[I'm Dun]

So this shows much more what I'm worried about. He was in bed asleep and I picked him up and put him down and turned the video on. The ground is awful and uncomfortable even with trainers on, so might be a factor. I'm going to try again tomorrow and see if he will let me carry him straight to the smooth tarmac

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=8299080146777074

This is smooth tarmac, about 90seconds from me putting him down

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=803896495226402

The faces are because he was asleep and clearly I'm behaving like a lunatic and he's fed up of me, rather than him being hurt and upset. So no hopping or hobbling but far from right. It eased off about about 3 minutes and was like the video above.

I know a very good osteo who treats animals so I'll see if I can get him in there in case this is in his back an its just referring down his leg. But I'm stumped. Im glad he's not crying and upset, but I would expect dramatic if it hurt as much as it looks like it should if that makes sense?!

The state of outside is nothing to do with me, I'm temporarily staying in a static caravan and its a bit of run down site and no one really looks after it.

 

[I'm Dun]

And this is 5mins later playing bitey face with his brother, not a care in the world!

 

[pistolpete]

If he’s different on stony ground I’d say corns or foot pain but he did look a bit stiff through his stifle

 

[FinnishLapphund]

So this shows much more what I'm worried about. He was in bed asleep and I picked him up and put him down and turned the video on. The ground is awful and uncomfortable even with trainers on, so might be a factor. I'm going to try again tomorrow and see if he will let me carry him straight to the smooth tarmac

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=8299080146777074

This is smooth tarmac, about 90seconds from me putting him down

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=803896495226402

The faces are because he was asleep and clearly I'm behaving like a lunatic and he's fed up of me, rather than him being hurt and upset. So no hopping or hobbling but far from right. It eased off about about 3 minutes and was like the video above.

I know a very good osteo who treats animals so I'll see if I can get him in there in case this is in his back an its just referring down his leg. But I'm stumped. Im glad he's not crying and upset, but I would expect dramatic if it hurt as much as it looks like it should if that makes sense?!

The state of outside is nothing to do with me, I'm temporarily staying in a static caravan and its a bit of run down site and no one really looks after it.

The ground might be bad in the first video, but the little I could see of Cooper, the ground didn't really seem to hinder him, which definitely is not how Floyd looks on it.

 

[I'm Dun]

Thats a good point! Not much bothers Cooper but he's not adverse to some dramatics if he's mildly uncomfortable, esp when he was desperately trying to get my attention. Tarrsteps for those who remember her, has suggested neck, which would potentially tie in with the lab attacking and ragging him about. I think the left foot bothers him when it bends backwards, but that might be because that's when the most amount of strain is on his leg and consequently back/neck.

 

[SOS]

It’s great you have videos, keep taking them when he’s normal and abnormal, as you can show these to the vet. In the meantime I’d say gentle, on lead exercise until you know what you’re dealing with. Having sighthounds and whippets myself, yes they can be wimpy but their love for running often outweighs that and they certainly don’t take into account how they may feel later on.

From those videos alone he moves rather strange and holds his tail oddly (compared to any whippets I know anyway).

I’d go to a vet and have him properly worked up. 8 years old in a whippet, if fit and healthy otherwise and a clear set of bloods, is low risk for a GA.

No one other than a vet should be diagnosing. A good physio shouldn’t even see a pet without liaising/getting permission and history from your vet first.

Our older boy is now on daily anti inflammatories as if he has a busy day he was stiff in the evening when getting out of his bed. That doesn’t mean that resting is bad for him, but adrenaline over rules pain during the day and then when he finally winds down and physically stops he is stiff. So the lameness after resting is not necessarily indicative of resting being the cause of lameness.

 

[I'm Dun]

The vet gave permission for physio, and shes not diagnosing, just trying to find areas that might be an issue.

Hes almost fine this morning, looks sound maybe very slightly off. Hes definitely holding his tail weird, but about 6 or 7 mins into walking the tail relaxed and came down back to its normal low, curved, swingy ness.

I'm going to keep up careful exercise, get him back to physio again, and see where he's at in a weeks time. I think it probably is neck/back related though, it ties in and explains why it presents the way it does. If he back tracks again he's going back to the vet though. I don't mind if he's slowly improving or even staying the same, but any hopping lame or looking hunched and he's going to have to have xrays.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Fingers crossed it's something the body can self heal with time, and the physio's help.

 

[Clodagh]

He looks wrong in his spine/top of leg to me. Very uncomfortable.
I am a terrrible lameness spotter though.

 

[nagblagger]

He looks wrong in his spine/top of leg to me. Very uncomfortable.
I am a terrrible lameness spotter though.

I'm glad you said that, i thought he looked slightly humped back, spine issue.

 

[I'm Dun]

He had two days of soundness and he's frolicking, playing with toys and his brother. I'm cautiously hopeful that whatever it was, physio initially made it look much worse then helped hugely. Hes got another session this week hopefully and will see where he's at. The difference from the first video on the gravel to now is staggering. Hes been out on the gravel flinging his cuddly toys about without a care in the world. I'm watching him very closely and being very careful to walk him on smooth flat surfaces and keep him to a walk, slow jog trot. I think he still looks a bit weak behind and I want to build him back up slowly and get him strong again.

I think it probably was a back issue, the dog ragged him by his neck then mid back. I'd trust Tarrsteps assessment of lameness over my vet tbh! I think what was probably a minor niggle in his back then got much worse as he was resting for 3 weeks when cooper skinned his legs, twice! and they both went on restricted exercise. And he's 8 now, he's not keeping muscle tone and fitness the way he did as a young dog, so I'm going to take a lot more care of him exercise wise. And see if the physio has any suggestions for specific exercises.

Hes had me worried sick and I'm still not convinced he's "fixed" but the longer he's looking this good the more hopeful I get. Hes back to his usual sunny slightly ridiculous self which is all that really matters.

 

[I'm Dun]

This is him this morning, no painkillers for about 56 hours now, and he's radiantly happy. The surface is terrible, its an old quarry and rough gritty stuff and stones. I deliberately walked him through that bit so I could video him. I still think he's very, very slightly off, but the improvement is staggering, but more than that he's just a happy clown again.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=852234406882005

 

[Highmileagecob]

If he was an entire male, I would be suspecting prostate issues. Any chance the attacker grabbed him around the kidneys? He is definitely moving like spine or pelvic pain is being felt. Thank goodness he is improving. Perhaps it was just bad bruising.

 

[I'm Dun]

He is enitre, no one has suggested kidneys yet although someone did suggest testicles, so I'll bear it in mind. My best guess, and it really is a guess, is that the dog got him by the neck, I got it off and it got him mid back, L veterbrae sort of area. The front end was so sore and painful and I'm guessing when that was treated it removed most of the pain, but left a deeper neck/back pain. Then when he started limping and hopping everyone assumed it was foot or leg. But I think the back was the issue all along, and when his back left was at full stretch backwards it pulled on his back. Anyone who remembers Tarrsteps will understand why when she said that I knew she was going to be right.

Thats also why he didn't respond to any sort of manipulation of his leg at all. I think the second lot of physio hurt a lot afterwards, we did a ton of manipulations trying to find something, but he also had laser and the special mat thing on his back and SI area. So maybe he got worse as he was just sore and stiff, but when it wore off the underlying issue was better. I know I have physio it hurts like hell for a bit afterwards. I am just guessing though. And he's not totally right yet although its now very minor, but now I can ask her to focus on his neck and back rather than leg, and he can have the laser and mat thing again and see then. And lots of walk/jog trot exercise for him, and no games with his brother where they throw each other to the ground from a gallop for a while! I'm hoping he's going to get away without the GA now. I'm not ready to lose him yet so even a minor risk makes me feel sick and panicky.

 

[skinnydipper]

How is Floyd, @I'm Dun? Is he back on form?

 

[I'm Dun]

yes and no, he looks fine. hes put weight and some muscle on and is happy and bouncy, back to his normal clown like self. But to me theres still something off. You cant really see anything at all but I dont think hes moving totally straight, the back legs seem to land very slightly at different angles. Hes been on very steady careful exercise and had another physio session with nothing much found other than a small muscle spasm on his back on the right hand side.

It might be that hes never been totally even and i've just not noticed it, whereas now all I do is watch him moving. Hes seeing my osteo on Saturday. Hes my go to horse or human wise for anything not quite right but not wrong either. He will either find something and fix it, find something and send me to the vet with a better idea of the issue, or there wont be anything and I might be able to stop obsessing. I'm pretty sure theres a minor issue somewhere in his neck/back from being grabbed and shook so hard though and thats had a knock on effect and caused all of this.

 

[skinnydipper]

I hope he continues to improve and gets the all clear on Saturday.

Thanks for the update.

 

[I'm Dun]

Floydy saw the osteo this morning and we have some answers at last. He found a minor issue in his neck around one of the discs. He was guarded and locked up there. That explains the initial soreness in front which was helped massively by physio. It has done a lot of healing but has gotten almost there and stopped. The big issue was in his back, the 2 vertebrae in front of his pelvis. They are completely locked up. muscles not firing and are pushing intermittently on his nerves. That's why some days he's totally fine and other days he hops about on 3 legs, and that's why it moves from leg to leg, and why it's worse if he's tired and after laying down as that's when it presses on the nerve. Its why physio helps a lot but never quite sorts it out. Its also affected his hip flexors, which was is why he is moving close behind and why the muscle loss has just been over the hindquarters and no where else.

He has been very wary and not really keen on physio, but he loved the osteo. He kept doing huge stretches and big yawns. He left radiantly happy, almost floating with a longer stride, and he's now absolutely shattered. He didn't do any of the cracking stuff and tbh it didn't look like he did much at all, but Floyd said different. I've got some exercises to do and he has to go back in about 6 weeks and he said he might have to do an adjustment then, but for now the muscles are firing again and he's to slowly build up the exercise and monitor.

Obviously the osteo cant and hasn't diagnosed anything, and we had vet permission to go. This is just my ramblings from what I remember as well, so if anything doesn't make sense or is wrong, it will be me not the osteo. I'm really glad I hassled him and got an appointment. If he didn't help, my next step was to go back to the vets and demand it was looked into more. Its the sort of thing that vets struggle to find and treat though and I think I could have spent an awful lot of money on diagnostics and not been much further forward.

He also very kindly looked over my other dog and gave me some exercises to do with him as well. He is very put out with all the attention Floydy is getting so was absolutely delighted to be prodded and poked a bit.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Aw yay! I'm glad Floyd is feeling better

 

[skinnydipper]

@I'm Dun, I'm glad you have found the cause of Floyd's discomfort.

Thank you for bringing us all up to date. I often wonder how people's dogs are getting on when they've posted about their problem, it's nice to have an update.

 

[I'm Dun]

I'll let you all know how it pans out. Hes stiffening up a bit now, but he always seems to do that after physio as well. But he still looks looser and his strides are longer. He is definitely happier.

Maybe one day someone will read this and think, oh that's my dogs weird symptoms as well and it will help someone else. It doesn't seem that common for people to take dogs for physio/osteo/chiro etc for weird minor niggles when for lots of us its something we do for horses without a second thought. I think both osteo and physio have their place for things like this. And if anyone needs a recommendation for an osteo Pierre Antoye is brilliant. Hes the person who got me walking again after years of being trapped in my own body and seeing countless other body workers none of whom really helped at all. He pretty much saved my life as I couldn't have carried on much longer with the pain I was in and not being able to walk more than 50yds, now we go on 7mile walks for fun, which still blows my mind a bit! He does people, dogs and horses and he's just one of those people with a gift for it. I drove a 2hour round trip to take Floyd to see him, and would have done 10 hours if i'd needed to

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Thanks for the update. I hope his recovery goes upwards and onwards from here, maybe with a bit more help from the osteopath.