Riley's Hurt His Leg

[wagsalot]

I presume dog's can pull muscles like humans??

Riley jumped up for a ball on Saturday afternoon and has seemed to hurt his back leg. After he got the ball my OH patted him on the back and he yelped. He then went to go inside and yelped as he was walking.

He sat in his bed and didn't really move much the whole night.

He would get up to go to the toilet and would walk fine, just slow, but that was all he got up to do.

Yesterday we took him for his normal walk in the morning as he was excited to go, but we didn't go very far and went really slow. He walked fine the whole way and didn't seem to be in any pain.

However, when we got back home he was back to sitting on his bed and not moving much which is odd for him as he's a Kelpie X!

He seems to be in more pain when he sits, so he'll sit, then quickly lie down. He's also very slow going up/down stairs.

Besides from the slowness he's his normal self, eating, drinking etc.

Im thinking about taking him to the vets, but my OH said he's probably just pulled a muscle and it will heal itself.

So basically im just curious if anyone's dogs have pulled a muscle and whether its something that will heal itself or whether it's one for the vet.

Edited to add - I checked him over, no ticks, no injuries to his paws etc

Edited September 16, 2007 by wagsalot

[Poodle wrangler]

I'd go to the vet. I'd feel better having it checked out and knowing exactly what I should do for rest/exercise etc. It's possible that it's something else.

My understanding is that dogs can put up with quite a bit of pain without letting it affect them too much. My dog can dislocate his knee without so much as a yelp. Don't know about you, but I'd be yelping!! So, Riley must be in a lot of pain.

Best wishes

Edited September 16, 2007 by Poodle wrangler

[wagsalot]

Im thinking the same thing. Im going to ring the vet now and try and get a appointment for this afternoon.

[ness]

Alternatively a good chiro/muscle person might be a wise move. Might have tweaked something and need it put back into place. Vets on the whole tend to only prescribe a bunch of anti-inflamatories and rest in circumstances like this and then tell you to come back if the problem isn't sorted.

[wagsalot]

I'll try and find out what's wrong first and go from there.

We had a friend up last night that is chinese and does alot of massages. He's always fixing my mums aches and pains so he massaged Riley's leg...only thing is my mum told him it was RIleys left leg, but it was his right.

So his left leg is probably feeling really good

[wagsalot]

I got in to the vets at 6.15.

[Poodle wrangler]

Let us know how he goes ....

[wagsalot]

Just got back from the Vets - Riley's torn some tissue in his leg.

He's got some tablets for 6 days and we're not to walk him for at least a week and to then see how he is.

I also got told we should change our ball games round so he's not jumping up for the ball. Vet said now he's 6 he can get injured easier than he used to so try to avoid jumping.

I had fun trying to lift him in and out of the xtrail! I didn't want him to jump into the boot, so I lifted him into the back seat. I hope he doesn't expect that all the time now

[Poodle wrangler]

Glad he's OK.

Try lifting a 25kg standard poodle into the back of a hatchback or 4WD. The breeder said not to jump in/out while his bones are growing . I see people laughing at me. Have poodle, must have thick skin. Meanwhile the 8kg poodle leaps in ... ;)

[wagsalot]

Yeah, It would of been interesting to watch me try and lift Riley into the car. The vet weighed him at 27.4kgs. It was quite a struggle!!

[Vickie]

Alternatively a good chiro/muscle person might be a wise move. Might have tweaked something and need it put back into place. Vets on the whole tend to only prescribe a bunch of anti-inflamatories and rest in circumstances like this and then tell you to come back if the problem isn't sorted.

I couldn't agree more. We are lucky to have an excellent Canine Physio in Sydney who I can highly recommend. Personally for anything which involved yelping, I think it is worth a visit, especially if things don't improve.

The thing that I always worry about is that just like us, when dogs are injured, they usually compensate with another part of their body & that can sometimes cause chronic issues elsewhere.

[Ptolomy]

I have performance dogs and if they injured themselves they would be going to somebody more specialized than a vet, since all vets will do is give you an anti-inflammatory and tell you to rest the dog.

Yes my dog has pulled the muscle in front of the rear drivers side hind leg, which affected him sitting - he sat like he was being lazy and tended to slump over to one side. Ended up having trigger therapy and it took ages to heal.

Good luck

[wagsalot]

I will give it a week and see how he goes, if he's no better we will give the canine physio a go.