Staffy With A Limp

[BigDaz]

One of my girls has a limp, it seems to be the right front that seems to be the problem.

I though maybe when she was speyed that keeping her under control for a week or two may help, no running or jumping, but it did not help. Maybe almost 2 weeks of quiet was not long enough, but having 2 x 8 month old Staffy's it is not easy keeping them quiet.

The limp is more pronounced when she first wakes and has become more noticeable in the cold weather, although when she is playing she runs flat out.

The Vet mentioned the step would be an ultrasound, but I don't really know if I want to put her through all that.

Someone else mentioned a Chiropractor for dogs, does that sound like a valid route to go down, if so does anyone know a reliable one around Essendon Victoria?

Any other suggestions are also appreciated.

[Cosmolo]

Hey BigDaz- i would definitely look at getting x rays to see what's going on, especially after 2 weeks rest hasn't cleared it up. Chiros, physios etc are great- but only once you know what you are dealing with. Our 7 month old was recently diagnosed with hip dysplasia after just pulling up sore a few times and not responding to 2 weeks of rest and non steroidal meds. Hope she is okay and you can rule out anything serious :cool:

[Bully]

One of my girls has a limp, it seems to be the right front that seems to be the problem.

I though maybe when she was speyed that keeping her under control for a week or two may help, no running or jumping, but it did not help. Maybe almost 2 weeks of quiet was not long enough, but having 2 x 8 month old Staffy's it is not easy keeping them quiet.

The limp is more pronounced when she first wakes and has become more noticeable in the cold weather, although when she is playing she runs flat out.

The Vet mentioned the step would be an ultrasound, but I don't really know if I want to put her through all that.

Someone else mentioned a Chiropractor for dogs, does that sound like a valid route to go down, if so does anyone know a reliable one around Essendon Victoria?

Any other suggestions are also appreciated.

Here's some info on Chiropractors in Melbourne http://www.latrobevetgroup.com.au/pages/chiropractic.htm

Could be Panosteitis http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cl...p;articleid=466. How long has she been limping? It might be a good idea to get the leg x-rayed.

I know how hard it is to get a Bull breed to rest :cool:

[SoL]

Hey BigDaz

Obviously you've ruled out the very simple: something stuck in paw, nails not clipped, nail bed infected, swelling of joints etc.

If the vet has suggested an xray or ultrasound then I reckon that would be the most logical move. I wouldn't go near a chiro unless and until you have a positive diagnosis from the vet.

Good luck

[Staffyluv]

Hey BigDaz

Obviously you've ruled out the very simple: something stuck in paw, nails not clipped, nail bed infected, swelling of joints etc.

If the vet has suggested an xray or ultrasound then I reckon that would be the most logical move. I wouldn't go near a chiro unless and until you have a positive diagnosis from the vet.

Good luck

Totally agree.

The chiro will want xrays anyway (just assuming here - otherwise how do they know what they are working on??)

I have an old boy who has a front leg limp - comes from jumping off the lounge when he was a little tacker.

As for keeping her still - crate! They make a lot of noise about being restricted but it is the best thing for her.

Good luck

[BigDaz]

Sorry guys, I should have mentioned I have already had XRays done, which did not show any issues.

She may have had the problem for a couple of months. We first asked the Vet about 3 months ago if they noticed anything wrong, at this point we were not really sure ourselves if she was limping or not.

It was only when it became noticeable that we rested her for a couple of weeks and then when that did no good we had the Xrays done.

I dont believe crating her would go down well, she would rip it apart or hurt herself trying if her sister is outside having all the fun.

Ill go back to the Vets and see what they say, just wanted to make sure there were no other options, thanks.

[Doggrooma]

I'd be going to a Chiro or better still an Osteopath. Vets are hopeless when it comes to muscle and soft tissue injuries, if that is what it is. A quick check over by one of the above two will see whether the dog needs adjusting.

I had a similar issue with one of mine, he also has huge knots through his shoulders from a jarring incident, which was fixed after a couple of sessions. This was about two weeks before the royal show and he could hardly move. He went on to place second in his class.

Go and see someone in this field and rule that out first, then if no results go back to the vet, of coarse you are going to do whatever you have to but you will end up paying a fortune for something that may have been fixed with a trip to a chiro.

[qld_harry]

My staffy (3 years old) had a problem with limping, and I did not walk her for 1 month. I bought a packet of Joint Guard liver treats and give her one treat after our morning walk, and she has not limped since.

[Amerykus]

what weight is she?

[BigDaz]

what weight is she?

She is about 16KG at the moment.

We have booked into the Vet on Saturday to see what they have to say.

[CavsRcute]

I had this problem with my Cavalier for months.The vets had no answer. Thousands of $$ later, it was discovered she had HD, and was protecting her hips and this led to her limpimg on the front leg.She now has acupuncture, occassionally chiro, we do exercises and find that trigger point therapy every 3 months irons out all the kinks. She is also on Joint Guard and Traumeel, which is a homeopathic anti inflammatory

[fbc]

How old is she? I had a similar problem with my staffy girl around the 6/7 mth age. Took her to the vets...nothing wrong took her to the chiro....same it seemed worse when she had been resting and would get better as she moved around so resting was no help. It did come good in its own time...around 4 weeks. Still dont know what it was, maybe just growing pains. I know this is not of much help, but it may make you feel a bit better

I took her to a lovely chiro near Sunbury, I believe it was George..I know he has been mentioned on here before so hopefully someone will be able to give you his details as unfortunately my phone has erased most of my contacts :cool:

Good luck

[cazxxz]

http://www.dolforums.com.au/lofiversion/in...php/t54887.html

This old thread has some contact information that is still current. A few months ago I took my dog to see George Schofield, who was very good. More recently I took him to see Tony. Tony was very thorough but the adjustments were more painful. However, no pain, no gain: I'm taking him back to see Tony in the next couple of weeks.

When I have a sore back, joints or muscles, I don't go to the doctor, I go to the chiropractor. The vet couldn't do anything for my dog's sore leg/hip so we took him to chiropractors.

[shoemonster]

My boy had a limp that was more pronouced when he woke

It was fractured sesamoids, but they showed up in an xray done of his foot. Would inflamation of the sesamoids show up on an xray?

[MissA]

I have a staff who had strained a muscle in his leg - took him to the vets who gave him antibiotics and wanted to do x-rays and was talking about bone issues.

took him to the chiro who immediately diagnosed a strain in a muscle. We had to crate and only let him out on a lead to the toilet for 8 weeks, and eventually it healed and he stopped limping.

I personally go to chiro first when one of my dogs is limping.

[Sandra777]

My boy had a limp that was more pronouced when he woke

It was fractured sesamoids, but they showed up in an xray done of his foot. Would inflamation of the sesamoids show up on an xray?

My suggestion too. Has the vet checked her feet. An old bitch I bred has been lame for weeks, owner has racked up huge vet bills and when I went to stay for the weekend the first thing I did was check her feet and yep - broken toe. It looks a lot like a shoulder injury when they walk but is subtly different.

[BigDaz]

Just a quick update to this,.

We ended up getting a referral to a specialist who took some more xrays.

He advised it is OCD and will need to do an arthroscopy on her front left elbow, so we booked her in yesterday.

She did have quite a large fragment in her elbow, which you can see him removing on the youtube video

He says she will recover quite well, with a small bit of arthritis and the additional ongoing maintenance things we will now have to do.

Now the hard part, stopping her running or jumping for 3 weeks, not easy with two 9 month old Staffy's.