Limping When Walking

[kayla1]

Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this. Kayla (bc x lab I think, about 9 years old) has a problem with limping when out walking. She’s fine around the house, doesn’t seem to have any stiffness. But when out walking, she’ll walk along fine for a while but then start to limp slightly on her hind legs (swaying motion) and also limp on one of her front legs. I only walk her for about 20-30 mins now, and this time has been decreasing gradually over the last couple of years as her legs have been getting worse. The vet says she has good range of movement but has some mild arthritis, and says that the swaying/limping is just tiredness on walks?? She’s on Glyde for the arthritis, no medication, and she's a good weight. I’m not so sure that it is just tiredness causing the limping, or whether there is another problem. Any thoughts?

[Skye2]

The only way for sure is xray elbows and hips. Hip and elbow dysplasia sometimes are not picked up until the dog is showing signs of arthritis. The other options are to treat her more agressively for arthritis ie cartrophen etc perhaps some swimming instead of walking as it is a non weight bearing exercise. Swimming or hydrotherapy is great for building up muscle and helps keep a good range of movement. Give her a nice soft bed and keep her warm in winter. I think you have to way up the costs of investigations to find the actual cause or just assume it is arthritis and do the usual management. Goodluck with your baby.

[Poodle wrangler]

How long since the vet has seen her?

My dog had a knee Xray and for bigger dogs it involves a general anaesthetic.

Costly and risk of anaesthetic involved. My dog was only 9 months old.

Knee Xray + consult+ anaesthetic was about $600 a couple of years ago for a 25kg standard poodle.

My vote is: A vet consult+ ? chiro + ? medication.

It might be ideal to have XRays to get a better idea of what's going on.

BUT that would buy a lot of chiro and medication to make your dog more comfortable.

[kayla1]

Thanks for your replies.

Last vet visit was a couple of months ago. The limping has gradually been getting worse over the past couple of years or so, and her walks are getting progressively shorter. She’s had her legs checked a few times during this period and the vets have said the same thing – good range of movement and just mild arthritis. At the last visit, the vet said medication wouldn’t be needed until I saw signs of stiffness after resting or problems with jumping – which I haven’t seen. But she’s obviously uncomfortable on her walks. I might try a different vet, get another opinion – I read that Monash Vet is good for this type of problem?