Limping puppy

[lainacohen]

My mother was watching Winnie and in the process Winnie attempted to jump into her bed and missed. This was a few hours ago. She is limping fairly bad. The part I am actually most worried about is that nothing I touch on her causes pain but she is still limping. What should I do? Should I be worried?

[Yorkiemom1]

Yes...pup needs to been checked by a vet....xrays are in order...

[lainacohen]

Why wouldn't she have any pain?

[kimp5]

Sometimes nerves can be involved and damaged so no pain is felt. I once shattered my toe, I mean just destroyed the entire bone, nail everything when a chair fell on it. You could even see the bone. Anyway after the intial pain I didn't feel a thing. The dr's told me I shattered not only the bone but the nerves as well so no pain. The bone eventually grew back after stitches & meds for infection and wearing a boot for 3 months but I never had any pain...
so if the pup is still limping I would bring her in, these dogs can easily break bones, even from a short jump or fall

[OwnedByJezebel]

If she can't bear weight, she is in pain when trying to do that. She needs to see a vet for xrays asap. Yorkies can be very stoic and hide pain very easily. While touching may be bearable, bearing weight could be too much for her. She is obviously avoiding doing so for a reason.

[gemy]

For animals limping always or at least almost always means something is wrong.
It is as simple as that.

It can be from anything as small as a pebble imbedded between their toe pads, to a cracked nail, a sprain or a strain of a muscle, on up to joint injuries and or even a break.

So the answer is always get it checked out by the vet.

[lainacohen]

Update:
I took Winnie to the vet this morning. I told my Dr everything and she went straight to her knee. Although I have been playing with her all night trying to find a spot that hurt her I was unable to. But my vet sure did. Her knee was out of place and as soon as she moved it back in Winnie bit her. She has NEVER bit someone before aside from play.

The problem is that she didn't do any x-rays. She sent me home with a bottle of pain medicine and told me that I had to keep her bed ridden for 7 days. If the leg is still not holding weight she is then going to do x-rays and then send me to a ortho surgen. Is this normal? I'm really anxious about not doing the x-rays right away. But my vet seemed certain that it was simply her knee being out of place and that at some point in the future she will probably need surgery but that for now we will wait and see.

I really do love my vet and I think she is very knowledgable. I am just a worried mom. Aside the fact I have NO idea how I am going to keep my nine month old puppy from running and jumping for a WHOLE week!

HELP!?!?!?!

[Bellabean]

I live in North Ridgeville. What vet do you use?

[lainacohen]

Green Rd Animal Hospital. Its on Green and Cedar.

[Yorkiemom1]

When I go to my vet....of course these people know me and know "how I am"....but long before I became a breeder, I always asked for what I wanted. When I had a baby that I THOUGHT had to have some potentially terminal, catastrophic abdominal problem....being in medicine, my mind IMMEDIATELY goes to the worse case!.....I snatched my baby who was in such pain in her abdominal area that she could not even curl up to sleep.....she had to lay down stretched out fully.....I told the vet I wanted a complete abdominal series of xrays done!!!! The vet, who was a very good vet, assured me after a thorough exam, that he did not think we had anything ruptured or "dead gut" from infarcted messentaric artery, or obstruction. He diagnosed a GI upset with all the gurgling and gas he could hear and palpate in her distended abdomen...but I was insistant, for my own peace of mind! He did the xrays, although he reiterated he would do it just because I was insisting it be done...and thank God, he was correct....she had appparently gotten a little piece of a poinsettia plant that was in my foyer.....do NOT believe that these plants are not toxic to pets! Saying all that to tell you, if you want an xray done, just tell them you would like it done anyway, just for your own peace of mind....same with blood work, etc.

[lainacohen]

I was just wondering if this is a common way to handle a knee cap injury? Is it normal to wait it out?

[OwnedByJezebel]

OUCH! Poor baby's knee cap was dislocated, so glad you took Winnie to the vet.

I may be the odd one out here, but this is my opinion.

If, indeed, the vet found that the knee cap was out of place and popped it back in, then I don't have a problem with the vet's advice. Luxating patellas (unfortunately) are often seen in toy breeds, and sometimes it is severe enough that it needs surgery. She could also have torn a ligament, but based on what you say the vet did, I don't think there was any way she could know if that was the case one way or the other. Letting it rest for a week and then sending you to the ortho vet if it is still bothering her would get you into the best hands to fix the patella and a possibly torn ligament (and waiting for a week and resting won't hurt her outcome).

Now, if there is a broken bone you would not want to wait. But the only way to tell that is with an xray. If I were you, I would call the vet's office and politely ask if they could go ahead and get you in to see the ortho surgeon. Then you can get the expert opinion and xray (sometimes a regular vet won't take the xray at the correct angle and the ortho will have to do it again).

These are the possibilities that you could hear from the specialist:
1. Exactly what your regular vet told you, only involving luxating patella and needing crate rest for a while with ongoing monitoring with no jumping to prevent worsening of the condition, or, in more advanced cases, surgery.
2. Luxating patella with a torn ligament, surgery is required.
3. Broken bone, surgery required.
4. Who knows, but I can't think of anything else.

I'm really thinking that it is going to be #1 or #2, especially since your vet had to pop the patella back into it's proper place. If they can go ahead and refer you to the specialist, you will KNOW exactly what you are dealing with.

Now, regarding keeping her on bed rest, they adjust easier than you would think, but they do have their "moments." This is what I did when mine had surgery and was supposed to be confined for 8 weeks:

I kept her in a crate or small ex-pen when I couldn't watch her. They can be large enough for a bed and a piddle pad, as she should be allowed to get up and go potty when she needs to.

Does she like being held or being in your lap? Do that when you can. I used a tether (actually an 18" loop from a grooming arm), with the clip attached to her harness and the loop end around my wrist. If I was at the computer, I would put her bed in my lap and tether her to my wrist, or I would put the bed on the floor next to me and let her lay there with the loop around my ankle.

The reason I used the tether is because if she hears the doorbell or a door knock (even on TV), she jumps up and bolts to the front door. I also put a sign on the front door asking people not to knock or ring the doorbell because there was a recovering surgical patient. The sign worked remarkably well -- dh had ordered a case of wine which requires an adult signature for delivery, and UPS left it without knocking or ringing the bell.

When you do take her out to potty, she must be on a leash. You don't want her taking off and chasing a bird or a butterfly.

Two weeks after surgery, mine was allowed to go on walks 2-3 times per day. They started out 5 minutes in duration and increased 5 minutes each week until they reached 20-30 minutes in length. This not only helped with rehab, but also really helped to burn off some energy.

After 6 weeks had passed, I figured I had been taking her on multiple walks per day for 4 weeks, so I gave her a little more freedom and no longer used the expen. (During the 8 weeks one of us was always home, we did not go anywhere together, but if we had to, she would have gone back in the expen while we were gone). She could get up and go look out the window, go from one bed to the next, follow me around, etc. But you know how they are, they spend a lot of time sleeping anyway. I put empty cardboard boxes on all of the furniture so that she could not jump up or down. She was still allowed on the furniture when one of us was using it, but still tethered so that she couldn't jump down.

Good luck, I hope you get positive news and one week's rest is all that is required.

[lainacohen]

Thank you so so so much for all the advice!!!

I think I am going to try and trust my vet and give her a good rest for the week with the pain medication and cross my fingers.

As far as keeping her calm and off her feet I am using your tip, I put her halter on and have her on her leash with me. Although she does like to cuddle she likes to play more and she just looks so sad which is killing me. She just wants to get up and play. It's been less than 12 hours into day 1 of 7 days and I can already see myself caving. She is giving me the adorable poor me puppy eyes.

How much walking is too much walking? Should I keep her off it completely or let her wander as long as she doesn't jump? At the moment I have her on the bed with me which is about 3 feet off the ground. I do have a custom built ramp for her to get in and out of the bed but honestly she can get in and out without the ramp and although she uses it she still kinda jumps half the way instead of using the whole ramp. I am only taking her off the bed if she needs to pee or drink/eat. I also have her leash around my ankle.

Poor baby girl, she wants to play. I am afraid she is going to end up hating me for forcing her to basically sleep all day.

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by lainacohen

Thank you so so so much for all the advice!!!

I think I am going to try and trust my vet and give her a good rest for the week with the pain medication and cross my fingers.

As far as keeping her calm and off her feet I am using your tip, I put her halter on and have her on her leash with me. Although she does like to cuddle she likes to play more and she just looks so sad which is killing me. She just wants to get up and play. It's been less than 12 hours into day 1 of 7 days and I can already see myself caving. She is giving me the adorable poor me puppy eyes.

How much walking is too much walking? Should I keep her off it completely or let her wander as long as she doesn't jump? At the moment I have her on the bed with me which is about 3 feet off the ground. I do have a custom built ramp for her to get in and out of the bed but honestly she can get in and out without the ramp and although she uses it she still kinda jumps half the way instead of using the whole ramp. I am only taking her off the bed if she needs to pee or drink/eat. I also have her leash around my ankle.

Poor baby girl, she wants to play. I am afraid she is going to end up hating me for forcing her to basically sleep all day.

If the vet said she should be bedridden for 7 days, to me that means kept in a crate and allowed out to eat and potty. That does seem a little severe, though. You might want to call the vet's office on the phone tomorrow and get a clarification on that. Perhaps the vet can suggest some low impact activities that would keep her happy, occupied, and safe.

[tricia208]

You have some great responses from YT posters and you have taken Winnie to the vet. I can only add that if Winnie is limping then she is in pain. I know it is confusing because you probably felt the leg to examine her and she did not respond with a painful reaction. Anytime our little guys have a physiological change such as a limp in their gait then they need a look see by the vet. The longer you have Winnie you will get to know her and recognize the times that a vet visit is in order. Whether they are babies or puppies we all have to learn to be new mommies and daddys! This is a good place to learn what the vet does not have time to tell you and learn from other pet owner experiences.