Injured back leg
 

Hi there I need alittle help, I have a 1 year tea cup yorkie, named Logan.
Over the past few months I have noticed his is limping a little bit on his back left leg. He's running around, jumping and playing a lot but every now and then when he runs fast he lift his leg and hops! But most of the time he uses it and stands on it!

I don't want to take him to the vey if it's not necessary! I have felt his whole leg up and down a few times and he never moans or even flinches! So I'm really not sure what to do!

Any advice??? Please help

Does he jump off the furniture? I would make sure he doesn't jump up or down from anything for awhile until he feels better. He may have a luxating patella.

He does yes! But cos he is so small he can't reach higher places like the bed etc. But I will not allow him like you've said and hopefully this will help. He is addicted to playing fetch 😁 so maybe il try slow down on that too. Thank you so much for your reply!

I was thinking possible luxating patella also. A vet can diagnose this very easily and quickly. Some dogs live with it just fine. You just have to be careful. My 4 yr old yorkie has grade 3 luxating patella in both back legs. She has very little problems with it though. It might be worth having it checked at least.

Could be LP so he does need to be checked out because not using a leg means it hurts. You best bet would probably be an orthopedic surgeon.

very likely an LP, I'd contact your breeder as they would probably want to stop breeding those two dogs together if it creates an issue in the knees.

my friends Yorkie lives with it, I did read that uphill walk is actually good for strengthening the muscles around the knee.

keep an eye on it

could have injured while jumping please get stairs just in case and please go to vet for diagnosis since i am not a vet. If you go for general visit( usually these are cheap) mention it to the vet while you are in with him or her they will not charge extra for a question I dont know your financial situation and if you cannot afford a vet please apply for a care card is like credit card for vet

Thank you all so much!!!! I will take him tomorrow to the vet to get this checked out! He is the most precious thing in my life! Very appreciate all your input and it's great to be able to have people like you to come to with this stuff! Logan (my dog) & I are thankful!

Make sure the vet you take him too is an orthopedic vet. I took my poodle to the vet when she was young since she was doing the same thing. He said she had LP and wanted to do surgery. He was very rough when he manipulated her knees. I said no, that I would take her to the ortho vet and it turns out she did not have LP, she was just sore from jumping off the couch and bed! There are many fine vets out there, but there are many not so good ones too. An ortho vet eval. should not cost anymore than a regular vet appt.

When you got your baby, did you have a vet check done? Usually, knees and hips are the first thing a vet checks when brought a new puppy. It is very common for these little dogs to go to their new homes, with perfectly good knees and hips, and when they jump off and on furniture, pounding those tiny little joints,damage is done at that time. This is why I always have my babies vet certified that knees and hips are good and tight, and I insist new owner takes baby within 24-36 hours, and have this verified by their own vet. After the new owners have these babies for any length of time and the baby is allowed to jump from furniture, this can easily damage these tiny joints and small bones, effectively causing LP in what was an otherwise healthy joint. Now if your baby had loose joints when you got him, then you needed to have a conversation with the breeder, AT THAT TIME..... I suspect this will continue to get worse and you will eventally need to have surgery on the baby, but that is in the future. Stop any activity that puts excess stress on his joints...no agility training, no jumping on and off furniture....consult a canine physiotherapist that can give you expert advise on exactly what kind of exercises/therapy you should be doing to strengthen this babys muscles/joints......water therapy is excellent.....

We took little Rin (my daughter's dog) to the vet a couple of weeks ago for the exact same thing....she just occassionally wanted to limp on a hind leg. The vet said she has Grade 2 LP in just one knee....the other is tight. He said absolutely no jumping! Well, let me tell you, it is difficult to keep a good Yorkie down! She is feeling much better since we pay special attention if she is on the couch (uses steps for bed but refuses from the couch).

The vet also told us to walk her (after she felt better) because it is important to stay active and keep the weight down. He then prescribed a glucosamine supplement to "keep the knee lubricated." He told us it's very possible the LP will remain the same, but could potentially need surgery if it becomes worse.

You definitely need to get him checked out. It could be luxating patella...but also could be Legg Calve Perthes.

Limping for months - yes, the vet is very necessary. Luxating patella is probably the hest case (and very likely) scenario. But as Ladyjane said, LCP needs to be ruled out. A Slightly torn ligament can also cause intermittent limping.