Possible Leg Injury - Need your opinion!
 

My little Sophie (3.5 pounds) tried to jump up on our sofa and lost her balance and didn't make all the way. It appears that in her failed attempt she has hurt her leg.

I could clearly see that she was holding her right hind leg. Immediately I picked her up and she was shaking quite a bit. After calming her down I put her down on the floor to see if she would walk on the leg or if she would still hold up the leg. She would not walk on it but rather wanted to just lie (lay??) down and was acting kind of sheepish.

I telephoned my vet right away only to find that he is temporairly unavailable for emergency care. In the meantime while I was on the phone Sophie decided to get up and try walking. She then was placing the leg down slightly when she walked, not totally limping but walking gingerly. So I am kind of getting mixed symptoms. Can a dog sprain a leg?

She now is sleeping in her bed. Is this a bad sign?

Here is my question...would you go ahead and take her to the emergency 24-hour vet

or... since she seems to be resting should I wait to see if possibly she just sprained the leg and wait to take her to my normal vet in the morning?

I so want to do the right thing for her but want our regular vet to see her. Could she go into shock if the leg is broken?

Personally, I think that I am going to throw up.

Please, what would you do if your dog was now resting?

I thank you for opinions and prayers.

Jana

You are clearly upset and worried. You are a yorkie momma.....it's natural.

Yes, she could have gone into shock; feel her gums, see if they're gold. When something like this happens a bit of NutriCal helps.

If she is putting pressure on it, she probably hasn't broken her leg, but as you say, sprained it. If it were broken you'd know and I'd tell you to get her to emergency now.

She's sleeping, great! Keeps her down and off the leg.

However, I strongly suggest you get her to the vet in the morning. Have it checked out, get meds for inflammation. For your peace of mind.

Alright! I am answering my own post!

Just as I hit the submit button Sophie woke up. She came over to me and placed both of her front paws on my leg (STANDING ON HER BACK LEGS). She then went running across the floor to get one of her toys!

So I guess I have my answer. She must not be in too much pain or distress. I will watch her the rest of the evening. I may take her to my regular vet tomorrow just to make sure there is nothing wrong.

Does this little dog not know that she was causing me to be physically ill? I was just a ball of nerves and feeling sick to my stomach at the thought of her having a broken leg.

Little booger. She is going to cause all of my hair to either fall out or go gray.

Jana

Great! I would, for your own peace of mind take her and have her checked out. She could have (but, possibly not) caused a bit of injury to her Patella.

Glad she is doing better. I have on several occasions taken a limping yorkie to the vet only to get there and they are walking fine. Unless it looks serious or real painful I now wait awhile before taking them in. I also now use ramps and stairs so they do very little jumping.

A break is very painful and she wouldn't be trying to hobble around at all. Our Cindy had her foot broken as a pup and she screamed all the way to the emergency vet. We had a terrific emergency vet work on her, Lisa BonJovi, (I wonder if she was related to Jon). She warned us about the lasting affects but Cindy has been very normal (and FAST) for the last ten years.

I agree with Mardelin about looking at the patella.

I am glad she is doing better.
The samething happened to Buddy two weeks ago. After checking
him over and knowing nothing was broken I waited until the next day.
He was still holding it up so we went to the vet. His turned out to
be a soft tissue injury probably from jumping off the couch. The vet
gave him a shot of megacam and meds for 7days. Within 5hrs he
was fine again.
I hope she's still doing well. She must have twisted it while jumping.
If she's running around and walking on it she's fine.
If not off to the vet you must go.

Roxy did the same thing last week. I went into a panic! The vet said nothing was broken but she was probably just sore (or possibly psychological) and she is almost totally back to normal now. I am glad to hear that your baby is good and was not seriously hurt!

glad to hear she isnt seriously hurt, the furbutts sure can keep us on our toes lol!!

Mine refuses to use a ramp or stairs... :rolleyes:

From the day I got them we trained them to go up and down the ramps and stairs by offering treats. Also the new ones learned from the older ones. My Pom (RIP) never learned to use either but also never learned to jump on or off anything so I lifted her up and down. I guess they have their own little minds.