Injured leg- anyone have this happen after LP?
 

My dog Daisy is almost 10 years old and had LP surgery as a young dog for a grade 4 luxating patella. Since that surgery, things have been great.

Last night, we do not know what happened to Daisy. She started to fall over, and drag her hind leg -- the same leg that had surgery way back when. She could not walk and was flailing in pain. She was rushed to the ER vet (and I got stood up at the airport :D) where the ER hopsital said that there were no broken bones and that it was likely a soft tissue injury.

We were given Tramadol :thumbup: and ordered on crate rest :thumbdown. We have a follow up tomorrow with our reguar vet to see what our next step is.

MY CONCERN: this is the same leg as the LP surgery so I am worried. :( Could something be torn? How would I know without an MRI? Should I do an ortho consult or just try the crate rest? She's eating and seems normal but is unable to stand up without dragging the leg behind her like a rubber chicken. :eek:

All of her blood work was normal 2 weeks ago.

Any thoughts?:confused:

Maggie jumps on Hot Rod by his hinds all the time and I worry about he reinjuring him. One Sunday he did yelp in pain and limped really badly the rest of the day. I would wait and see what her checkup reveals. It could just be a soft tissue injury that needs some time to heal. I would jump the gun just yet. But I certainly understand your anxs about it.

Hugs, B

so sorry :(

sounds like possible acl tear to me as that will not show up on xray but if it was to do with surgery and LP groove not being deep enough and slipping off then i would think that would show up on xray and orthopedic could see that.

when dd had acl injury she lifted leg and did not drag it so that has me a little concerned it is LP Surgey related and not acl as acl at least dd did lifted leg to get it back in line the two bones then would walk on it as the bones slip out of place as no acl to keep in lined up

I guess they could drag but dd never did that so only thing i have to compare it to

MRI is very expensive and our friend who is the head radiologist at a surgical center in los angeles and she use to teach radiology at ohio state vet school and when i called her about dd she said mri is a waste of money as it is hard to see in a big dog that tendon much less a small dog.

here is our friend

Animal Surgical & Emergency Center :: (310) 473-1561

The drawer test and tibial thrust is used to determine acl rupture in dogs. It is best to do those tests upfront before the scar tissue starts so if this just happened take to orthopedic with xrays and discuss and have that test done. It is real easy they take the two bones and if they slide across one another then acl is ruptured if they do not then possible tear. You do not want to wait on that as then if they do it they have to break scar tissue and you have to start from scratch

DD had two months of rest and confinement and was fine as happens in 80% of two breeds. AFter the two months and if still lifting you have to go with surgery :(

Oh brother. Thanks for the info - I'm going to see what regular vet says tomorrow and if need be, the ortho will have to take a looksey.

I'm pretty sure they did those tests at our speciality hospital and they were going with soft tissue injury. We did not do xrays, they said it would not show anything useful.

UGGHHH if it's not one:aimeeyork, it's three :aimeeyork:aimeeyork:aimeeyork, and if it's three, it's at the same time!!:( So, we have:
1. Daisy: a rubber chicken leg
2. Barney: Pancreatitis --> currently on the back burner but possibly still smoldering; high liver enzymes -> pending BAT tomorrow.
3. Teddy: Urolith crystals --> waiting on the diet info along with low level tremors that we have no idea about plus weird behaviors.

It all comes down to this: I'm broke :eek:

omg so sorry you do have alot on your plate right now :( so sorry you are going through all this. Hang in there and hopefully just soft tissue.

Oh no! Sorry to hear this on top of everything else. Does she jump on and off furniture alot?

I am so sorry that you are going through all this. I am stressed out about Daisy crystals in her urine.
I cannot imagine having something wrong with all my dogs at once. Sending prayers your way that the sun shines very soon on all your fur babies!

I hope the meds and rest work. How stressful and expensive to have 3 with medical problems. Keeping good thoughts.

Nope she never jumps. She does go up and down the stairs twice a day - down in the morning, up in the evening. Once upstairs, they have a little foam staircase they use to come on and off the bed. She never jumps so this did not happen from that.

Thanks! Things are a little better this evening with Daisy's leg. She is hobbling on it but is not dragging it anymore. Tomorrow we'll have the vet look at it again.

It's Teddy with the crystals in his urine but he is ok at the moment. We are watching him closely.

Right now, I am mostly concerned with Daisy :(

Thank you! Yes, it sure is stressful and expensive. I'm hoping to catch a break soon :eek:

How is she doing today? Is she still in pain?

do you get whole dog journal? May and April issues talked about crystals and stones.

it can happen from them jumping up to greet you on their hind legs

Prayers for you and your gang. Over the years I have found it happens like that...all or nothing. Hope all quiets down soon. :)

Hope your babies are all ok.