My baby's leg is stiff and is unstable...?

[Dream Mama]

My 5 lb, 2 yr old yorkie male, Little Bear began walking differently today. His back right leg looks stiff when he walks and I can hear his nails scrape as he ambulates across my linolium floor-Like he has a slight drag. He doesn't act like he is in pain. This is enough however, that he seems to be wobbly or loose balance easily when being active around my other yorkies or going down doggy stairs. I have confined him in a pack and play and intend on leaving him there while I go to work tonight. Any other ideas? What could this be? He does not flinch when I run my hands down his leg and his paws are free from injury and foreign objects.Could this be a luxating patella?

[jencar98]

Welcome to YT! It does sound like it's possibly LP, but you'll need to have a vet examine him to be certain it is LP, the degree of LP, treatment or that it is possibly something else.

[Patti]

Sounds like it could be LP. I would have your vet check him out. Keeping him confined until you can get him to the vet will help. When Pixie had her problem with Lp she was fine one minute and the next couldn't stand up. He knee wouldn't stay on the socket. I took her to the Er vet and they diagnosed her and confirmed with Xrays. I hope just resting it will solve the problem. Keep us posted.

[Dream Mama]

Thanks for the posts! I'm glad I found this site. I know my family is sick of hearing about my babies. If Little Bear still has symptoms on Friday, I will take him to the vet to be checked out. Is an x-ray a must in diagnosing LP or how is it best confirmed? I have a old school country vet that basically looks a dog over and does not x-ray unless something is obvious or one is requested.

[shodanusmc]

A good small dog surgeon can tell by just holding the dog and manipulating the leg. Sounds like that is what it could be, but could also be a ligament, muscle, why wait till firday?

[Dream Mama]

My vet said he could not see us until Friday. No improvement yet (It's been 36 hours)

[miabellaamoure]

If your dog seems to be in any kind of discomfort then I would call the Vet's office back and insist that you be allowed to bring your dog in....sometimes you just need to be pushy!

I hope your lil' one will be okay!

[Dream Mama]

Originally Posted by Dream Mama

My 5 lb, 2 yr old yorkie male, Little Bear began walking differently today. His back right leg looks stiff when he walks and I can hear his nails scrape as he ambulates across my linolium floor-Like he has a slight drag. He doesn't act like he is in pain. This is enough however, that he seems to be wobbly or loose balance easily when being active around my other yorkies or going down doggy stairs. I have confined him in a pack and play and intend on leaving him there while I go to work tonight. Any other ideas? What could this be? He does not flinch when I run my hands down his leg and his paws are free from injury and foreign objects.Could this be a luxating patella?

UPDATE: Bear went to the vet today and I am not at all pleased with the visit. After waiting in the lobby for 1.5 hrs, I actually saw and felt his rear rt knee pop. I explained to the vet while in the exam room his symptoms of stiff straight leg, no pain and able to run, but lets his leg slide out from underneath him to fall to the floor at times. I also told him about the "pop" and symptoms beginning Wed of last week. He examined his hips (no apparent pain and legs equal in length), moved his back legs around and commented that the patella was a little loose but not much. Bear did not have any pain response to his exam. While on the slick metal exam table Bear would kind of scramble with his legs, putting weight to 3 legs and that 4th would slide out until he just lowered to his belly. (Note he still can run on carpet) The doctor said he thinks he pulled something or his back is sore. He gave him an injection of steroids and sent me home with Rimadyl tablets for pain/inflammation. He said this should be better in 2 or 3 days.....HMMMM.... It will be a week on Weds since I noticed the wobbly gait and slight drag of his leg. I do not feel that his diagnoses is correct. I asked for an x-ray, but the doc said, "I don't think he needs that right yet." I'm going to give it a few days to see. Is this the same initial treatment that a painless LP would have? Any input on this would be appreciated.

[Dream Mama]

UPDATE #2 Bear and I got a second opinion today as I saw he was stumbling a little worse. I liked the new vet a lot. He did x-rays that confirmed that Bear has a slipped disk in his lower back. He prescribed a muscle relaxer and strict crate rest for 2 weeks. He said he should be better then, if not he may need surgery......I'm praying for the first outcome. He did check his knees for LP just because I am a loon. Perfectly fine. Thanks to those sending well wishes!

[blancla]

My mom's dog had this happen to him. Believe it or not, they had a friend that was a chiropractor, and he worked on the dog. The dog was fine after a couple of adjustments.

I guess it takes knowing the right people.

[linz06]

Hi! I'm sorry to hear about Bear's back problem. The symptoms are the same as my Layla had before she went down (she had a slipped disc which turned into a ruptured disc). Please make sure to be very careful with Bear from now on because back problems can keep coming back... You may want to think about carrying him up and down stairs and not allowing him to jump on and off furniture. I don't want to sound preachy or anything but I have done so much research on these conditions since it happened to my baby, and I want to say that strict crate rest really means STRICT! I don't know if Bear has been crated before or not, and he might whine and cry and want out, but you should really only take him out for potty times and keep him in the crate the rest of the time so he doesn't run or fall and injure himself worse. Good luck!

[Dream Mama]

Update on Bear.....
He was crated for 3 weeks and had an anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxer daily. The vet said he thought he had an injury to a disk, but it did not show up on x-ray ( as sometimes they don't). After his 3 weeks, I have let him out in the living room. He is still the same really, occasionally losing balance and not seeming strong in his back legs. I saw no improvement with the meds. Still no signs of pain. My vet wanted to send me to a doggy neurosurgeon for a consult. I wish I could afford that, but I just (within 3 months ago) paid this same neurosurgeon $3000+ for my other yorkie to have surgery on her neck for atlantoaxial subluxation. This is basically the same surgery that is being proposed for Bear, but instead of between C1 and C2 being lower in the spine and this is not congenital. I had no choice with her as she was in a great deal of pain and was paralyzed. It was either surgery or put her down. He is pain free and still trying to run about the house. He has no idea anything is wrong. I am thinking of leaving well enough alone.

[FlDebra]

I just had a similar issue with my Jack Russell, Candy. She has had a left front leg limp every once in a while for a day or two at a time, usually after extra activity like running around the pool when the kids are in there. I had taken her in twice before, but both times she was no longer limping by appt. time. This last time, she was still limping and the vet seemed to take it more serious. She never shows pain if you squeeze up and down the leg and hip. So, he did full body xray when she was under for dental. She hd no arthritis or problem with legs or hip. She had a narrowed space between two vertebrae showing a probable old injury to the disk. Because she does not seem to be in pain, it does not slow her down a bit, surgery was not warranted. I was happy about that. He gave us Rimadayl for the pain and inflammation and I will try to watch her from over-doing. I have disk problems too, had surgery, and then developed more disk problems. So, I think we are following the right course with Candy. I think you are making the right decision about Bear too. You will know if it gets bad enough to warrant surgery.

[linz06]

Dream Mama, you should look into the group "Dodgers List" on yahoo groups. They have a wealth of information from thousands of their own dogs who have gone through the same thing, and you CAN get through this without surgery. Even dogs who have been paralyzed and lost use of their bladder are sometimes able to regain full control and live pain-free for the rest of their days. They know a lot about doses of different meds and information on what worked for them. Most on that list have gone the conservative route - no surgery - and have had tremendous results. Good luck! We'll be thinking of you!