Question by Baz: my dog hurt her leg when she was 6 month old?
she fell over and the vet said she damaged the muscle/ligament now she is 12 years old and the same leg she hurt is limping.. she can barley walk around the house or get up or down the step into the yard. could it be arthritis ? she is a cross between a sheep dog and a gray hound.
i feel really sorry for her and don’t know what to do she is just sitting there been all depressed.
taking her to the vets tomorrow, thanks everyone

Best answer:

Answer by Launi
Yes, it is probably severe arthritis and if you take her to your vet you can get her on some pain medication which will help her have a better quality of life.

Feeling sorry is all good, but doing something about it is far better.

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Question by meepies: HELP! MY DOG HAS BEEN SICK FOR 1 MONTH. Are there any vets out there that can help?
My dog has had a low grade fever and some lameness in her rear legs for 1 month. She has taken several blood tests and theyhave been normal. Even the lyme disease test came back negative. We decided to treat her for lyme disease anyway to see if this would work. She was treated with two types of antibiotics – amoxycillin for 28 days and doxycyline for 14 days. She has been improving, but she is not 100%. She has difficulty lifting herself off the floor/bed and sitting. Once she’s standing she usually walks OK. However, when we have guests, like we did yesterday, she gets very excited. Therefore, she had a set back and began walking very slowly. Perhaps we over did it with the guests : ( She was also tested for immune mediated arthritis. This test also came back negative. However, the vet is now treating her with steroids. Not sure if this is going to work, but I don’t know what else to do. I should also note that x-rays are normal. Any help out there?

Best answer:

Answer by Christina B
Has her kidney function been tested? Has she eaten any of the recalled dog food? That would be canned food manufactured by menu foods go to www.Menufoods.com/recall for a list of affected foods.

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Question by Chico2007: Will my 8 month old German Shepherd Dog need his leg amputated?
Yesterday while I was taking my dogs for a walk, my German Shepherd pup started to limp on his right, front leg. We walked back home and let him go to sleep and hoped he would be better in the morning. When I woke up, he was still limping on his leg so my mom and dad took him to the vet while I went to school. I came back from school and my dad told me the veterinarian took x-rays of Chico’s (my dog) leg. They said his leg wasn’t developing as it should. He is only 8 months old so I don’t think he has arthritis. It this a common problem in German Shepherds? Veterinary advice will be most helpful. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.
I was just wondering, “Tom Joad”, if your avatar and “about me” is refering to “The Grapes of Wrath” movie. I was just watching it the other day in school. Anyways, just so I don’t get off the subject too much, Chico is still limping but is still able to play and eat. We are giving him vet perscribed pain killers, though.
********Chico hasn’t eaten for the whole day so far. It’s like his appetite has gone down. All he does now is lay around the yard all day and I get worried about him. We’ve been giving him some vet perscribed pain killers and it seems that those are what give him the side-effects. Tomorrow, (3/18/06) I’m gonna take him to the vet and tell them to make my dog better ‘cuz I can’t stand to see him limping around.
*************************Here are some pictures of him. He is the one with the big ears and more brown on him. The other one is my GSD/doberman midgit.
The first one is him as a pup and the other is the recent one.

http://h1.ripway.com/paypal/picture.jpg…

http://h1.ripway.com/paypal/dcp_1031.jpg…
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0000000000000000000000000000 Sorry, those other links don’t work so use these:

http://h1.ripway.com/paypal/Picture.jpg

http://h1.ripway.com/paypal/DCP_1031.JPG

Best answer:

Answer by wheezer_april_4th_1966
I’m not a vet, but it could be just some sort of developmental disorder and nothing worth amputation. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but if that lets Chico feel better, don’t be upset – many dogs can get along just fine with 3 legs. Again, though, I hope it’s a false alarm and that his leg starts developing.

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Question by justin: What is the best pain reliever for a 3 month old dog? ?
We saw her limping one morning and it seemed to worsen when my brother, not knowing of his condition, carried him. Our dog cried so hard and she now is terrified ( i’m sure coz she’s in deep pain ) to use her back legs. We still can’t take her to a vet because everytime we try to lift her up, she would cry so hard in pain. We still are not sure if it’s hip dysplacia or arthritis or something else. Please help.

Best answer:

Answer by Gsd’s and APBT’s babyy!
You need to take your dog to the vet.
That is what she needs.

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Question by shalanda: 9 month old Boxer/Beagle mix with a swollen, Itchy mouth?
About 3 weeks ago I took my dog to a vet because she had a fever, swollen eyes and mouth, pimple like bumps around her nose and mouth with bloody puss, lethargic, no appetite at all, itching, ear infection and pain around the mouth. They said it was either an allergic reaction or bacterial infection so they put her on an antibacterial medication called Cephalexin (500mg 2 times a day). She started to get a little better for the first 3 days, but by the 7th day she was even worse and had new symptoms. We decided to take her to a different vet. When we took her she had all the same symptoms as before but the added symptoms were joint pain and she would just lay on the couch and not move. I looked online and she had the same symptoms as “Puppy Strangles” I even looked at the pictures of other dogs and it looked just like her. We told the new vet what we thought it could be but they didn’t think that was what she had. They said she had Arthritis in her joints and gave her a steroid shot ( don’t remember what it was called) and ear drops for her ear infection and put her on Prednisone. After 2 days of being on the Prednisone she was about 50% better and by 5 day later she was 100% better. She has now been on the Prednisone for about 2 and 1/2 weeks and only has 4 more days. The 1st 5 days we had to give it to her 2 times a day and then the next 5 day 1 time a day and now we are on the last 5 days and we have to give it to her every other day and now that we are giving it to her less her lips are starting to get swollen and it is itching really bad again. I don’t know what it could be or why it would be coming back again or even if it cured it or just covered it while on the medication and now that we aren’t giving it to her as often its coming back. we are going to have to take her back to the vet on monday but I thought I should see if anyone has any ides or has had this happen to their dog. Thanks

Best answer:

Answer by 4Her4Life
If it is an allergic reaction the Prednisone will treat the symptoms but not “cure” the allergy. There is almost certainly an allergen in your home that she keeps exposing herself to – and causing immune system responses and vulnerabilities that result in everything else.

Ask the vet about allergen testing or try switching to a allergy food like duck and potato. If it’s not diet related, it may be related to chemicals in the environment. Try switching household cleaners and detergents to something hypoallergenic.

Good luck

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Question by Noemie: With the proper training is it safe to take my 9 month old Pit Bull for jogs?
I Have taken my dog for short runs already, trying to build up her endurance. Right now she runs with me for a mile and a half and we do it in about 12min give or take. Is what im doing safe for her? Im just wondering if the hard surfaces can harm her joints. She seems to enjoy jogging along with me and hasnt shown any signs of pain or irritation. I usually run anywhere between 7-10 miles a day, will she ever be able to join me on my “real” runs?

Best answer:

Answer by Salsa
you would be suprised how durable dogs are. my dad and i both run with our 2 dogs and they are good. i think it is fine to take her for runs. the joints aren’t an issue. take her on one “rreal” run and if she is fine then i would say go for it. Its great that you take her. she should be fine doing at least 4-5 miles. We take our dogs backpacking and everything. Mine are 5 now and they still do long runs in the morning. Run along.

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Question by Eric S: I HAVE A 5 MONTH OLD G.S.D NEED help?
First of my dog “thor” is a 5 months old.sable GSD. hes 53.5 pounds
this is my first puppy btw .. ok SO ya i hear about this hip dysplasia problem and this worries me i notice a little sway in his walk but hes in no pain he loves to run and jump and play but im really worried please help me out and give me sum Information and some solutions im really worried, another thing to is hes a big puller when it comes to walking and i need some advise on how to stop that .. and need to no What coller and leash i should buy him
thank you SO much for your time
-Eric.

Best answer:

Answer by Kristen
I have a golden retriever. He has bad hips. The vet told us to just keep him excercising so his muscles will stay stronger and this prevents hip displasia. We also get him happy hips which really help. For the pulling try a chain leash and if your dog wants to sniff let it. This reduces the pulling somehow. You could try giving your dog a ball to carry when you walk it too. Than all they care about is the ball and don’t think aobut pulling. Hope this helps!

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Question by lifeguardangel: 5 month old pit bull with diarrhea and gas he also has a limp in his left hind leg.?
I have a 5 month male American Pit-bull Terrier. He has had bloody diarrhea that’s mucus in form and extremely bad gas. Both his stools and diarrhea are very potent. This has been going on since I bought him from the breeder. (he was 9 weeks). At times the diarrhea is explosive and he can’t control his bowels. He has also developed limp, which started over a month ago. I have taken him to the vet over 6 times. I’ve brought him to 3 different vet offices because I was not satisfied with their answers. The vet we normally go to has tested his stools 4 times and no worms or parasites ever showed up. I check his stools every day to see if I see anything. The next vet he was brought to also did several fecal tests and nothing came up. Then lastly the third vet tested his stools and did blood work and came up with Guardia as the cause. This was treated with 10 days of Metronidazole. Before this he was treated by the other vets with Albon and flagyl he was on this twice. He was also treated with Loperamide to control the diarrhea but that didn’t help what so ever. He was also treated with an antibiotic.
I asked the original Vet if it could be IBS. He agreed that it could be and that we should try different kinds of food. Which we did, we even put him on rice and chicken broth and nothing seemed to help. The 3rd vet said no it couldn’t be IBS. While he was on the Metronidazole everything did clear up but now it’s coming back. Except the limp that is getting worse, and even while on the meds it never cleared up. I was concerned that it could be hip dysplasia since he does do that “bunny hop” and seems to be more stiff when he is getting up from a nap. I asked for x-rays and the vet said wait it out a month or so. This was after it had been going on for almost 2 weeks. I even told the vet I just wanted the x-rays in advance and didn’t care if I was wasting money. But he wanted to wait. It’s probably going to be another 2 weeks till he sees him again. I’m not sure what my next course of action should be, I’ve already spent over 0 on vet bills and he just turned 5 months last week. I also should add he is growing normally and always seems to be happy. He doesn’t act litharge and even though he limps he still wants to run and play. Other then the limp he doesn’t seem to be in pain and the vet did range of motion tests on him and he didn’t cry. This dog is never out of my site and I’ve never seen him fall or get hurt. He’s not allowed on the couch of bed. He developed the limp before he figured how to jump up on the couch. I’m at my wits end I have no clue where I should turn but this doesn’t seem normal to me. I’ve contacted the breeder several times and she was understandable and wasn’t sure what the issue could be. These weren’t back yard breeders they appeared honest and legit I did my best to research them. He is up to date on all of his shots and was dewormed before he was brought home and I believe he was also dewormed by one the vets. I know I put out a lot of information but if anyone knows what this could be please share your thoughts with me.
We live in Dover Delaware
He is on a grain free food

Best answer:

Answer by Dogmabitesmanonleg
Have you tried a holistic vet? A lot of times they can help when no one in the traditional field can figure out what’s wrong. You’ll have to do a search, since I don’t know where you’re located.

There’s a couple of sites I know of dedicated to using natural methods to help people and pets so you might want to look around on there and see if there’s any information on there that will help. Links below:

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Question by Greta M: my 16 month GSD recently hurt her paw (or so we thought?)…?
last week she was limping and it appeared that she had hurt her right paw. i would palpitate it down the leg and the only place she flinched was when i hit near the end of her paws. then today strangely she started to favor her right leg (the leg i thought she had hurt). she was at the dog park today with a friend and someone there said that this can be an early sign of hip dysplasia? she had very good breeding and was actually guranteed to not have this but i’m obviously still worried. so my question is what do you think it is? do you think she just tore a muscle in her left leg while favoring it over her right and then switched?
don’t worry, i will definitely be taking her to the vet although it is getting frustrating cause she was there 2 weeks ago for allergies.

Best answer:

Answer by Libby
Don’t jump to conclusions…….Don’t worry You need to go to the vet……thats the only way to get a for sure answer.

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Question by 412StylistGrl: My 7 month old Rottweiler is limping?
My 7 mo old Rot puppy is limping. He was fine this morning when playing with a neighbor’s dog. Then I put him in the house and went to work. Another neighbor checked on him a few hours later and then I came home a few hours after that. When I walked through the door, he immediately seemed different. He didn’t jump on me like usual and he kept his head down as if he were in trouble. I fed him, brushed him, and started playing with him a little when my neighbor called me to tell me he noticed a slight limp when he checked on him this afternoon. I didn’t notice it right away but the more I payed attention the more I could see that something wasn’t right. I figured I’d see how he is in the morning and then call the vet. However, as the night goes on he is MUCH worse. He won’t put any weight on it AT ALL. When I rub his back, hip, leg, neck, he is fine – but when I touch his actual paw he tries to snap and lets out a quick cry, so I know it is uncomfortable. He doesn’t cry when I don’t mess with it, but he won’t walk on it and he has a hard time sitting/laying down because he will NOT put it down. I’m wondering if he got bit by something? Broke a toe? I looked and saw nothing stuck in there and no cuts or blood. To me, the paw looks a little swollen. I plan on calling the vet FIRST THING in the a.m. but I’m so worried about my baby I can’t sleep! Any ideas on what it could be? I’ve researched and pretty much ruled out hip dysplasia and anything getting stuck in there. Any ideas? I’m a worried mom!

Best answer:

Answer by Ugly Truth
He probably sprained it, bruised it, broke a bone, something like that. Go to sleep, the vet will tell you precisely what is wrong tomorrow.

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