Regular vet, chiro vet, or ___ ?

So Aeri turned up lame on a shoulder last night, I gave traumeel, and we went to bed. This morning it's on again, off again. This has happened before and it goes away within 24-48 hours, but with this reocurrance I'm starting to think I need to get her looked at in case it's something that needs to be addressed more than just rest.

I have several options and would like input on what other folks would do in this situation.

1. Regular vet. Low pricing, general practitioner. Could get us in *today*.

2. Chiro vet. Decent pricing, horse practitioner, great at assessing gaits. Have been meaning to have her look at Kes and Aeri for a couple of weeks, probably could get in this week or next.

3. We have a veterinary specialty clinic with a rehab department, but I'm not sure if we'll need a referral or not. They'd be pricey, but we do have insurance that will cover 70% of a specialist after we hit our $200 deductible.

Any thoughts? Other suggestions?

This is what I'm doing with Limit. We haven't gone yet (appt on the 18th of June), but a friend had a dog that was diagnosed by her regular vet as unable to do agility, she took the dog to her rehab vet and now they are competing. She is the one that referred me to where I'm taking Limit. I won't know how I really feel until after the appt and all but just wanted you to know that's what we're doing for his "knee issue"

For a shoulder, my first go to would probably be chiro. She could just need an adjustment (neck, back, shoulder). I'd do chiro and rest with traumeel, then possibly a follow up chiro visit depending on what was found.

If I wasn't seeing improvement after that I'd do a regular vet visit.

And everyone will have different experiences. A fellow competitor referred me to a holistic/traditional rehab vet once. I took both my girls there, one for an actual limping problem, the other just to get a once-over, she had no obvious problems. Since I drove 2.5 hrs one way I figured why not.

He told me both of them needed surgery immediately pretty much. My vet had already looked at Rumor (the off and on limper) and said there was no obvious issue at that time (right knee) and to let her continue to be a dog. He said he suspected that she might eventually rupture a ligament but there was nothing that could truly be done until that happened. She was probably 3 then, she's 7 now. She's never ruptured anything, we still play frisbee, swim, run, hike, and practice agility (she doesn't compete due to anxiety issues).

Carrie was actively competing in agility at that time, and he also said her knees were crap and to go home and have surgery. I never did. She was 7 at that time, and retired from agility maybe a year later due to other (non-orthopedic) health problems.

Needless to say, when Zen started having problems I did not want to go back to that vet. We have done chiro (which Zen loves), and he has had surgery for a luxating patella done by my regular vet.

I'm generally one for starting with the least invasive then moving up if the problem warrants it. So I'd start with rest and anti inflammatories, then move to chiro/massage, then x-rays and treatments from there.

And apparently if you'd like your dog to have a knee problem, send them to me. (What do I do to these dogs?!?!)

I would probably start at the chiro vet. Once I got their assessment or if my dog went off again quickly after adjustment I would head to the rehab specialist.

Go chiro first would be my suggestion. I don't bother with my regular vet for injuries like that as they're just going to give you pain meds usually.

THIS!!! You can always up your treatment, you can't undo a surgery.

We had this issue and it was ocd. Its prob not that, but I'm just suggesting you see the right vet before clicking and adjusting. I'd look for an orthopedic vet first.

You could do more damage without a proper look at the issue.

I'd start with the chiro vet. Though if the chiro vet doesn't have the facilities to do X-rays, and you think an X-ray is warranted, I might go to the regular vet first.

I would definitely get an X-ray, as well as the chiro, before going on to the specialist.

My vote also goes to the chiro.

I would start w/the regular vet in case it's something really simple/obvious. If not, I'd probably go to the PT next.

This. My regular vet is pretty cool though.

Yea, mine too.

So many good points from all of you! Argh! LOL

I'd be very surprised if this was bone related as there's been no trauma as a trigger - she came up lame after chewing a new (large) ball for about an hour last night and the last time this happened there wasn't even an obvious trigger like that, no trauma for sure. She's also 2.5yo so something like OCD would be more unlikely. Makes xrays not as obviously needed at least.

Regular vet does have walk in hours, so it would be simple, but again, rest and traumeel generally clears it up in 24-48 hours, and I doubt they will do much more than that, though they could do a referral if needed. Maybe I'll call the specialist and see if I need one...

I can say that I've unnecessarily spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars at "regular" vets and specialty vets. And our rehab vet had the right answer every. single. time. And a treatment plan. And she emails me night or day when I have questions.

EVERY SINGLE TIME!

I still haven't learned my lesson.

Lol!

I went ahead and called our chiro vet - she actually specializes in equine lameness, so I think she's a great fit for the situation. I trust that she will know when to refer out and if it comes to that, I'll have her refer to the rehab vet in my town.

I would go chiro. Not very invasive, not too expensive, but a little more thorough than a regular vet exam.

Argh. Chiro vet appears to still be out of the office. >.<

And the limping is gone as of yesterday. Decided to chance it and take her swimming this afternoon and despite pulling herself out of the pool several times (using her shoulder a lot), there is no limp. So this sounds like it may well be a jaw muscle thing. Weird. Definitely still going to see the chiro, tho!