Limping

Hi everyone.

I had just came back from the shops and i noticed my dog layla was limping. I immediatley thought she had a paralisis tick, i checked all over her but didnt find a thing. So then i looked at the leg she was having trouble with, i opened up her paw only to find that it was red as she had been biting it, i then noticed a little bump, i dont know wheither it wasa bite of some sort that is causing this limp. I am very confused, if you have any idea what it could be, or if i am totally wrong tell me.

From Kate

OMG..I was just coming on to post about my Hammie limping. I don't mean to barge in on your question....but the same thing has happened here, and my vet is gone for the holiday. Hammie ran around the yard yesterday..fine as can be, came in...slept for awhile. Then when he woke up...he won't use his back foot. I had him under extremely bright light and I don't see anything. I, too, am confused and so upset. I don't even see redness around his paw or pads. Oh, Kate...I hope you don't mind sharing this thread with me.

Kate, that bump could be a sting or a splinter of something embedded in her foot. That's one I'd recommend taking to the vet. In the meantime, if you can find a tube of old-fashioned Drawing Salve at the drug store it might help to start bringing whatever is in the bump to the surface so that it can be removed.

Have you flushed the area out with hydrogen peroxide? If you'll do that, then rinse the area well with warm water it will help you get a better look and dislodge anything else that might be irritating Layla's foot.

Debi, it sounds like Hammie may have dislocated his hip. Since your vet is gone, try to get him to lie quietly with a heating pad turned on LOW or a hot water bottle on the hip. After the heat has had a chance to work, GENTLY, GENTLY try rotating the leg, starting in very small motions, following the natural motion of the joint. If he whimpers, stop. That tells you there's something wrong in the joint. Then you keep him quiet (I know, I know, it's just about impossible - lol) apply the heat periodically (it will give you an excuse to sit down for awhile) and call your vet as soon as he gets back in. If the vet's going to be gone all the way through New Year's, though, I don't know that I'd wait. If there is something broken or if there is a significant dislocation that could be a bit too long for Hammie to be in that much discomfort and you don't want the hip to start trying to form a 'false joint' to compensate.

Thanks Renee...I will absolutely do all that. I just don't understand what the heck happened. He was his fine, usual self. I first thought he maybe had slept on it (like we do sometimes, and your foot goes numb) when he first got up and wouldn't stand on all fours. But he didn't even finish his dinner (he, who gobbles food like a vacuum) cause it was awkward to stand. I'm totally out of control...I have to leave them tomorrow for awhile, wow....why now? I am just so worried about him. Just heat...no ice? I know for a human sprain, it is good to do a heat/cold therapy on the joint. I thought maybe he ran around and sprained something....but it didn't bother him til he got up from sleeping a couple hours. AND...there is a paralizing (sp?) tick to worry about??? I absolutely do not see anything on him....OH, and believe me...I looked forevahhhhhhh. I was in tears by the time Dave got home. On a sidebar here......Dave claims he was fine when he walked him last night..and that Ham is 'putting on the dog' for me. GEEZ.......men.....NO, my little boy wouldn't do that. I don't want to take him to some cheesy clinic....I just hope he is ok..at least til my vet is back (I finally found a good vet, DO NOT want to go anywhere else!!!)

Oh Kate...since I so rudely imposed on your thread, I did want to tell you that I have had problems with Addie and redness in her paws. I even posted about it. She, too, will 'bite/lick' her paws. I put Neosporin in-between her 'toes' and it helps so much. She has never limped..but they do get 'raw' looking. I've even given her low doses of benedryl.........only once in awhile. It helped alot. Check that bump, tho...it does sound like something is imbedded in there. Let us know what you find out if you take her to the vet...seems so curious.

You won't be able to get him to lay still for cold ice on that hip, Debi. And if it's a dislocation, you want it relaxed so that maybe it will slide back in place on its own.

Watch him when he's out with Dave. Hammie's perfectly capable of jobbing you like that! My first Shepherd, Purdue, used to do that. He hurt his paw once; cut the pad pretty badly, and figured out very quickly that all it took to get attention was to limp. He'd carry it to extremes after that when he felt neglected, whimpering piteously until I'd bandage his foot, then he'd hobble over to the couch and oh-so-slowly hoist himself up with his three 'good' legs, then lay there and look so pitiful you'd have thought he was seriously injured while we petted him . . . until he heard something that needed to be checked out!

I remember how much trouble you had with finding a good vet, and no, I wouldn't want to take him to a clinic or anything like that either. They're prone to just immediately jump to an obvious conclusion like dysplasia, especially since they're usually manned by recent grads who don't really have much real life experience.

Bimmer will limp periodically, and I rarely find any kind of wound on his foot. His is usually the front leg, and will sometimes be a little tender in those big muscles. I just keep him in and don't let him go out running and jumping for a couple of days to let the muscles rest and recuperate. And, when he's distracted by something interesting he forgets the limp, so I know it can't be all that painful. When he walks back to me he'll remember and limp again . . . lol!

LOL Renee. I did make a HUGE fuss over Ham yesterday...I kept asking him 'what happened to your paw, buddy?' then the hugging...he WAS lapping it up. I just had him out and he seems ok.....now we'll see what transpires thru the day. so far....so good, but I'm still gonna do the heat thingy...he will LOVE the attention...GEEZ, he is sooooooooooooooooooo like a man. (sorry guys!) Probably was a 'slight' tenderness..........but he made the most of it. Don't tell my hubby...but he sort of gets the same way with a cold........a MAJOR ordeal. LOL

ROFL! Can you imagine if men had to deal with cramps! Or if WE had to deal with men with cramps!

Hammie's just living up to his name. I've blamed Charley over and over for naming Shiva - after Shiva the Great Destroyer . . . what a moniker to burden a sweet little puppy with! She has done her best (or worst on occasion) to live up to it though.

You know, Debi, part of Hammie's act could be in response to Addie's recent crabbiness.

How's she doing on that, by the way? Has she settled down any?

Just peeking in again between cooking...lol Renee...Addie has been much better behaved the past 2 days. Yesterday I had a migraine to beat the band...BAD, they both were on the bed with me, very well behaved. Maybe they knew not to disturb 'mom'...or should I say....CRABBY mom. She still tries to boss everything and everywhere......but I now step in and let her know who is BOSS. I sort of feel stupid....like I'm fighting with the dogs (oh...get a life!) She will still growl and act up if she is in 'prime position' on the bed and Ham is jumping up. She has now stopped begging at the table, tho. (we made a new rule...NO feeding from the table..OH MAN, we spoiled Addie to the hilt) They get goodies in their dog dishes at their suppertime. Sooooo, I have one little spoiled girl (wicked wench at times) and one little spoiled boy (oh...see me limp) Somehow I concede..........children are wayyyyyyyyy easier than dogs! lol