Limping dog.

Dr. Marie replied:

Hi Sheila. I have a case exactly like this in my clinic right now. It's actually quite a common occurrence to have a young dog with a lameness that we can't figure out. Most of the time when I have cases like this we put the dog on an anti-inflammatory drug (that's what the Rimadyl is) and just wait things out. It almost always gets better.

If there is no improvement within another week or two then your vet may want to go looking for other things. Given that there is some inflammation in the knee they may want to do a joint tap to look for infection or an immune mediated problem in the joint. These things are really not common though.

Another thing that I would do, if the dog was not getting better is consider having a specialist take a look at the xrays. Sometimes there can be very subtle things that a radiologist could notice that regular veterinarians might not see.

If that doesn't turn up the problem then you could talk to your vet about seeing an orthopedic specialist. Again, these vets can often find things on a physical exam that regular vets are not used to seeing.

One other thing that causes inflammation in the knee is a tear in the cruciate ligament, but this is unusual on such a young dog. An orthopedic specialist should be able to tell you if this is happening.

Regarding the vomit, diarrhea and gas, it's hard to connect that to the limping. I'm wondering if Pip is not handling the Rimadyl well. If these symptoms continue then you may need to ask your vet about taking her off of the medicine.

The other thing you may want to consider is giving her strict rest. If she's got a mild sprain or strain then running around the park is just going to re-aggravate the injury. In a situation like this I would usually recommend two weeks of strict rest which means she only goes outside on her leash to do her bowel movements and urination. I know that is hard to do with a young dog though.

I hope that helps. Sorry that I can't tell you what is going on!

Dr. Marie.


Do you have a pet website? Interested in learning more about SEO for Wix?

---

Check out our dog age calculator and cat age calculator.

Dr. Marie replied:

Sounds like a great plan!