Swollen ankle in my dog.

Dr. Marie replied:

The first thing that we worry about when a dog has a swollen hock (ankle joint) is that he has injured the joint somehow. However, if it was a minor sprain, then it really should be better after the 10 days of anti-inflammatories. If it is not better by now, then it means that there is something more serious going on.

It is possible that this is a more serious injury than a sprain. It may be that there is ligament damage or even a break somewhere. Because of this, the next step is probably to xray the joint. However, hock xrays can be difficult to interpret. But, if there is an obvious break then the vet should be able to see it.

Another possibility is some type of autoimmune disease such as polyarthritis. Polyarthritis usually affects multiple joints but I have seen dogs that just have one leg affected.

Another possibility is an infection in the joint. It could be a bacterial infection or it could be a fungal infection.

To diagnose an immune mediated disease, or an infection the next step (providing that xrays don't give an answer) will be to do a joint tap. This is usually something that we do either under a full anesthetic or deep sedation. The vet will put a sterile needle into the joint and take out some joint fluid. They will probably need to send the fluid away to a lab to find out what it contains.

I hope that things improve soon!

Dr. Marie

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