Sled dog breeding

[SternRose]

I think it's hip dysplasia or arthritis. When I first got her she was limping on her back right, the same leg causing her pain now. A vet told me she had a torn CCL. But her knee didn't slip, slide, or cause her any pain when it was messed with. I took her to another vet who said the first vet was an idiot and just wanted me to pay for an expensive surgery the dog didn't need. He thought she had possible arthritis, and told me she had no muscle tone. He said exercise her, get her muscled and toned, and loose the fat. Well, she now has some nice muscles on her, her legs are very nice and strong, but she never really lost the fat. She stopped limping, I was able to flex her hip, knee, and message her leg with no reaction so I thought all was well. Now though, I think the second vet was right. So I am getting her back on her diet and exercise program, and putting her on joint supplements. My hope is that we can reduce the pain enough for her to have a normal life. The second vet says the more muscle she has the better, it will help hold everything in place. And that she don't need any extra weight, that will make the pains worse. So that is our goal for Fiona, get her as physically fit as possible. We will start our 3 mile walks along the river again this weekend. It's really sad that a 25 month old dog has arthritis or hip dysplasia already though.

Yea

 

[Americano Blue]

The vet did it "to push her and see what would happen", that's what they people told me when I picked her up. I'm sorry, ButI can totally understand why the dog bite, if someone poked me to see what would happen I'd would have too! Freaking idiots. Any creature, if pushed enough will defend itself, it don't take a genius to figure that out. I think that vet deserved getting bite, though I am glad Fiona didn't hurt him. I wouldn't be as upset if the vet had been trying to figure out what was wrong, and had taken safety precautions, but to continue to cause pain just to see her reaction was not right.

The only good that came of it, was the vet was able to move Fiona's knee and hip joints without any signs of pain. She only reacted when he pushed his fingers into her thigh muscles. So now I have 2 vets saying she shows no signs of a CCL tear, which is great news.

agreed the vet was being extremely dumb

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

The vet did it "to push her and see what would happen", that's what they people told me when I picked her up. I'm sorry, ButI can totally understand why the dog bite, if someone poked me to see what would happen I'd would have too! Freaking idiots. Any creature, if pushed enough will defend itself, it don't take a genius to figure that out. I think that vet deserved getting bite, though I am glad Fiona didn't hurt him. I wouldn't be as upset if the vet had been trying to figure out what was wrong, and had taken safety precautions, but to continue to cause pain just to see her reaction was not right.

The only good that came of it, was the vet was able to move Fiona's knee and hip joints without any signs of pain. She only reacted when he pushed his fingers into her thigh muscles. So now I have 2 vets saying she shows no signs of a CCL tear, which is great news.

Did either of the vets that tested her put her under sedation and manipulate the joint? Its honestly the only way to be entirely sure whether there is an issue there, as you just can't humanely do the proper testing and maneuvers to a dog that is awake. Basically, you can try to slide the tibia and femur against one another to see if there is something called "drawer". If the cruciate ligaments are intact, these two ends of the bone that make up the joint will not slide against one another. It will be quite obvious if there is an issue with the CCL and that will need surgery to correct.

The other thing I would recommend is a set of radiographs of the hindlimbs, thought that is more pricey and if you just want to rule out CCL tear, I would try the cranial drawer test first. Radiographs could tell you if there is hip dysplasia and the degree of severity, as well as the presence and severity of osteoarthritis, though there's not a whole lot that can be done about that. Once you rule out and traumatic injuries (like CCL), asking your vet about Rimadyl may be a good option! She would have to have blood work done though to check liver and kidney values, and then she will need a recheck again at some point to make sure that the rimadyl is not damaging the organs.

 

[Starfire669]

Did either of the vets that tested her put her under sedation and manipulate the joint? Its honestly the only way to be entirely sure whether there is an issue there, as you just can't humanely do the proper testing and maneuvers to a dog that is awake. Basically, you can try to slide the tibia and femur against one another to see if there is something called "drawer". If the cruciate ligaments are intact, these two ends of the bone that make up the joint will not slide against one another. It will be quite obvious if there is an issue with the CCL and that will need surgery to correct.

The other thing I would recommend is a set of radiographs of the hindlimbs, thought that is more pricey and if you just want to rule out CCL tear, I would try the cranial drawer test first. Radiographs could tell you if there is hip dysplasia and the degree of severity, as well as the presence and severity of osteoarthritis, though there's not a whole lot that can be done about that. Once you rule out and traumatic injuries (like CCL), asking your vet about Rimadyl may be a good option! She would have to have blood work done though to check liver and kidney values, and then she will need a recheck again at some point to make sure that the rimadyl is not damaging the organs. 

The first vet didn't sedate her and swore she had a CCL tear. The second vet sedated her and said her knee was OK. Then this vet says no CCL damage, but without sedating her. After the second vet said her knee was fine, and she stopped favoring her leg I assumed she had simply pulled some muscles. She came to me with no muscle tone at all, I think her previous owners kept her indoors and let her chew lots of bones to keep her occupied. Her teeth are flat and very dull, and she had a horrible chewing habit when I first got her. Also, when she first got here she tried playing fetch and couldn't keep her feet under her. She had no clue how to play with our other dogs either. She just didn't act like a dog who had ever played or exercised in her life.

What is Rimadyl?

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Rimadyl is an NSAID similar to aspirin but more specific in what it targets in an attempt to prevent stomach damage and ulcers like aspirin can cause. It's great for use in dogs with osteoarthritis.

If she's not limping any more, I would venture to guess it is not the CCL. That causes pretty severe walking deficits. If she seems to have pain every now and then, it may be worth asking your vet about Rimadyl for some pain management. Low doses of aspirin do the job well, but shouldn't be over-used. Again, you could ask your vet what he/she thinks may be best for your dog's situation, but those are some ideas to help steer the conversation!

 

[Starfire669]

Rimadyl is an NSAID similar to aspirin but more specific in what it targets in an attempt to prevent stomach damage and ulcers like aspirin can cause. It's great for use in dogs with osteoarthritis.

If she's not limping any more, I would venture to guess it is not the CCL. That causes pretty severe walking deficits. If she seems to have pain every now and then, it may be worth asking your vet about Rimadyl for some pain management. Low doses of aspirin do the job well, but shouldn't be over-used. Again, you could ask your vet what he/she thinks may be best for your dog's situation, but those are some ideas to help steer the conversation!

I appreciate the advice. Fiona does not limp or favor her leg at all, but when you touch it she shows signs of pain. And this morning she was laying down, the suddenly growled, turned, and attacked her leg. I have never seen that before and can't figure out what is going on. It reminds me a little of muscles spasms I get in my back, I am fine until someone touches certain spots or if I move a certain way and then I have severe pain. My back issues are caused by compression on my spinal cord, and I do have problems in my legs because the place of damage was were my siatic nerves got down to my legs. It does make me wonder if Fiona could have a similar injury. But I can press on her spine with no signs of discomfort, if you did that to me I would be on the floor in pain. This has me stumped and concerned for Fiona. And I feel awful for assuming she was all right after she stopped favoring her leg, I should have had her checked again.

 

[Americano Blue]

I appreciate the advice. Fiona does not limp or favor her leg at all, but when you touch it she shows signs of pain. And this morning she was laying down, the suddenly growled, turned, and attacked her leg. I have never seen that before and can't figure out what is going on. It reminds me a little of muscles spasms I get in my back, I am fine until someone touches certain spots or if I move a certain way and then I have severe pain. My back issues are caused by compression on my spinal cord, and I do have problems in my legs because the place of damage was were my siatic nerves got down to my legs. It does make me wonder if Fiona could have a similar injury. But I can press on her spine with no signs of discomfort, if you did that to me I would be on the floor in pain. This has me stumped and concerned for Fiona. And I feel awful for assuming she was all right after she stopped favoring her leg, I should have had her checked again.

poor baby. I will pray she gets better

 

[tridentk9]

I appreciate the advice. Fiona does not limp or favor her leg at all, but when you touch it she shows signs of pain. And this morning she was laying down, the suddenly growled, turned, and attacked her leg. I have never seen that before and can't figure out what is going on. It reminds me a little of muscles spasms I get in my back, I am fine until someone touches certain spots or if I move a certain way and then I have severe pain. My back issues are caused by compression on my spinal cord, and I do have problems in my legs because the place of damage was were my siatic nerves got down to my legs. It does make me wonder if Fiona could have a similar injury. But I can press on her spine with no signs of discomfort, if you did that to me I would be on the floor in pain. This has me stumped and concerned for Fiona. And I feel awful for assuming she was all right after she stopped favoring her leg, I should have had her checked again.

Hmmm, one of my dogs would very rarely get an extremely painful leg. Always the same leg. Xrays showed nothing, manipulation showed nothing, we could never get him to show signs of pain. It continued, more xrays and still nothing. His painful attacks were not reproducible though I knew getting up from a down was involved.

Went to the vet school. Nothing on xrays there (my dog was now glowing in the dark!). Tried a wait and see, no good. Decided on what was at the time top tier tests (computer assisted tomography) and what the surgeon called opening it up and letting the ghost out.

Surgery revealed ... a broken process on one of the vertebrae that would occasionally move and rub against a nerve. That was one VERY irritated nerve. It was enlarged by the irritation and probably hurt all the time but was excruciating when the piece of bone rubbed against it. Then the piece would move back into place and not show up on xrays.

It was a lot of exams, xrays and finally "new" equipment and surgery that in this case could pretty much fix the problem.

It does sound like xrays would be a reasonable next step. She may be more painful today and showing it from the third vet poking and prodding.

 

[Starfire669]

Hmmm, one of my dogs would very rarely get an extremely painful leg. Always the same leg. Xrays showed nothing, manipulation showed nothing, we could never get him to show signs of pain. It continued, more xrays and still nothing. His painful attacks were not reproducible though I knew getting up from a down was involved.

Went to the vet school. Nothing on xrays there (my dog was now glowing in the dark!). Tried a wait and see, no good. Decided on what was at the time top tier tests (computer assisted tomography) and what the surgeon called opening it up and letting the ghost out.

Surgery revealed ... a broken process on one of the vertebrae that would occasionally move and rub against a nerve. That was one VERY irritated nerve. It was enlarged by the irritation and probably hurt all the time but was excruciating when the piece of bone rubbed against it. Then the piece would move back into place and not show up on xrays.

It was a lot of exams, xrays and finally "new" equipment and surgery that in this case could pretty much fix the problem.

It does sound like xrays would be a reasonable next step. She may be more painful today and showing it from the third vet poking and prodding.

Thanks, I will have that checked.

 

[SternRose]

Ok, I've decided to start putting our dogs on our tread mill.
Nala did 3/4ths a mile in 3sessions so 1/4 a session. 1.8 miles a hr. off and on.
Lacey did 1/4th a mile in 2sessions( she has arthritis)1.3
Baby did 2/4ths a mile in 2sessions(at a trot both times)2.0
Chevy did 1/4th a mile in 2sessions( she's over weight)1.3
And I didn't do Minnie because she's 10yrs old.
Everyone but baby was at a walk.
Am I doing this right? We just started today