Limping lab: See the vet yet?

[herm]

What would you do? Came home Wednesday night to find my 2-year-old lab limping/not using her back left leg. (No idea why but nothing happened to her that I saw.) Thursday morning she was able to walk with no limp but as soon as she jogged or ran she would favor it. By bedtime, she was limping but not as bad as first night. Friday (today) has been similar. I've checked toes/pads/etc and even flexed her major leg joints and hips. She never yelps or winces. All else is normal...except she does not like NOT going for walks, not fetching, etc. Think I should go see the vet? Or wait another day or so? Thanks in advance.

[mainbutter]

We had the same issue, and hit up the vet.

We're glad we did, he had a completely torn ligament/tendon (I can't remember) in his knee, and that is an injury that requires surgery and really no way around it, it won't heal itself and the knee will be permanently handicapped without repair work.. just like tearing your ACL playing football.

I'd say go in and get your dog checked.

[00rowe]

Sounds exactly like my dog, surgery time, he was also 2, he's now seven and his other leg will act up if I let him work too hard, I won't do another surgery now, he's just semi retired. Good luck with your pup.

Mike

[Bryce]

Sounds like classic ACL tear symptoms. Vet will verify. Pup should be back to hunting this fall if you follow post op protocol. Pup unfortunatly will probably blow other one in the future. Not much you can do. Went through it with the old surgery techniques. She hunted strong until almost 11. We all hope that it ends up being a cut or thorn or such.

[JayinMN]

My dogs knee was noticeable swollen and warm to the touch because of the inflammation when he tore his. Can you lay her on her back and stretch both legs out for a comparison? Chances are if its a acl injury you will notice a difference between the two.

[srfishin15]

Herm is my dad, so it's my dog as well. But her laying down right now it doesn't look like much of a difference, but i know he's taking her in tomorrow to find out forsure.

[BMaxus]

I hope the trip to the vet goes well.

It's a bummer when our pups get hurt.

[herm]

First, thanks for the input. It inspired me to visit the vet Saturday. Not good news. You all are correct - it's her "acl" and her knee will need surgery. After a flurry of research/etc, we opted for the TPLO surgery, which will happen Wednesday. It's very pricey but seems the best approach for a young hunting dog. If things go well, in about 12 weeks she should be back to normal...and able to hunt come fall. Any tips on getting through these next 12 weeks are appreciated, especially keeping her from jumping/getting bored/etc. The vet's quote was "actually, the surgery will be the easy part; the hard part is keeping her restricted from Day 4 until she's heeled." Thanks again for your help.

[MuleShack]

A friend of mine had her male GSP surgery last summer. She had to keep him in a crate so he would not put stress on the leg. He got to go out for poty breaks and a short walk on a leash for the first few weaks. It will be tough for the dog and for you to have to keep the dog immobile but it has to be done.

Some labs are not as active as GSP's but maybe yours is more mellow and will just lay around the house?

Either way the doctor will give you recomendations and hopefully some tips to make things go by smoothly.

[mainbutter]

So far for keeping our dog "calm", we make liberal use of indoor dog gates to prevent stair travel, and we take him out to potty on the leash, and make use of keeping the leash SHORT to prevent any excitability from going too far and causing post-surgery injury. The gentle leader helps keep the dog calm indoors if he gets a little too riled up.

Lots of chewing toys are the best way to keep him entertained throughout the process.

[bottomdweller]

Just went through this with my border in nov. She is doing great now, have her back in agility class, and hopefully hitting our first trial at the end of april. Keep your dog confined and get him or her out for her walks twice a day. Massaging the knee also helps. Do exactly what the vet says for excercise, no more. I got my dog in some underwater treadmill excercises at six weeks really helped build her muscle back up.

Goodluck