Phew, haven't been on in a while because life was hectic. Anyways I am in desperate need of opinions/relatable experiences and I thought to go on here. The story is as follows: Teller (2 years old) somehow injured himself in the backyard around a month ago; the yard is fenced and he cannot get out. He came to the back door hopping with his back right foot cut up and a knot on his medial tarsal/hock joint. Since it happened late at night (around midnight) I cleaned the wound out, stopped the bleeding, and bandaged it so he couldn't lick it. We went to the vet first thing in the morning and they did the usual exam, X-rays, wound cleaning, and round of anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, and pain killers. I was not anticipating the cost of the visit and do not have pet insurance, not that it would have done me much good because the bill was right at what the deductible would have been. The wound has since healed without complication and he's starting to regrow fur over the scars and all of the swelling has gone down except for that knot. We tried a second round of anti-inflammatories to no major effect. He is nearly back to normal; he will run/jump on it when not restrained and doesn't have a limp but will lift it on occasion. My vet said from the X-rays that nothing was broken or torn (they X-rayed the knees as well and said they were fine). I am aware that ligament tears do not show up on X-ray but they told me that judging from all the bones being aligned and in the correct position, a ligament tear was highly unlikely. Now here we are a month later and the swelling is still there. It's firm to the touch (literally like a knot on the trunk of a tree) and only in that location. I am going to take him back to the vet but I don't have disposable income because I'm a student and would like to know what I am getting into before getting slapped with another large bill and not having a payment plan available to me. I've watched his gait and it doesn't appear different from before, though I'm not an expert and couldn't say for certain. The worst case scenario would be him needing surgery. I've read a lot of conflicting literature on the subject and I don't want to subject him to something that invasive unless he absolutely needs it and there is no alternative for wellness. I was wondering if anybody else had experience with a similar injury or had heard something on the subject.
Ah....sorry you are having this worry with your boy. If it's firm, it could be that there is inflammation and swelling at the site of the tendon insertion, but I wouldn't expect that to happen all of a sudden, and you would think anti-inflammatories would help. You can get a "Popeye syndrome" with a ruptured muscle where the remaining muscle bunches up and forms a lump, but I don't know if dogs get that, or whether that would be a likely site. The other thing of course, could there have been a bit of a lump before, but you didn't notice it until the injury (seems unlikely, but putting it out there) in which case it could be a fatty lump or tumour? The advice of your vet here is going to be vital even though it may cost you more than you would want. Its obviously good that he is behaving normally, not in pain, not limping. Gosh these dogs of ours are indeed a worry.....
Has your vet considered (another) round of antibiotics? My old beagle had this sort of thing (a lump on his wrist that wouldn't go away but wasn't a tumour or ligament issue) and the vet said one possibility was a lingering internal infection. No expert here, just a thought!!
That looks a lot like a bog spavin in a horse. Google that up and see what you find for treatment options etc.
Thanks for the replies and suggestions! I took him to another vet today (one recommended by my neighbor) after calling around to several top-rated vets around me to get a feel for price. You won't believe what vets are charging these days just to walk in the door. We did another round of x-rays to see if anything else had shown up or if there had been any changes and there weren't; I suppose that's good at the very least. Immediately upon flexing the hock, he could tell there was something wrong. Whenever you move his injured hock joint there is a grinding sound and it seems loose when moved from side to side. This sound and 'looseness' were the main reasons I took him to the vet posthaste the first time; I was afraid he had torn something. I brought up this concern with the first vet but they said it was normal and just a result of the inflammation. To be fair to them, I suppose that with the puncture wounds/scrapes and all the swelling, it was difficult to tell that something else was up. Initially this new vet thought it to be dislocation but another round of x-rays showed that it wasn't, so ligaments seem to be the cause. We now have to see an orthopedist to get a further diagnosis. Which is of course going to cost more than I care to think about, but at this point I just want my boy to get better. The other vet says that it IS a good sign that T is using it and isn't in a ton of pain when it's moved around and that we might be able to get away with not doing surgery but there's no way to be sure. He also said the knot is just inflammation and could take a while to go down. I've tried icing it and using clay poultice (for horses) but both of these things are difficult to do and require someone to be home with him supervising. He does have a cone of shame, 2 actually, (one E-Z Cone) and one hard plastic but he cannot be alone with either. I am pretty sure I have the world's biggest idiot savant for a dog. He has figured out how to contort himself and stick his back foot inside of both cones; we went a size up in the plastic kind for this very reason. And he cannot be crated with the cones because he's a moron and manages to get himself stuck on everything with his cones. So it's off to the orthopedist we go. I will update this afterwards because they will without a doubt try to push surgery. On that front, the vet we just saw thinks he might do well with a hock brace to stabilize it. Does anybody have any experience with tarsal/carpal or any kind of braces for ligament injuries? Or with PT, for that matter? I'm hoping that with a brace and some cold laser/acupuncture/hydrotherapy, he can heal himself without needing a $3000 surgery that may bring mixed results.
So sorry you find yourself in this situation ,poor Teller.Did you ever establish the next morning what exactly he could have done? Not that it matters now xxx I hope you don't need to wait too long for your referral appointment and a recovery plan can be put in place to get Teller on the road to full recovery x
Sorry you are having this trouble, I hope it turns out to be not so serious and there is a straightforward plan for your dog. Having said that..... Probably with very good reason. A ruptured ligament does not heal - ligaments do not repair themselves like muscles do. A ligament with only minor damage is different, but a severely damaged ligament requires a surgical intervention of some sort.
I have a pitbull with the exact same thing going on. I have been googling like crazy and scared the crap out of myself thinking she has osteosarcoma. But it came on suddenly and hasn't changed in size. Was there ever a diagnosis for this?
Hi, I'm wondering too if Teller's mom ever got an answer on this. I have a lab with the identical swelling. Nothing seen on x ray. Referred to an orthopedist, and just wondering what to expect.
Is there any update please? I have a similar issue with my dog too. It's been 2 weeks and initial swelling has gone but left with this protruding hard lump. X-ray was fine just showed soft tissue swelling. Will this ever go back to normal?!
What ended up being the course of action with his hock injury? Our Black Lab has something very similar now and vets can’t figure it out as of yet. Thanks
My dog had a similar injury. It turns out he chipped his born by running and colliding into something.... a fragment of his bone came off and was floating near his hock bone... the inflammation was pushing on this bone into the skin. So when I touched his swollen hock it felt hard. You can get an operation done to remove the floating bone or if the fragmented bone is small enough it can dissolve by itself.
