Hi all, My 6 month old pupster has been on a no exercise, complete rest for almost two weeks now. Vet has told us its possibly his elbows or his shoulders that are causing the problem as he is slightly limping, and even after this rest he's not improved. Puppy is in no pain, far as we can tell, and still wants to play (like they all do!) Half way through rest period, he got a very upset tummy so had to take him off Metacam so it's hard to say whether it is a pulled muscle or not. Now he's back on med and rest for another week, we're all going a bit stir crazy!! We've booked him in for an x ray next week, just to make sure it's not a congenital defect or something....has anyone else had something similar? Hope we're not overreacting but need my gorgeous boy better! Any advice helpful ☺
Hi Jo and welcome to forum. I'm maybe not the best person to allay your fears as we had a similar story with our Lilly around the same age. Our vet thought it was an elbow issue and sent us to a specialist for surgery only to find out when she was fully assessed that she had bilateral hip dysplasia, quite severe at that. She did not however have surgery but a prolonged period of antiinflammatories and is still going strong coming up for 8 year old without any surgery planned at all.. What I think is really important and why I have chipped in early is to say how important it is to gt a diagnosis as early as possible. In our case, rest was totally not the right thing....at least not the several weeks she had had at that point. She needed strengthening exercises and regular consistent walks. At the end of the day, getting assessed, knowing the facts, getting a plan, looking forward I think is really important here. I hope for you it is just a soft tissue strain. If not, you will get there. Knowledge is power, it's the uncertainty that is difficult. Keep us updated. Jac
Hi Jo and welcome to the forum. It's a bit worrying that the limp is still there after two weeks, so I think the x-rays are a good idea. At least you will know what you're dealing with then. If it happens to be the worst case scenario, don't panic; we have several members on here whose dogs have ED and still manage to live full and active lives. There is a wealth of experience for you here. In the meantime, I would continue to keep him as quiet as possible - difficult with a young dog, I know! This thread might give you some ideas of games you can play to tire out his brain: https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/things-to-do-for-dogs-on-restricted-exercise.10654/
Hi Jo, thought I'd chip in as I'm one of those members with a dog with ED. Our limp started at 5 months and responded to rest and Metacam. The limp reappeared 2 months later and our vet booked x-rays for 2 days later which when reviewed by a specialist reviewed our problem. Like @snowbunny I would be concerned that there is still a limp after two weeks of rest. Also if your pupster still has a slight limp the fact is he experiencing some level of pain . Our dogs are extremely stoic and only start to limp when it is really hurting. Lots at brain games and short training sessions will help with the restricted exercise until you have the x-rays and a diagnosis.
