My 3 year old Labrador starting limping on his front left leg at the beginning of January. The limping is mainly when he gets up from laying down. After he walks awhile it seems to go away. We took him to the vet after about 3 weeks because it was still occurring and they put him on Rimadyl and said for him to rest some (no walks or stairs). The Rimadyl didn't seem to help any. We waited a couple more weeks and took him back to the vet and had xrays taken (the vet moved his legs all around and checked him out and couldn't get any reaction out of him) and the vet couldn't find anything wrong with his bones (from the xrays). At that time, the vet said to go ahead and start walking him again. So, I did that for 2 days (1 mile walks) and his limping was even worse after laying down and getting up...so I stopped the walks. We are now 2.5 months in to this front leg limp of his. We have been crate resting him for almost 2 weeks (only letting out to potty on leash and eat). The vet didn't say to do this, we just decided to. He is a young Lab and has so much energy. We thought maybe he wasn't resting it enough, so this way he has no choice but to rest. If after these two weeks are up from the crate rest, if we are still noticing a limp, what would you recommend? Our vet was assuming it was a soft tissue injury (we could never pinpoint WHEN it happened though). Should soft tissue injuries take this long to heal? Anyone with experience with a front leg limp? I'm so worried!
I think you need to get a referral to a specialist. Oftentimes things don't show on x-rays and you will need an MRI. Specialists will have access to these. They can be expensive, so hopefully you have insurance! Limping which occurs on getting up and then goes away after a bit is a classic sign of arthritis. 3yo is quite early to have arthritis - but not impossible. It could also be a soft tissue injury. You really need to pursue a diagnosis in order to know what treatment is needed... ask your vet for a referral to an orthopaedic specialist.
Is the limp all the time? Reason i ask, my 5 month old has been limping for nearly two weeks now, but its only noticeable when she walks slowly. She acts like its nothing. She still runs and jumps even though we discourage her from doing that. She also plays rough with my 6year old Golden. I had the Vet check her, but no xrays and she did not respond to any touching or movements the vet made with her limbs trying to get a reaction. At this point she has been on an anti inflammatory med. I really haven't noticed any improvement. One minute she seems fine and the next she limps again. Really tough to diagnose. I too may look into a mri.
