My lab/mut has a problem that no vet can seem to figure out. She has been limping severely for over 6 months now. She cannot walk at all on her left front leg. It almost looks to have no muscle left to it. She has been to many vets and had xrays and MRIs but they could not find anything. They thought it might be cancer but they could never confirm it. She seems to be really sensitive if you touch the leg/paw and she takes pain medication when she doesn't seem to be doing well. I have taken her to over 5 different vets and I just want to help her get better. I need help on what to do next. She had surgery on the leg and the first vet put a cast on when they thought it was just fractured. I think they might have caused her downward trend but I am not sure what is wrong with her. I have thought it might be neurological but I have no idea now. Thanks
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong Has she been referred to a specialist vet? For example one who specialises in orthopaedics and/or one in neurology?
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong You have my sympathy...Dyson been limping since before Christmas. X-rays clear,plenty of rest,painkillers, antiinflammatories now waiting to see specialist. Hope you find an answer. What about a specialist?
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong Poor dog. How old is she? I love the way you call her a lab/mutt. You clearly care for her very much. There are some very experienced people of this formum, hopefully they will have some useful suggestions for you. I can only offer you both my best wishes.
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong Definitely sounds like a trip to a specialist is in order. I hope they can then sort out the cause and get her on the road to recovery and better healthy. Lab/mutts are some of the best dogs! And they all get us wrapped around their paws so completely don't they? Best wishes on finding a solution.
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong Thank you for all of the support. She is about 7 years old now. She has not been referred to a specialists really. I have taken her to OSU which I thought was one of the top vet schools in the US but all they did was an MRI and didn't follow up on it. I am from OKC so I am not really sure if there are any that would be somewhat close to take her. One vet talked to her daughter who is going to vet school at Texas A&M but that didn't really seem to go anywhere either. She also went to physical therapy where she swam in a pool and got some type of injections. I can't think of them off the top of my head, but none of that seemed to help.
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong I'm in the US, and happen to work at one of the local universities that has a very strong vet med program (WSU)...out of curiosity I googled veterinary orthopedic surgeons in OKC....and got this link for you. http://veterinarysurgerycenter.com/ I would encourage you to work hard at being an advocate for the care of your dog...follow up relentlessly, ask a million questions.... and if money is a factor, look at alternative resources. My vet's office participates in an emergency care fund for procedures that are out of the normal range of things...and I'm sure there would be programs in your area similar. Good luck to you!!!
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong I am not a vet. My instant thought was something called compartment syndrome. That would certainly be top of my list in a human with similar presentation. There is a link here to nhs website for this condition in humans i don't know if it's a help....http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/compartment-syndrome/Pages/Introduction.aspx I hope you managed to find some help with this x
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong Thank you sunset and drjs. I will look into that vet. @drjs those symptoms look astonishing similar to the way she acts and from what I can tell. The only thing that blows my mind is about a month ago it seemed she was getting better. She wasn't whimpering in pain or needing pain meds. She even was going outside more and playing around with my other dog. However that only lasted a few weeks and before she reverted back to her being in pain. She has to lay in strange positions to get comfortable and she often won't lay down. I have found the report from OSU. Here is the recap if it helps anyone. Area: Diagnostic imaging MRI, Cervical Tissues K100503 Clinical sign: Left forelimb lameness Physical Exam findings: BAR, normal physical parameter List your tent. diagnosis and different diagnosis: possible nerve sheath tumor in area of left brachial plexus, proximal rac nerve RESULTS Findings: Scanning protocol included sagittal and axial T2W sequences, sagittal, axial, and dorsal plane T1W(pre and po contrast) and sagittal and dorsal plane STIR sequences. Contrast enhancement was provided by rapid IV injection of 2.5ml Prohance. The only abnormality noted is severe muscle atrophy of the entire left thoracic limb. No tumor masses or abnorr signals are seen Imaging diagnosis: Severe muscle atrophy only of the left thoracic limb. There is no indication of cause for this atrophy. Thanks
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong It was for her ACL. She has torn it on two separate legs on two occasions.
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong Poor thing Out my depth here. I guess the ACL was a good repair? Nerve conduction studies may help if possible in dogs?? At the end of the day you could pay $$$ and still not get her walking better. Maybe a veterinary physio would be more value for money than another specialist??
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong Hello and welcome, sorry to hear of your troubles. The ACL repair must have been to her hind leg? You said it was her front leg that is troubling her now though...
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong The first ACL repair seemed to be good. The second one didn't go as well in the end I don't think. A lot has been spent on her with no results and it just doesn't seem like it is worth money to just go around in circles without ever getting anywhere.
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong Yes. I am at university now so I don't get to see her much besides on breaks and it is all running together on all what has happened. I can check with my mom to see what was done for her to have a cast put on her front leg. The vet that put the cast on I believe is the reason for the troubles now. It went down hill after the cast was off. When I was home trying to come up with solutions I was touching her lower foot/paw area and that seemed to be where a lot of pain was, but I can not be certain on that. Also it seems her paw pad has become dry over time for some reason.
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong Alright, I am visiting home this weekend and am able to post more information. So after talking with my mother, it seems the two ACL surgeries have probably no correlation to her current injury. We took her to the first vet to look at her leg at the beginning before the symptoms worsened. They didn't know what was wrong with it and they put a cast/brace on her leg for over two weeks. I believe during those two weeks she lost a lot of muscle and it only got worse from there. We took her to several other vets and none of them could figure out what was wrong. She had physical therapy and acupuncture shots which did nothing at one vet. Her current vet believes it is related to nerves and she has said we could take her to Texas A&M and they would look at her to see if they could figure anything out from more tests. It seems that might be out of the question as it would be over $3,000 dollars for them to possible have the same response as OSU and not find anything or have a solution besides leave it be or amputation. So does anyone happen to have any further ideas or do you believe the best course would be to assume it is neurological related issues. The one strange event seemed to be over the summer she had a few weeks where she was a lot more active and seemed to be doing better, but then something seemed her to revert back to where she is today again. Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the comments.
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong My mother said the last vet believed that it could be possibly sciatic nerve problem. Here is two pictures of her
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong Has she had anyone look at her spine? The only reason I ask is that I did an introduction to hydrotherapy course a few years back at a really good hydrotherapy centre her in the UK, we learnt a few things about the causes of lameness and different conditions eg. Hip/elbow dysplasia and ACL etc. One of the causes of unexplained forelimb lameness can be problems with the spine. If she's not had that looked at I would suggest that might be a place to start? Also get a referral to a good orthopaedic vet as they are more set up to deal with this sort of thing than a regular vet.
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong I am very sorry your finding it so difficult to get a diagnosis for your dog it must be very worrying and frustrating for you. I'm afraid I dont think I can help but I'm just picking up on what you said about it possibly being to do with the nerves in her leg. I don't know about the sciatic nerve but when she walks does she catch the top of her foot on the ground before she puts it down ? If you carefully bend her paw/toes back so she is standing on the top of her paw does she very quickly flick it back the right way or will she stand with her paw like that even for a short time? If she does catch the top of her foot when walking and will stand with her paw bent that is a sign of a nerve problem. My old lab had this in his back legs when he got old. I think it is common in old age but could be possible for a number of reasons. This condition has a name but unfortunately I can't remember what it is but those are the tests for it and easy enough for you to try. Sorry I can't be of more help but I hope your able to find out what's wrong very soon.
Re: No vet can figure out what is wrong When she had the MRI's done they were supposed to do a few more images but they did not. Of course to do more afterwards they wanted to charge a few thousand dollars more. I am beginning to think it might be related to nerves from the feedback. When she walks she tends to have the paw on the lame leg bent back and it seems to almost drag. She never puts weight on it. She doesn't really let you touch it at all either which makes it difficult. But when she does walk around it does seem to be bent back like crooked.
