My Golden Retriever Has A Very Bad, But Intermittent, Limp.

[Mobi]

My golden retriever, Cookie, who will be six years old in August, has suddenly developed an ‘intermittent’ lameness’ in her left front leg.

Yesterday I took her for a longish walk, when for most of the time she was off the lead, and after we returned home I noticed that she was limping very badly and favouring her left leg. I thought I detected a swelling up near the top of the leg but can’t be sure. She did not seem to be in any pain when I touched it.

This morning she still seemed almost as bad, limping badly, so this afternoon I took her to the vet.

When I let her out of the car at the vet, her limp seemed to have completely disappeared. I walked her into the surgery and she seemed to be completely normal. The vet watched her walk, felt her leg and said that nothing seemed to be wrong with her. He gave her an anti- inflammatory injection and I brought her back home, assuming that whatever had caused the problem had cleared up.

Imagine my surprise, when we had only been home for a short while and Cookie was once again limping very badly. Like yesterday, she is limping so badly that she hardly lets her left paw touch the ground when she walks. And she doesn’t want to walk – obviously.

I am totally perplexed. When we were at the vet her leg seemed fine but as soon as we came home, the problem has started again.

She is a well-bred dog, properly fed, very gentle and has hardly had a day’s sickness in 6 years.

I hope this isn’t the start of hip problems. Do these problems come and go in the early stages?

Any advice or ideas what I should do would be appreciated. Maybe I should take her to a different vet.

Thanks

[little_muppet]

dont worry about it. my dog, Clyde got exactly the same as u said about the limp and the vet ,(he is great dane).... he is now back to normal.

the cause of it from ur dog might hop or jump and land in the wrong position at the toe or something like that, plus ur dog is big so all her weight put the pressure on her leg that why she is limping. it take time for her to heal . it is impossible for us to stop the big dog putting the body weight on the injure leg.

hope this help u , dont worry too much :jap:

sorry about my english hope it wont confused u

[little_muppet]

ohh by the way, me and hubby think he pretend to be ok when we took him to the vet coz he scare of them lol. actually he is just a big puuf lol

[SweatiePie]

Mobi, its impossible for anyone to say what the problem is without seeing your dog so, with all due respect to Little Muppet, I would worry about it. It could be anything from a bruised or cut pad to a dislocation, chipped bone or trapped nerve - there is more than one reason for a limp!

If there is no sign of improvement soon go back to the vet (or another vet) and have another check done, preferably after you have walked her around for a few minutes outside the vet's first.

Its unlikely to be a hip problem if its a front leg!

[little_muppet]

ok sorry than, been there done that, I was worry alot too , and he is now back to normal.

[Mobi]

Mobi, its impossible for anyone to say what the problem is without seeing your dog so, with all due respect to Little Muppet, I would worry about it. It could be anything from a bruised or cut pad to a dislocation, chipped bone or trapped nerve - there is more than one reason for a limp!

If there is no sign of improvement soon go back to the vet (or another vet) and have another check done, preferably after you have walked her around for a few minutes outside the vet's first.

Its unlikely to be a hip problem if its a front leg!

Yes, of course how stupid of me - about the hip - I mean.

She seems much better today, but still limping a bit. Last night she was very bad.

I think I will leave it for 48 hours and see how she is. If there are still signs of a limp, I'll maybe try another vet.

She is probably about 3 kilos overweight, and hasn't had as much exercise as she should have had over the past few months. She didn't particularly over-exert herself the other day when the limp occurred but she was running around a bit and was exhausted by the time I got her back home. I can only assume she put something out when we were playing outside.

Her pad seems perfectly OK but I really don't know.

Thanks for the advice guys....

[BottleBlonde]

If not already done by yourself or the vet, then check her pads to make sure there is no obvious sign of anything stuck and also check inbetween for moisture as this can start off bacteria and infection and make it very painful for the dog to put weight on it. Inbetween the pads is the perfect place for fungi to grow as it can be kept moist and warm. If this were to be the problem then a short course of antibiotics will clear it up and extra vigilance required to make sure the area is kept dry. Good Luck!

[Mobi]

If not already done by yourself or the vet, then check her pads to make sure there is no obvious sign of anything stuck and also check in between for moisture as this can start off bacteria and infection and make it very painful for the dog to put weight on it. Inbetween the pads is the perfect place for fungi to grow as it can be kept moist and warm. If this were to be the problem then a short course of antibiotics will clear it up and extra vigilance required to make sure the area is kept dry. Good Luck!

Thanks for that...

I Have just checked her pads and they look to be in very good condition and I pressed and pushed hard on the pad of the lame leg and I didn't detect any reaction from her. So I guess that rules out pads as the cause.

She is much better today - maybe a slight limp this morning and no noticeable limp this evening. Yet last night she could hardly put her foot down.

I'll see how she goes over the next couple of days and try to restrict her exercise so that she doesn't aggravate whatever problem has been causing the limp.

I'm probably over-reacting on all this, but I've had her since she was a puppy and she such a dear,loving, gentle dog, never barks unless there is strange dog at the front gate and has become an integral part of my family.

She has had two little Shih Tzu 'friends' to live with for the past 3 years and they are the most comical pack you have ever seen. Cookie is so gentle with them but Shih Tzus never grow up, so they always want to play and the three go crazy sometimes running and frolicking and chasing each other in the garden and even in my living room

[SweatiePie]

Mobi, if its still coming and going rather than constant then it could well be a dislocation, caused as little muppet suggested. These can be hard to confirm but there should be an indication on an x-ray.

BottleBlonde, slightly off-topic but vets often prescribe Kezole/Ketoconozole for fungal infections here which is very effective; unfortunately some are unaware that this can occasionally cause liver damage in dogs or cats so they don't prescribe Silymarin/Samarin at the same time to counteract it.

[little_muppet]

My dane had that limping for about 3 weeks,i think because my dog is big and that why it heal slower than the smaller size dogs.