# Diagnosing Limping



## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Does anyone have any good sites that tell you how to diagnose exactly where a dogs leg/foot/shoulder is injured? I'm sure I've read somewhere that if the head is bobbing it means it's the shoulder or upper leg and if the head is still it means it's somewhere else.
And, yes, it's my turn, my dog is broken. 
The other half took Mol up the road last night without a leash, (don't even ask ok, I could have throttled him, but he's had a stroke so he can't defend himself). Mol of course thought this was heaven and took off chasing rabbits for about 30 minutes then came limping home.
She is putting weight on it, but limping very badly and her head is bobbing.
I'm resting her, had icepacks on her leg, manipulated it, checked the pads and between the toes, massaged, checked the bones, but I can't find any particular place where she flinches or shows any sign of pain, no swelling or hot areas either. 
Which, leads me to think she's pulled a muscle or something in her shoulder. It is definitely hurting somewhere though as she gives me her paw when I ask her what's wrong and looks at me pathetically.
We'll be off to the vet tomorrow morning if it doesn't make a drastic improvement. 
Big, huge Sigh.


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

Oh no! Poor Mol. Wish I had some insight... hope that she's feeling better soon. I bet she thinks those 30 minutes of chasing rabbits was totally worth it, though.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

wow. this has simply GOT to stop. 

i just started looking things up about limping....and what i got was this.

if not better in two days or seems like it's getting worse, go to the vet for x rays.

not helpful, i know. 

i hope all is better, though. and soon, damn it.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Thanks you guys. 
This is the first time in over 5 years she and I did not go walking this morning. I feel like my right arm has been cut off.
I'm now down to thinking she's hurt her ankle or something. She had her shoulder all stretched out when she was lying down before and I'm sure if that was hurt she'd be keeping it hunched over or something. 
So, in other words, I don't have a bloody clue what the hell she's done.
And, yes, unless she has a miraculous recovery tonight, we are off to the vet first thing. I hope like hell it's not a ligament or tendon.


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

I'm going to think really good thoughts and hope Molly is better in the morning. I'll bet she had a good old time with those rabbits and would do it again if given the opportunity.

Bad girl.


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## xellil (Apr 4, 2011)

For over a year, Rebel had an intermittent limp in his front leg - his head bobbed a little bit and the vet decided it was in his elbow. It came and went and came and went and sometimes it was slight and sometimes it was pretty severe and he would do like Molly - sit there with his leg up staring at me pathetically. It would always happen after lots of exercise, like at the dog park. Our last six months in Indianapolis we rarely went because he always came up limping afterward.

About three months ago it went away and it hasn't returned even though he is running much, much more now than he ever did at the dog park. I guess whatever it was healed.

I hope whatever Molly has isn't something like that, and that it heals the first time. I bet the vet, if you go, wants to put her on those antiinflammatories and pain meds.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Funny you should say that because thats what I've been thinking xellil, I was going to start looking up what medications I anticipate they will give me to see what the side affects are. And, she won't be taking pain pills at all, and I'm going to look into the anti inflammatory as I'm not sure if I want her to have those either. 
By the way, I've narrowed it down to her ankle or wrist or whatever it's called on dogs. During her tearing around she must have tripped over a sprinkler hole or something, so I would say she's sprained her ankle. Rest, ice, elevation and I'm going to look into compression bandages, although it doesn't appear swollen at all.
Luckily Mol does a lot of running and walking everyday so she should have pretty good muscle tone, but it also means enforced rest for a while is going to be hell. That was great about Rebel, he must have done something similar somewhere along the way.
Oh, and yes, she probably does think that chasing those rabbits and hearing her father get his ear chewed off by me was well worth a week or so's forced rest!


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

Personally I give my guys a few days to start recovering from a muscle strain. I use massage - large firm circles in the area affected and around it, turmeric for inflammation, cold and warm packs alternated. Lots of enforced rest. They seem to bounce back and in two to three days I start seeing improvement - in a week they are almost 100% depending on the extent of the injury.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Thanks Liz. Maybe I am over reacting. It's just that Mol is a real little bruiser (thats what a guy running past us the other morning called her) and she's never been sick or injured, so to see her limping so badly and just lying around is a reality check.
I'm going to reassess her in the am and she how she's going.
I've been massaging and using the cold packs, (I'm a great believer in massage), now I'll start adding in warm packs and I'll go to the health shop tomorrow and ask for turmeric as well. Really do appreciate your advice.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

when you get the turmeric, ask for curcumin.....it's the source from which turmeric comes.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

How is Molly doing? 

Front legs aren't quite as "scary" as rear legs as far as injuries go. Sounds like it could be up in her shoulder....

And I would personally just rest her and do what you've been doing so far as well as some of the other holistic methods mentioned here as well. A good anti inflammatory med would be good if you have one, just to get swelling down in the injury. 

Your vet will most likely want to take xrays to see if anything is wrong, but to be honest shoulder injuries are harder to diagnose via xray...not to mention the positioning for taking the films are uncomfortable for dogs. Either she will struggle for it or they'll require you to sedate her for them. Either way not ideal. I'd give it the rest of the week with serious bed rest. NO jumping, running, etc. ONLY leashed walks outside to go potty, then straight back into a kennel or small confined location. If it is a torn something, its not the end of the world to let it go a bit before diagnosing/fixing. But if its not a torn something and just a pulled muscle...waiting it out saves her the discomfort of xrays or risk of sedation. 

You could also try and find a vet that does acupuncture/massage/laser therapy and just go that route. I'd highly recommend it...regardless of what you do. Even if she seems back to normal, the injury is still there and can easily be reinjured. Most people let their dogs back to normal activity too soon and the dog reinjurs itself. 

Keep us posted!


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Thanks Natalie, really appreciate your advice. 
She's still limping really badly. I've done a bit of gentle flexing and it's definitely her wrist. Started alternating ice and heat but couldn't get out today to get the tumeric/curcumin that Liz recommended (I found a leak in the shower plumbing upstairs which was a pain in the arse to fix), but I'm shooting down there tomorrow. 
She's got an appointment at the vet tomorrow morning, and, going by what you said, I'll hold off getting x-rays and stuff for a week and see if it makes a good improvement in that time. If it doesn't improve, I'll revisit it then. 
And, yes, I will look and see if I can find an acupuncturist/massage/laser therapy place around here. Mol is too young, too active and too tough to be taken down by an injury at this stage of life. I'm heartened though that she's putting weight on it, thats a relief of sorts.
Thanks again!


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Went to the vet this morning, and we were right, she has sprained her wrist. So, she's on an anti-inflammatory and enforced rest for the next week to ten days. My vet said we'll only take x-rays if it hasn't improved in a week. 
I really do like him a lot, it's such a pity he's not thrilled about Mol's diet.
So, yes, it's going to be hard trying to keep her quiet. When I took her out to pee this morning, she was pulling so hard to try and go for a walk, but, we'll cope.
Thanks everyone for your help and concern.


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

Oh man, well I hope Molly's feeling better soon so there's no need for x-rays. Keep us updated, I guess since it's her wrist you can't give her puzzles to play with to keep her occupied?


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

good luck keeping her quiet. LOL

i'm really glad, though, it's not serious.


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## MollyWoppy (Mar 19, 2010)

Update:

Mollie is doing great! I am so happy and relieved. We went for our first decent slowish walk this morning (2 miles), all her other walks have been very short and very, very slow. She hasn't shown any signs of limping this morning, but we're still going to be taking it easy for another week or so.
And, it has been driven home, again, just how much dogs need exercise. Holy $hit, walking her this morning was like crocodile wrangling. Talk about being hyper reactive to every single thing in the world, she had the attention span of a blimin jellyfish, even tried to jump up on the balustrade of the bridge, treats didn't work, I got a bit annoyed with her actually, but like the champ I am, didn't end up throttling her.
But, thank you for all your concern and well wishes, it looks like there's been no harm done.
Looks like I'll be back on Workoutrageous tomorrow.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

happy endings are my favourite.


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## IslandPaws4Raw (Sep 7, 2011)

Oh my gosh! How did I miss this tread? I'm so sorry Moll hurt herself...and VERY relieved that she's doing fine now.......well apart from losing her mind during her convalescence 
I can only imagine how difficult it was for you both not to have your daily routine.


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## catahoulamom (Sep 23, 2010)

Yay! glad all is gonna be ok after all. Don't be too much of a pain, Molly!!!


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