Strange injury... any thoughts?

[Matt322]

Hi all... this might get long-winded so I apologize in advance. Just want to make sure I don't leave anything out.

I got home from work yesterday and Maggie was outside watching me pull up the driveway and getting incredibly excited as usual. The fiance let her in the back door and she went tearing up the two steps to the main floor and straight to the front door to wait for me. After getting her pats and hellos from me, she went to lie down on her bed. A minute later she gets up and lets out a big yelp. At first I thought she was just sort of "talking", as she normally gets growly and talkative when I first get home. She then walked over to my fiance to get her butt rubbed and as she was getting her massage, she yelped again. At this point we decided something was up (my thoughts were dislocated hip) and we immediately got her into the back of the wagon and to the vet. She cried a bit getting into the wagon but settled down.

As we pulled into the vet she jumped right down out of the truck (I tried to lift her out and she wasn't having it)... no problem. No noticable limp. Vet watched me walk her up and down the hall; no problems with her gait whatsoever. He did a number of movements with her back leg and found nothing wrong. Rubbed her back hip and didn't get a peep out of her. He instructed us to give her a buffered aspirin that evening with some food in case she was feeling some discomfort.

We brought her back home and she was absolutely fine. Couldn't keep her settled down and she was running full-tilt around the house with no problems whatsoever. Seems to have a bit of an upset stomach from the aspirin (vet said she more than likely would; but she's got a sensitive stomach for the most part so it's not something that surprised us) but otherwise she seems fine.

Any thoughts on what might have happened? My thinking is her paws were wet and she went tearing back into the house and banged her butt/hip into either the side of the stove or one of the door frames and had a bit of discomfort for a while. Have any of you run into this sort of thing before? Again, I apologize for rambling so any thoughts from the people that are still awake would be appreciated...

[groupieindenial]

Maybe it was a muscle cramp?

[Matt322]

Originally Posted by groupieindenial

Maybe it was a muscle cramp?

That's about the only thing I could come up with... either that or just a bruise. Who knows? She seems fine now. $40 for my peace of mind from the vet, though. But it's worth it. I know I'd want somebody to get me to a doctor if I was hurt and couldn't drive.

[Ilovemypuppy]

Good for you getting the vet to check her without delay :o) It could very well be a sprain or cramp or bruise..just keep an eye on her for any other signs in that area...hoping all is well and stays that way !

Just in case it should happen again...I use Arnica Montana 30C or 30 X..it's a homeopathic remedy for bruising and sprains and isn't hard on the stomach..Three pellets as soon as possible after noticing a problem and three again in half an hour..then every four hours til improvement.

You can get this at any health food store and in some drug stores (here in Canada anyways). Of course, ALWAYS have the vet check right away to make sure it's nothing more serious. You can start the Arnica before seeing the vet though...if waiting for an appointment. The sooner the Arnica is given after the event, the better the results. As with all homeopathics..if they don't work..they do no harm. This particular remedy is excellent though. I keep it on hand all the time.....works the same way for humans too :o)

[Burnsway]

My dog did this exact thing before and my vet said some dogs will hide the pain especially at vets and among strangers. I would keep a real close eye on her and see if the limp comes back.

[flyballmom]

My first thought...well my second thought, since "knee" is always my first thought these days...but since she was doing fine so soon after...wondered what your weather is like? Could she have had ice/snow between her toes...or a sticker? I agree...keep an eye on her for a few days.

[cosmic]

Same symptoms on Joe was damage to his "intact" tail. He is not docked. We have no idea how he hurt it but it has a muscle running at the base. The sign was that he couldnt hold his tail in the arc, he could lift it but not hold it curled over his back. Took a couple of weeks to heal. Caused him to yelp when getting up or laying down cos he automatically tried to lift his tail. The vet said he probably just caught it when wagging. Worth having a look anyway?

[hmeadq]

One night after training we had a similar exprience. Yelping when you touched his sholder (looked bigger to). The trainer pointed it out.

Next day went to the vet, our trainer had talked to him about what she saw/felt the night before but the vet said nothing was wrong. But he said keep an eye on her for lameness because there are knee and sholder problems which show up as only intermittent problems.

Glad she is OK. (Will kids worry us as much as our dogs? )

[Matt322]

Well, she seemed fine when I got home last night. Very active and excited to see me and all that... tearing up and down the hallway playing with her stuffed gorilla. Jumped up on the couch to chill with me while I was reading the paper... no problems. Invited herself up onto the foot of the bed when Chrissy went to bed... jumped up with no issue at all. Took off down the driveway to investigate something this morning... ran full-tilt with no problems. I'm stumped.

We're definitely keeping an eye on her... the vet also told us that there's a possibility she was "showing off" and not showing any signs of it while she was there. But she hasn't shown us anything yet that makes me think anything is wrong right now.

And I may check into that Arnica Montana stuff... I had planned on going to the health food store sometime over the weekend because I wanted to get some fish oil for her as well. Thanks for the recommendation.