limping a little

[Hope]

I posted a similar problem recently when my rotti Max come up limping one weekend after spending the day with my roomate's not so kind kid. While the radiographs supposedly did not show elbow dysplasia, and he has been on rimadyl for a few weeks, I notice that he still limps sligthly after long walks or after being on his feet for londer periods of time. If the original injury was actually a torn muscle or something, as my vet was beginning to think, how long would something like this take to heal? I am thinkin that maybe I have pushed Max to hard too quickly. He has only been on the meds for two and a half weeks. Otherwise, the meds stopped the bad limping almost immediately. The limp he gets now is very minor, to the point that it is barely noticeable, and it only last for a few hours. But, i am still concerned.

I am thinking that Max may need a bone scan, as my vet suggested after a month or meds for the dog if he was still limping. Does anyone have any info as to how much this costs and what this can tell us? I am almost sure there is still something wrong, but I think it could be because I am not giving him the time to heal. Any adivce would be appreciated.

[ed kendall]

How old is Max?

[Hope]

Ed:
Max is just closing in on two years of age. About a year ago I had radiographs of his hips done, but there were no signs of any problems. While my vet initially believed she saw signs of dysplasia on his recent elbow radiographs, she left it up to the specialist to decide. He came back as saying that the radiographs do not show any definitive signs of dysplasia. But, the specialist did mention to my vet that sometimes signs of dysplasia are not picked up on radiographs eventhough the dog may indeed have such a medical problem.

While my dog initially felt pain when my vet stressed his elbow to test how he was responding to pain, one week later, he no longer showed any signs of pain when the elbow area was pushed and proded. And believe me, she really tried hard to get a response out of him, but no pain that time. But, he was still limping, and then she gave my the rimadyl. Two days later, he completely stopped limping. But, now that I am back to longer walks, he limps just slightly, and in no time at all, the limp is gone. Could I be pushing him to hard too fast?

By the way, the fact that he responded so well to the rimydal, does this indicate that he does have some sort of joint problem? Isnt rimydal only presecribed for such problems, or would this medication have any type of use for trained or torn muscles? By the way, Max is not overweight at all and he never showed any signs other than limping, and that was only after he was unfortunately left alone with demon child too long. He never has stiffness after walks or anything.

I hope this information is detailed enough to give you an idea of what is up with my baby. Unfortunately, not even my vet knows exactly what is wrong with him, so I would like to know about this bone scan idea since I have never heard about it. Sorry this turned into a novel.

[Codys ma]

You may be pushing too much too soon. Typically, if my dog has any kind of joint injury I keep him basically off of it for 4-6 weeks. Rather than taking one or two long walks a day take three to four 15 minute walks. Also, you can give him a couple Ascriptin before the walk. You can find it at the drugstore in the aspirin aisle and it is coated with maalox so it's gentle on his tummy. Be careful though, because he will probably feel pretty good and want to overdo it, so you will still need to keep activity limited until he is completely healed. If he needs more exercise, try to find someplace to take him swimming. It is wonderful exercise and easy on the joints.

No rough play, and nothing off leash if your dog gets excited and needs to run/jump to burn off excess energy.

Rimadyl is (I believe) an anti-inflammatory/pain killer. Research has shown that prolonged use can cause liver damage and most people prefer to use it as a last resort. If the pain is mild to moderate, Ascriptin or something similar should do the trick.

Good luck and let us know how he is.

Kim

[Hope]

Oh, no. I did not know that he had to be so reserved in his play for such a time. It looks like he could be overdoing it. I will definitely keep him under my eye and cut the longer walks down again for another couple of weeks. He did fool me by getting so much better after he started the medicine.

I did not know that rimydal is short term medicine. He is only on it for a month. Thanks for the info on the ascriptin. Is this medication safe for long term use?