He pulls up 1 leg while walking fast/running - Advice?

[Toaster]

Stogie, my mini dox who is about a year & half, has started pulling up his left rear leg when he walks fast or runs... Like he's limping...

When we examine the leg, nothing seems odd or unusual... He doesn't seem tender, or fragile there or near there in anyway. I can touch the leg, rub the leg, the muscles - everything. He seems "normal" except when he walks or runs.

Do Dachshunds do this? or should I take him for an x-ray?

 

[BostonBanker]

My friend had a Chihuahua who did this. I believe it is a problem with the patella that is genetic and common in small dogs. I don't know much else about it, but I bet if you google patella and "small dog" you'll get some information. I would certainly ask your vet about it.

 

[bubbatd]

Doxie's backs can get screwed up .... or it could be hips. I'd vet for your own peace of mind .

 

[Toaster]

We took Stogie to his vet yesterday... Here was our results (so far)

Both the Nurse and the DR's initial thought was it might be a displaced knee cap, he showed us on a model that a canine knee cap sits in this little grooved area, and on bigger dogs the ridges for the groove or knee cap canal is much more defined than on a smaller dog. (smaller dog = smaller ridges = smaller knee cap groove). They both felt around and said they couldn't feel that the knee cap was out of socket or out of place in anyway.

He tried to manipulate Stogie's leg and joint, he said he didn't feel anything out of place, and Stogie never made a sound while he was being examined, pulled and stretched...Make no mistake about it, Stogie was scared stiff - trying to climb onto me or my wife, but never barked in pain, or cried or anything like that. The DR said he couldn't feel any slippage in his joints, bones or knee cap - and said those are all good signs. Yes there could still possibly be a more drastic problem, and of course he (Stogie) was nervous and tense, especially after they stuck the thermometer up his butt... and the only way to tell 100% for sure was to sedate him, re-do the exam while he was "limp", and/or eventually x-ray him. The DR advised against that at this stage.

He (the Dr) felt it is most likely a bruised ligament (he called it something, I forgot), which keeps the 2 bones in his hind legs together and prevents them from sliding around on each other. He thought the ligament is either 1) bruised/strained in some way, most likely from him jumping up/down in the house - on the couch, chairs, beds, etc. or 2) it could be that the ligament is blown or damaged badly - which is much more serious, but based on what he felt and saw in Stogie - He didn't think that was the case... most likely just a bruise or strain on that ligament.

The DR gave Stogie RIMADYL, which he explained is kind of like Doggie Aspirin. Its an Anti-Inflamatory drug that should help with pain and hopefully let that ligament heal on its own.. The poster on the wall in the exam room also showed that Rimadyl is a medicine for Arthritis in dogs too... He was pretty sure we'd see an improvement in Stogie in about a week or less, but he gave us a 20 day supply of medicine (which is half a tablet/biscuit every day for 20 days or until he stops limping - whichever comes first). Try to limit his activity right now as best we can, keep him from jumping - especially DOWN as that where the majority of the damage can occur - landing. If he's not better in 7-10 days to check back with him, but if Stogie isn't all better in the 20 days, he will want to sedate him and give him an x-ray to see exactly whats going on in there. But again, he felt pretty strongly that it's a minor injury, self inflected albeit accidental, and that the magical powers of Stogie's youth will help him heal...

This vet has been our vet for the last couple of animals we've had (2 dogs), and we like him and his staff. He said he'd rather error on the side of over medicating his patient since he (stogie) can't tell him how he feels, or what hurts, etc... I kind of liked that statement. I mean how do you diagnose something like this without putting the dog through extreme measures - Like sedating him, x-raying him, etc... I guess time will tell... Hopefully he'll get better on these med's and be good as new in a week or so.

-Stogie's Daddy

 

[bubbatd]

Thanks for the update !!! Keep us posted !

 

[skyeboxer]

Toaster,

That was a great and interesting post. Thank you for taking the time to be so detailed. I hope Stogie's back to normal with the Rimadyl.

 

[Shalva]

if this does not clear up relatively easily you might find out if dachshund will hitch like beagles do I don't know if they do or not....
you might also want to check for diskospondylitis.
It is an infection in the spinal vertebrae and can cause that hitching like behavior. My first reaction was also patella.... and keep in mind that ifthe dog is tense the muscles can hold an otherwise luxating patella in place simply because the dog is stressed and tensed up.....
hopefully he just pulled himself and that is it...... it will heal up and no worries....
S

 

[Toaster]

UPDATE:

Well, Stogie obviously is not reacting well to the Rimadyl. He's been incredibly tired and sleepy. I contacted the Vet again today, and he told me to STOP THE RIMADYL. One of the side effects is the dog being tired, sleepy, lazy or lethargic... He told me to stop giving him that pill as it is obviously working or doing something to his nervous system. :yikes:

He told me to come in and get some pain meds that he's going to cut into quarters for Stogie (since he's so small - only <9lbs) and give him these to keep him out of pain.

I explained to him that Stogie doesnt seem to show me any signs of pain, except that limp. You can pull, prod, poke, rub, stretch and touch that leg and he doesnt show any signs of being upset or show any signs of pain. Its obvious that I'm pissing him off by messing with him, but no evidence of pain (whining, whimpering, crying, agreesive biting, or anything like that when touching that leg)

He plays, jumps, runs... no issues. I'm comparing it to Human behavior... when my leg hurts I'm careful not to fly/run down the stairs, I'm real tender and gentle walking up/down street curbs... that kind of thing... not him. He jumps up/down on the couch like its nothing. Never hesitates, flinches - nothing... he just limps when he walks on that leg. He still runs, he even pulls me around the block when we're out for a walk on the leash... but he does limp on that left rear leg while walking at a slow pace.

I asked the Vet, did he think we were chasing a wild ghost? (ie: looking for a problem when none exists) he didn't feel that was the case, he said he's (stogie) is so young, if he's limping - somethings wrong. I asked if its a Dachshund thing for them to limp? He said no. He said the only time you see that kind of behavior in a dog is when (for example) the dog might wear a splint for a while, then after he gets the splint off - the dog still limps because he's been limping WITH the splint for so long... This is only week 5 of the limping for Stogie, and he didn't think it was "in grained"... he thinks something must be wrong.

So he told me to come in a make an appointment to drop Stogie off on an empty stomach one morning, so he can sedate Stogie and take x-ray's, and give him a more complete physical exam while he's out and sedated. That way he's not working against the tensed up muscles, etc. and he can position him the way he wants, etc... If Stogie is jumping, running, pulling, et... I doubt an x-ray is going to show him anything wrong with his bones? He wont see any tissue or ligament stuff with an xray? He added that if he doesn't see anything wrong after this step - he'd have to refer me (stogie) to an orthopedic specialist

What do you guys think? Should I go this route and let the vet sedate him and take xrays, etc... or take him to another vet for another opinion?
DESPERATELY SEEKING ADVICE HERE.

 

[bubbatd]

If you like this vet , I'd go for it . If you question ...I'd get a second opinion .

 

[Saje]

The pain meds might be able to tell you if the problem is actually because he is in pain or because of something mechanical. If he takes the meds and stops limping it's a pain problem but if he still limps on the meds it's something else like the way the limb is aligned. Just a thought.

I hope you figure it out!

 

[IliamnasQuest]

Since you're not dealing with something that appears to be life-threatening, I'll tell you what I would do if I were in your situation.

I would rest my dog. That means NO running, NO jumping off of things, NO running up and down the stairs. All walking would be on-leash only. Inside the home he would be confined so that he couldn't be jumping on furniture. I wouldn't give him anything for pain - in part because a little discomfort may help keep him from overdoing it. And I'd give it a few days to see if there's any difference.

What it sounds like your vet was describing - a torn or pulled ligament - is something that will only heal if the dog allows it to heal. If your dog is still jumping on and off of furniture and running around, it's likely that any healing will be very slow. The potential for continuing to injure it is high if the dog isn't confined and made to stay quiet for awhile. I know it's not easy - but at least you have a tiny dog. I've had to do this with BIG energetic dogs.

You said that he's been limping for five weeks - that's a long time for an injury. Your initial description sounded much like a luxating patella, and it may still be what it is. You said that he was tense at the vet's, and that can mean that his muscles were tightened up to the point where it would have been difficult to truly assess the looseness of the joints. Sedation would help that, of course, and x-rays would help diagnose or rule out certain conditions. But I always like to avoid sedation on my dogs when I can, and I would try the "rest and confinement" method first.

On the rimadyl - this is a drug that should be used with high caution. I do use it on occasion if necessary, but be aware that a number of dogs have died with the use of this med. With your dog's reaction to it, you may want to consider a blood profile to see if his liver has been affected. Your vet should have told you about the potential side effects. You can do a search on "rimadyl problems" or "rimadyl dangers" to find out more. Hopefully Stogie is acting normal again. I would also be careful with any meds given as pain meds - research the potential side effects and make sure you are prepared to recognize any problems.

Good luck -

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

 

[Red_ACD_for_me]

Toaster,
Any lameness can be a sign of lyme disease to, you should have the vet take a blood sample to rule that out Do you walk him in any areas where he could have picked up a tick??

 

[Toaster]

Thanks for the all input... Here's whats going on to this point, and what my wife and I decided we'd like to try and do.

Right now he's not on ANYTHING. I never went and picked up the pain meds for him, because we are worried about his small size. Even small doses of things can have big affects on him because he's only less than 9lbs. So we wanted to see what happens off the rimadyl completely for a few days, without pumping him up with something else immediately after. So far (couple of days), he's back to normal... not sleeping as much, energenic, playful - back to being Stogie

He's still limping, no change there. Still no apparent signs of pain, except the limp.

He stays confined in his crate quite a bit anyway. He's crated when we are not home, and sometimes while we are home when no one can keep an eye on him... (this has helped tremendously in housing training him too, fyi). We can try and keep him confined or relaxing as much as possible, but honestly, he does that alot. He's much more of a lap dog, than anything else. He lives to be pampered. And sits on one of the family while we are watching tv or whatever... Like I said, best description I can give of this is, he's a lap dog.

As for the ticks and walking, we don't live in or near rural area's... we live in a major city (Arlington) between Dallas and Ft Worth, in a surburban neighborhood where its fairly populated, about 8 to 10 ft properly line between each home on our block. We walk up the street about a block, and back at least once or twice a day, and any other bathroom walks are done in our yard only. I would say NO TICKS, but I mean I can't rule that out completely. Now, we do have several dogs and cats in our neighbor hood... probably more than one in every-other house... some big, some small.... So I guess it could be possible that he got a tick, but unlikely. One we never outside for more than 10-15 minutes I would guess... And he's a short haired dox, and its EASY to see anything on him. And like I said before, he's a lap dog, so he's played with, held and examined quite a bit every day - HOWEVER: I will make sure and check him THOROUGHLY today while giving him a bath...

My concern and confusion is, he's not showing any signs of pain - except the limping. He behaves like normal, even though he limps. He doesnt shy away from ANY activity... he still runs, jumps, plays, runs up stairs, down stairs, on the couch, off the couch..etc.. NO CHANGE from before or after the limp started... I would have to think IF he was suffering from a hip (patella?) problem, something in his behavior would have changed??? Maybe he would be less likely to want to jump off the couch, or run INSANELY after that squeeking rubber toy.. but he's normal in all regards - Except that limp when walking slowly or at a brisk pace. I can't tell if he's limping when he's running, he's too fast. :lol-sign:

 

[Toaster]

Oh, and I guess I should add... While I do like the vet, I want to make sure he knows what he's doing. And I trust the many opinions of the many people here vs the single opinion of one guy.

 

[Dreeza]

i dont agree with over medicating. I think dogs are a lot better at dealing with pain then we are.

Oakley does something similar...he will bunny hop though...he will lift up one of his back legs from anywhere btwn 1-2 paces to liek more than 10. When he does this, he is still running full speed...just on 3 legs. Doesnt affect him whatsoever.

not saying this is the same issue as your dog,
but our vet told us not to worry about it if it isnt affecting him. Just to keep an eye on it for changes, obviously. It may be an issue that may only be solved with surgery later on, but i am not going to stop Oakley from running...he loves it waaay too much.

 

[PoodleMommy]

Hey,

I just saw this post and wish I had seen it earlier and been able to help you.
If I were you, I would go ahead with the xray.

My Elle was doing the same thing... she would act fine all the time, but then when she would run or walk for too long she would hold her leg up. We took her to the vet, who thought she was fine, but wanted to do xrays just in case. We found out she had luxating patellas and a torn cruciate ligament. Her holding her leg up, was how she was trying to manipulate her knee cap back into place on her own. This is serious and can lead to great pain for the dog if not fixed. She had surgery and is now good as new, can run and jump with no pain.

I was also leary about putting her under just for an xray... but it is really best when you do not know what is wrong.

If you have any further questions please PM me, as I dont really check the boards much and I dont want to miss you questions.

Good Luck

Elissa

 

[Corgimom]

Stogie, my mini dox who is about a year & half, has started pulling up his left rear leg when he walks fast or runs... Like he's limping...

When we examine the leg, nothing seems odd or unusual... He doesn't seem tender, or fragile there or near there in anyway. I can touch the leg, rub the leg, the muscles - everything. He seems "normal" except when he walks or runs.

Do Dachshunds do this? or should I take him for an x-ray?

Hi Toaster,

I also have a little black and tan mini Doxie, 4 years old. I've seen mine also hold up a hind leg every once in a while while on a walk or after he's jumped off a step. His is more like a skip now and again. I've also worried that something is wrong and then he just walks normally again so I figure that it was just something caught somewhere inside his paw (a piece of sand, small rock, or something) He doesn't do it as much anymore. In my opinion it could just be a quirk that mini doxies have.

As long as he's not in pain I wouldn't worry.