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Update: German Shepherd Diesel.
I would like to receive your advice regarding my German Shepherd, Diesel, who has developed a limp. His limp has gotten a little bit better, but sometimes he will limp very badly. I have limited his activity and made sure he isn’t putting any unnecessary stress on the foot. I’ve located the source of his discomfort, which is on his right rear ankle, and it is swollen. There’s no apparent injury to his paw, and I’m concerned it could be a sprain or even a fracture. He was running around in the house on porcelain tiles playing ball, and I noticed him limping on one of his runs. I’m unsure whether to proceed with an x-ray or to monitor his condition for a few more days. Your professional opinion on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your time and attention to Diesel’s situation.
I took my German Shepherd Diesel to a small airport near my house that is all desert (southern Nevada) on 8/17/2024.
He was running and chasing rabbits and was just fine. He is a very healthy dog, 8 years old, and has never had any health issues, not even hip dysplasia. He doesn’t have the common sloping back/angulation in GSDs, but a straight back, which is probably why he doesn’t have hip dysplasia. Anyway, today and yesterday, he started showing signs of limping on his rear right leg, which was much more visible today. He is hardly putting any pressure on the foot, often lifting it up. I gave him some carprofen for pain and inflammation. I trimmed his nails, because they were a little long and it looked like they were pushing up his toes and could have been the source of discomfort. It didn’t seem to help. Since we were in the desert, I checked for any injuries from the rough terrain and for cactus needles. No sign of any, but I am still very concerned. What should I do?
Intermitent Limp
Hello, one of my dog has a limp on her hind right leg that only occurs minutes after she gets up after lying down for a long period of time.
When she gets up her leg won’t touch the ground while standing up or walking.
In just a few minutes, she’ll touch the ground again, run, and jump with no sign of pain, but every time she gets up it’s the same thing, several times a day.
I’ve squeezed her leg all the way, and moved it around and she shows no pain or injuries,
Hello,
Any degree of limping that lasts for more than a few days should be seen by a veterinarian. The only exceptions to this is a dislocated hip which should be seen immediately to try to put it “back in the socket”. Infection is the other thing I worry about. There is usually wound and most often pets are quiet and not eating well.
The most common knee injury we see that causes limping is a cruciate rupture. You will need a vets help to diagnose this.
Hello! I have a 14 month Bernese Mountain dog who has been limping for quite a while now. He started off with lameness shifting over all 4 legs, but now he is just lame in the front left. It’s constant and gets worse when he runs about and will hold his leg up. He doesn’t whine and it doesn’t prevent him from activities. I’ve reduced his walks to lead walks, and even reduced his walking to see if that helps but it hasn’t made a difference. He’s had an x ray of all four limbs, checking for hip and elbow dysplasia and his legs and joint all look good with no issues… We’ve been advised this is growing pains, which we suspected and heard is quite common in young large breed dogs. However, this lameness has been going on for a more than a couple of weeks and no sign of it getting better. Checked his paw pads and in between to see if there is anything stuck. No heat or swelling or cuts anywhere. Anyone else experienced prolonged lameness with no obvious source? Or any advise as to how I could identify a source? I’m just concerned something’s been missed as it’s been going on for a long time.
Not a vet, but someone who was heavily invested in Doberman breed education. We see this a lot in Dobermans fed puppy diets (not large breed puppy_. What are you feeding, and is it an adult or All Life Stages food? Have you consulted an ortho vet?
Hello, on christmas day, I found a cat outside in the rain/cold. He was extremely skinny, I could see/feel every bone in his body, he was shivering & crying. I brought him in. & bathed him & fed him. He has put on some weight since then & is all around an amazing lovable cat. Yesterday he started limping on his front paw. I am pretty sure it is sprained from playing with my much larger full grown cat. I keep feeling it & do not feel anything out of place/”crunchy” & it does not seem to be swollen. I have been putting an ice pack on his leg 2x a day for 15 mins at a time. Times are tough right now & I can not afford vet cate at the moment. I just need advice on what I can do to help him. My children and I have grown very attached to him & he is the sweetest most cuddly boy.
My rescue dog Copper he is amazing, protective and overall a huge part of my familys life. He looks like he has dachshund in hin the length reminds me. Recently we started seeing a limp in his back left leg. He has not been hurt at all. I thought maybe a sprain from playing he does get wild with the neighbors bigger pup. So we gradually notice it getting worse over the week hes limping and the muscle has all gone. I have been walking him maybe gain some back he wont even put pressure on his back leg. Its been a couple weeks and we come home and there is blood comong from his genital when the part comes out. It seems as if he has no control o er it anymore. My heart is hurting and i dont want to put him down he is only 2 years old but he seems missreable. He does not speak it (cry) but the look in his eyes tells me everything i need to know. I do not have the money now to go to vet and pay 1,000 tell i get a new job. Please anyone if you have been through anything similar or any home remedies to ease him.
Hello
I’m sorry to hear about your pup. It really sounds like he needs to be seen by a veterinarian. For cases like these I tell clients to please pay the cost of rhe exam and then we can at least get some idea of what’s going on. In some cases I try an antibiotic and pain medication and then have people save up for an X-ray.
But a limp is not a reason to put a dog to sleep. The only time I might discuss lameness and euthanasia is if I am worried about cancer. But your dog is very young for this.
Start with a phone call to a vet for an appointment and go from there.
I have three dogs. One of my dogs, Angel a husky , jumped over my other dog Adonis, and missed so he landed on him. Ever since, he has been lethargic and he does have hip displasia as he is a pure breed Akita Inu.
Well we went in Friday September 1st to an emergency vet near us at around 5 or 6 pm with Adonis presenting limping and being lethargic and acting not like his normal self. After 30 minutes or so of waiting a technician came out and spoke to us saying how Adonis was very reactive when trying to examine him and asked if they could give him pain killers to soothe him and further inspect him. I told them verbally that they needed to put a muzzle on him because I know how he gets when you touch his legs and poke at him, after the tech came to talk to us we waited a total of 4 hours until they finally grabbed us and told us they thought it was his front paw because it looked “swollen” so they gave us an anti inflammatory and pain killer pills. When adonis was brought in he was able to walk but barely and when they handed him back to us he was unable to stand or walk or lift his head, once we got the paperwork, we were aware that pain killers were not given but he was given a sedative instead and no further examination was made after sedative was given as quote “we are very busy in the back”
Saturday September 2nd all day and Sunday September 3rd morning and part of the afternoon we were at the house watching over him trying to accommodate him as much as we could, we called the emergency vet place to ask for advice on how to relive Adonis since he had not been able to stand up since they gave him back to us Friday September 1st at 11pm and had been holding in his pee and poop.
Sunday September 3rd around 7 we took him back to the vet since they suggested they couldn’t give us advice since they didn’t know exactly what was wrong with him and were confused as to why he couldn’t walk, upon arrival to the vet they took him in on a gurney, and we were seated in an examination room. A tech came in and said to give them a few minutes to examine him, 20 minutes later the doctor came in to tell us she thought now the problem was a disk on his neck and suggested surgery or putting him down but leaned more towards putting him down because he is such a large dog. I asked for an x ray or an MRI but both were denied due to his size (130 lbs). The doctors only recommendation is to put him down and because of his large size nothing else was done and they further prescribed muscle relaxants. This visit lasted 40 minutes at most with very little options on how to further help Adonis.
Please help me understand what is going on and if putting him down is really the option or if this vet is being unethical or not doing enough for my dog. I just want to understand my options and how I can move going forward.
I’d be looking for a veterinary neuro at this point. Did they at least help him relieve himself while he was there?
Not even. The excuse was that he would try to bite me but its my dog, I don’t care. So she never showed us how to do it. Thankfully yesterday, me and my mom carried him outside and tried to massage him again like we found online and he finally peed. he was so happy about it too!
I bet he felt a TON of relief!
Hello
Help needed!
My cat disappeared for 4 days, and when he came back, he was limping
I took him to nearby pet clinic, they gave him some pain killer and told me to get his X-rays done since they didn’t have that facility
After getting his X-rays done, the doctor determined that he had broken his leg into 3 pieces and says there’s not much he can do about my cat
Gave me medicine and some spray to apply on his leg, and that’s about it
Also says, he doesn’t see surgery giving any results
The services here are not that great, what should I do?
I have seen some videos where cats heal after giving them 5-6 weeks of cage rest
He’s basically the same as he was before, plays, eats food, sleeps, but with a broken leg of-course
will giving him cage rest work out for him as well? I have attacehed the x-rays photo below
Please help me out, I don’t know what to do…
Hello,
If you cannot afford to see a surgeon for assistance on how to fix the fracture then I believe that the next best option is to try cage rest for 8 weeks (and yes it is a long 8 weeks) is the best way to helm them.
They must stay in the cage and rest. I know it can be hard to do but it has worked miracles in many of my patients.
Good luck.
Keep us posted.
Thanks alot for your reply!
one more question
is it fine if he’s confined in 1 room? instead of a cage
my room is not that big, just a normal sized room
he basically sleeps on my bed, jumps down to eat food, walks a bit, shouts at me to open door so he can go outside, which I have not done yet, and then goes back to sleep
will 1 room work or is cage absoulute necessary?
The idea is to stop them from jumping.
On/off your bed is not going to help healing. Cage is best, here.
Recently every time my 7 year old black lab retriever jumps into the car he holds his back leg and whines a little or acts funny then lays down and is okay. He’s out running and seems fine any other time just does this when jumping up into the car. Any thoughts? Im going to purchase steps to help him into the car. Maybe just a sprain
I tend to be conservative with things like this – I will put a dog with a sore limb on crate rest for a week to see if it resolves. If it doesn’t, we head to the vet. This means on leash when in the yard for toilet, no jumping in the car, no jumping on furniture. Just crate or on a cushy bed on the floor.
Things to do: check paw pads, check nails (most people keep dog nails WAY too long, so if you can hear them clicking, it’s time for a nail trim…and then do them twice a week until they’re short, and weekly to maintain). I also move the limb and gently massage to see if there’s any sort of soft tissue soreness.
Rottweiler, female, spayed, 11 years old
Just recently lost a toe to nailbed squamous cell carcinoma (hind foot). And now this has cropped up on her front foot. Not limping yet, but some weight-shifting away from it and licking at it. What are the odds that it’s the same thing again? 🙁
Hello!
So nice to hear from you.
This is tough for me to answer because I don’t know enough about the way the scc was diagnosed nor how it presented. I also don’t know if there were surgical margins or amputation of the digit? Was an oncologist seen?
I have not had any patients with scc of the toe. But I have had scc patients have multiple areas affected. This is really best answered by your vet and an oncologist. I hope this helps. And very best of luck
Krista .
It kind of started the same.
– her licking at her foot for a couple of days and were unable to figure out why
– then she misstepped and became lame and there was bleeding
– vet determined it was likely a nailbed infection at the first visit
– wasn’t healing with topical treatments
– in the meantime, the toe came off completely
– the next visit, a different vet, figured it was potential cancer
– while we were organizing a biopsy, there were many cock-ups so we decided to take a step back and revisit with another vet
– that one convinced it was infection–long-term antibiotics (that trashed her digestive system)
– continued for weeks and weeks
– then, when I no longer believed dysbiosis was all there was to the diarrhea and insisted on imaging, they found a splenic mass
– I insisted I wanted the spleen out asap and agreed to biopsy at time of surgery
– surgeon looked at it and convinced it is cancer so I agreed to toe amputation at the time of the splenic surgery–it was confirmed to be SCC. Bone margin was clean, not enough soft tissue to judge.
– x-rays and all clean–no metastasis
– that toes is no perfectly healed
But this is starting the same way. Last time she lost weeks of life and in pain. This time, I definitely don’t want to loose all that time again. Don’t want to put her through surgery for nothing either, or have another pop up in a couple of months again 🙁
Seemed to look better this morning; been doing Epsom salt soaks; vet appt tomorrow
Just saw a vet, and she says it is a nail injury, and everything looks good to her/that’s the one to be the first to suspect cancer the first time around. So HOPEFULLY, that’s correct, and it will resolve speedily. *sigh of relief.
Also did a wellness check, and everything else looks good too. My little girly looks like she’ll be well and able to finally have the fun she deserves once this thing heals.
Hello,
If the limping doesn’t resolve with rest and there is swelling then I think that you need an Xray.