Posted on 04/10/2011 8:21:56 PM PDT by Hildy
I'm hoping for some advice. I have a 12 year old dog. She's a maltese poodle mix, 17 pounds. About two months ago she had some sort of injury to her left hind leg. She couldn't walk on it. We took her to the vet and the X-ray showed nothing. I was sent home with an anti-inflammatory and instruction to keep her off of it. We did the best we could. Well, two months later she can walk on it but she still limps and it shakes. I don't quite know what to do. I'd say it was arthritis, but since there was some kind of injury that set it off, I don't think we can chalk it up to just arthritis.
Is there anything we can give her to help? I feel so helpless. She's the first dog I ever had, so I don't have any experience with older dogs. Any advice?
Thank you so much.
Patellar luxation. Knee joint slips out of place. Maybe???
Hard to say, but if her nerves or tendons or joints are inflamed, turmeric powder works wonders, as does Apple Cider Vinegar.
Make a watery paste with turmeric and water or turmeric and apple cider vinegar, soak a cloth in it, and then wrap the leg with the cloth. Keep on for about an hour, every day, and you should notice a difference with how your dog is walking.
If you feel up to it, Google turmeric and apple cider vinegar and read about their wonderful healing benefits. I use mustard, too, when I’m out of turmeric.
Awwww!!! Is that her? Adorable and she plays poker?
Please take to her to another vet for a second opinion. There’re meds for arthritis that will help her feel better, if that’s what it is. And if not, another opinion will help her AND you.
For a dog that size, she is not that old. Keep the weight off and no too much jumping. She may need some doggy glucosmine or MSM. Doctors Fosters & Smith is a good dog and cat product catalog.
There are a lot of things that can be done with stem cells for hips.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/family/23614734/detail.html
Also there are some less expensive therapies. On involves taking some blood, heating it, they spinning it and reinjecting it into the injured area.
There is also shockwave therapy which is less expensive.
http://petsurgeonla.com/shockwave.html
http://www.dogaware.com/health/chronicpain.html
Try a human grade B50 vitamin tablet.
B vitamins help maintain and improve proper neurological impulses and it sounds like that might be her problem.
Has her thryoid been checked?
One kelp tablet a day is helpful always and harmless, otherwise *unless* she’s hyperthryroidal which I seriously doubt.
Hyopthyroidism is very common in older dogs.
I debated for awhile on whether to post my doggy experience similar to your’s but decided to even tho it’s really sad.
My basset started limping one day out of the blue. We gave her pain meds thinking it would eventually heal. Well after several weeks there was no improvement so took her to the vet. Xrays showed nothing so the vet suspected the worse. He was right. A biopsy came back positive for bone cancer.
I sincerely hope that is NOT what’s ailing your bestest buddy, but it is a possibility.
You might want to shop around for a new vet.
Hildy we’ve had many dogs in all the years we’ve been married, and I think we’ve experienced about everything with them over that time.
I’d say get the pup to another Veterinarian myself, because if the one you went to didn’t diagnose something definitively wrong with the pup, then that Vet didn’t know, and took a stab in the dark with the meds me thinks.
See if you can find an old timer that can tell you right up front a suspicion just by feeling certain parts of the dog. So many of the younger Vets today are test happy, and run up the bill with tests, and office visit costs.
We’ve had dogs in the past that had shaking in the hind legs due tumor in the liver, but that is an experience with dogs we had, not a diagnosis. Those dogs also began to have problems controlling their bowels. I wouldn’t be too concerned if the bowel problem doesn’t exist, but please do check in if you can with another Veterinarian.
if she is in pain or cant do stuff, save the vet bills and get a new dog.
sorry but there it is.
I’d do a good check on your dog to make sure it’s all right.
The best you can do for an old dog, and some dogs are old at 12 years as it depends on the breed, is make sure it is eating healthy and getting his exercise.
Other than that and giving him a good hug, not much you can do.
Turmeric is an herbal anti-inflammatory and it does do some good, either orally or topically. But be aware of the staining problem, it’ll turn your dog’s coat and skin as yellow as yellow curry. It actually is what makes curry yellow.
Hildy, did they check for Valley Fever, it is an issue where we live and sudden lameness can be a symptom. But I would check the paw very carefully to see if a sticker is imbeded and festered up (have had that issue)... if it is you can soak it in warm black tea to pull out infection and then apply fresh aloe vera. I never give the anti-inflammatory meds the vets prescribe, too hard on the liver.. much better to give bosewellia or tumerick. Cosaqiuin for dogs is good, too.
Use plain old -buffered- aspirin in a dose befitting the dog’s size.
PetSmart carries this
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3620456&lmdn=Dog+Health+Care
All COX2 Enzyme drugs and other prescription pain relievers like Tramadol, rimadyl, etc are extremely -not- good for the dog.
A lot of people swear by this “natural” remedy.
If you believe in natural treatments, here are some remedies for arthritis. Most vets do not believe in holistic treatments but they are safe herbs for dogs.
http://www.natural-dog-health-remedies.com/dog-arthritis-treatment.html#inflammation
What a sweetheart your dog is! My rescue dog, Gypsy, started having problems where one hind leg would give way while we were walking. It progressed from one side to both sides, and the X-rays showed nothing. When it started affecting her front legs I knew we had to do something or we would be looking at huge vet bills when her face finally hit the pavement!
I found a holistic vet that did acupuncture, chiropractic and used chinese herbs. It turned out that Gypsy had a back injury when she was young that healed wrong and started causing problems as she aged. A couple of months of acupuncture and adjustments and her back was fine.
had the same problem with our 10YO pomeranian about five years ago expect they found out she had torn a knee ligament and she needed reconstructive surgery....she could not use one of her back hind legs...may want to go for a second opinion...
this as well...my buddy’s dog was having similar problems and it turned out to be a slipped disc in the dogs back....
Laugh if you want but dog chiropractors are a first choice for “mystery” spine/neuro issues, here.
One just just fixed a sudden ‘issue’ on Odin with one visit.
[-after- another vet charged me a $100 to tell me ‘nothing was wrong’]
He feels great, now.
I was extremely skeptical but moments after she adjusted him, I swear he was happier, “lighter” and just plain old back to being himself again.
He’s going back for a follow-up later this month to see if he needs any more ‘tweaking’.
Should have gone to a different vet within a month of the original meds not working and she was losing her hearing...It was gradual over a month. Check with another vet. Ask friends with dogs who they take their dogs to...
Sorry to hear about your doggy problem. It could be something like a pinched nerve if something was dislocated, or it could be arthritis pinching a nerve. In any case, with the leg shaking, it sounds neurological...and that won’t show up on an x-ray. Does your dog wince when you feel around those areas? My dog is 15 now and was run over by a car when he was 3, so arthritis can be an issue at that age. Tylenol/acetaminophen is NOT recommended for dogs. Checking the liver enzymes is a good idea too. Increased liver enzymes can cause muscle problems due to a buildup of lactic acid. Make sure your dog is on a high quality dog food. If there are high liver enzymes, you can also give milk thistle capsules, vitamin E, Sam-E supplements...wrapped in meat or cheese to hide the pill. My dog has liver disease. The blood tests can get expensive.
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