Niggling injury, slight limp after exercise.

[bullmastiff 615]

Looking for a bit of advice if possible,

Tess seems to have a niggling injury to one of her front legs. When we take her to a field for ball games, it will appear after 10-15 runs, if running by the bike then she'll start showing slight signs of a limp after only a mile, with the limp getting more noticeable the further you go.

Because I get only get a few runs in a nights lamping (10 max in maybe 2-3 hrs), it's never really shown itself whilst working although It could be affecting her but I just can't spot it on the lamp?

It doesn't seem to be affecting her too much and after a bit of rest, the limp will have gone again but will return quicker the second time if she starts to run again.

 

I've tried crate rest for about a month with just limited on-lead exercise. As soon as I started gently exercising her again and slowly building up, the limp was still there.

I've tried massaging the muscles, checked her feet over thoroughly from nails to pads and gaps between toes and when you bend/work her joints back and forth, she shows no sign of discomfort.

 

I just don't have enough experience to know what it is or how to treat it.. so hopefully someone on here will be able to point me in the right direction before I have to go to the vets. As the first thing they will probably do is an x-ray, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories which won't help a thing.

 

Many thanks for any help or advise!

 

Luke.

[scothunter 12,609]

get your chemist to make you up a bottle of winter green and olive oil.rub her down twice a day,see how you go.failing that,a trip to the vet if it persists.there other liniments on the market for running dogs,but ive always found the one i mentioned works a treat.

rub it into the shoulder,and down the front leader.although after thinking about it,if you have gave the dog rest for a month,and it still has done no good.it may be something a bit more complicated than just a pulled muscle of strain.wont do it in any harm in getting that bottle,prop leviate the pain a bit.but id say at some point your gonna have to shell out a few quid at a vets.

[jimster68 123]

why not look at taking your dog to see an DOG OSTEOPATH/MUSCLEMAN someone like ROBERT MEEK most osteopaths visit greyhound racing kennels and will tell you when there visiting your area .they are used to diagnosing working dog injurys and its a lot cheeper option than a vets they dont normally offer xrays or medication just tell you whats bothering your dog and the best treatment for it .robert meek charges about £10 ,and he checks over top class greyhounds up to derby standard ,he also is well respected by the whippet racing community ,hope this helps....jim

[sandymere 8,263]

Wrists are a very problematic area as they have lots of tiny bones held in place with lots of tendons, even with multiple x-rays a small break to one of the bones can easily be missed and tendon injuries can take just as long as a break to heal. Unfortunately there many wristy dogs that are unable to work on consecutive nights due to recurrent lameness and even with six months rehab no cure is guaranteed. It can be hard to give a solid diagnosis even with xray as the area is, as said, complicated. I’d go back to lead work, stop ball work if this is what is setting off the problem. No running till symptom free then a gentle return ie soft ground beach or such like for the first few runs if any lameness then rest again. Some dogs don't fully recover and tend to get a little lame after hard running for the rest of their lives so a little time on recovery know is a good investment in order to try an avoid that.

Rgards s

 

[riohog 5,816]

running dog vet is your best bet , , running on hard dry ground? racuring .. could be tendon damage . sounds like a proffesional vetenary oppinion would be the best way to go ...good luck

[skycat 6,174]

Greyhound vet or canine osteopath. If tendon damage is diagnosed, then I'd recommend Zhwng Gu Shui a couple of times a week. Just a natural based liniment: it keeps me functioning, more or less, and has helped my damaged dogs in the past.

[scothunter 12,609]

wrsts are dodgy as f**k.like has been said loads of wee bones in the metacarpal region.when i kept greys and they picked up wrist injurys it was a nightmare,and in most cases the dog was finished as a racing dog,you could prolong it by corticone injections,but it was by no means a cure.i once spent hundreds of pounds on various treatments,the only one that really came close to a fix was lazer treatment from a greyhound vet.even then its a limit to what it can do.

[bullmastiff 615]

Many thanks for all the advise. Someone at a local dog show recommended massaging with a Witch-hazel rub but I must admit I didn't think it would do much good, thinking that if it was muscular it would of improved after the month's bed rest then gentle exercise? Guess I'll have to revise that and just give it a go, No harm in trying.

I'm on the South East Somerset/Dorset Border and the nearest Greyhound tracks are Swindon or Poole both about 60miles. I wouldn't have a clue where any local Greyhound vets or Kennels are but I guess Robert Meek would be able to tell me if he comes this way? I'll give him a ring see what he says.

 

Thank you again everyone, I'll keep you posted.

 

Luke.

[Sirius 1,391]

  On 27/09/2011 at 08:32, bullmastiff said:

Many thanks for all the advise. Someone at a local dog show recommended massaging with a Witch-hazel rub but I must admit I didn't think it would do much good, thinking that if it was muscular it would of improved after the month's bed rest then gentle exercise? Guess I'll have to revise that and just give it a go, No harm in trying.

I'm on the South East Somerset/Dorset Border and the nearest Greyhound tracks are Swindon or Poole both about 60miles. I wouldn't have a clue where any local Greyhound vets or Kennels are but I guess Robert Meek would be able to tell me if he comes this way? I'll give him a ring see what he says.

 

Thank you again everyone, I'll keep you posted.

 

Luke.

 

Hi Luke, There is some good advice on this thread but I tell you what it's all guess work, without any disrespect to some of the more knowledgeable members who have contributed to the thread. With these type of problems (especially reoccurring lameness) there is no substitute for a proper hands on examination.

 

I Have 'inboxed' you a number and contact details of the best greyhound vet I know in your locality which is not as far as the one's you have mentioned.

 

Good luck Sirius

[bullmastiff 615]

Phoned two animal Osteopath's and they both said the same thing, they need me to go to the vets first and have him refer Tess for treatment. So I've got an appointment with him this evening, see what he says...

 

That Number for Robert Meek was engaged every time I tried, so I'll give it a go this evening again.

 

Thank you for the vets Number Sirius, I'll see what mine has to say then may give them a ring after.

 

Thanks again for all the advise.

 

Luke.

[Sirius 1,391]

  On 27/09/2011 at 14:09, bullmastiff said:

Phoned two animal Osteopath's and they both said the same thing, they need me to go to the vets first and have him refer Tess for treatment. So I've got an appointment with him this evening, see what he says...

 

That Number for Robert Meek was engaged every time I tried, so I'll give it a go this evening again.

 

Thank you for the vets Number Sirius, I'll see what mine has to say then may give them a ring after.

 

Thanks again for all the advise.

 

Luke.

 

No problem, just remember there is a world of difference between a standard small animal vet and a specialist.

Good luck

[oddser 79]

you need to go to a greyhound vet or you will be wasting your time and money sirius has given you the right advice itcould be a number of things that are causing the lamness

 

good luck

[Tiny 7 1,694]

Thats what id do bone man, Never mind normal vets they'll take your money and still not be none the wiser IMHO,

 

Get a greyhound man too look over her and take it from there

[chook1 184]

I wouldnt bother with normal vets for a lameness problem, my deerhound has reacurrent lameness,

vets have checked her over and said shes fine, i took her to see robbert meek and he found she had badley torn

her TFL and stomach muscle at some point, the muscle had already formed scar tissue, so it's causeing restriction,

everytime she runs hard it agravates it.

 

On the sheet i got from him, it has his home number as well as his mobile,

if you want the other number let me know, you will probably be better ringing him in the evenings

as he also works as a human osteo as well.

[bullmastiff 615]

As expected the vet didn't find anything untoward, he got a torch and checked her pads and nails over thoroughly then felt her toes, wrists and shoulders then manipulated them all but couldn't feel any obvious problems.

 

NOT as expected though, he admitted he's not a specialist so anything like slightly damaged ligaments or a torn muscles he wouldn't be able to spot unless it's obvious. So he apologised, said he'd sign any referral letter I required and didn't charge me a penny!!!!

 

Man it's good to have an honest vet at last!!