Anyone have any experience of sudden hip / joint pain in big dogs? Our Weimaraner is poorly...

[Boobz]

My poor poor dog Jackson is at the vets now having x-rays, as she is in loads of pain moving about and last night couldn't even stand up let alone go up the stairs to come to bed (she sleeps in our room) and me and DH had to carry her up in her bed (and me 34 wks pregnant!) as she couldn't stand up. Yelping and crying and howling whenever she moved.

We had taken her to the vets yesterday when it first started (really quick onset) and he gave her a pain killer and told us to bring her back in the morning (this morning) to see if she had got any better and it was just a sprain or something. In fact she was a bit better this morning and could walk again, but was still subdued and not moving too much when normally she runs around like mad and jumps up and everything. She was in so much pain last night, despite the pain killer, that the vet decided to keep her in for x-rays to see what the problem is and we should find out later this afternoon.

So we've done some googling (silly silly I know) and the symptoms look like hip dysplasia, but can this come on so suddenly? Has anyone else got a dog which had this condition, and how did it start? She was fine one minute and then in agony the next.

Just wanted to ramble really - I know we'll get some answers this afternoon after the x-rays, but just venting I spose. xxx

I'm not a vet but I don't think hip dysplasia would come on so suddenly. It sounds more likely to be ligament damage or a fracture but I really don't know - hope the vet calls soon with good news.

Bella x

My Mum has a gorgeous weimaraner ( who we miss madly since she moved to Spain). Isn't it just as likely she has pulled something? If Jackson is anything like Bella she will be contantly bounding every where. I think Bella is just about the most accident prone dog alive because she does everything at triple speed.
I don't think hip dysplasia is particularly common in weis is it?
How old is she? Aren't they just fantastic with kids?

You're probably right - she probably just pulled something, but it seems so strange to have pulled a muscle and for it to hurt her all over and to such an extent that we are assuming it's something 10 x worse! She is accident prone (always banging her head on tables and cupboards etc), but we didn't see her do anything silly on her walks leading up to this pain.

Hip dysplasia does happen to Weims yes - it's all over the net and in our little Weim book we got when we got her last year. She's 4.

She hasn't had much experience with kids I don't think (we've only had her a year and she was a rescue before that), but we are due our first baby in March so am hoping she is good with kids! xxx

Mum got bella when DD1 was 2 1/2 so they grew up together. Great fun seeing them fly down the slide together. We only see her every few months, but she goes wild when she sees my girls. They are such gentle natured dogs, I'm sure she will love the baby. I am so jealous, we so want one, but while DH works away not really practical. They need so much excercising, it seems you can never wear them out.
Bella is so protective of DD1, they used to play hide and seek. DD would hide and we trained bella to find her on command. Brilliant when my Mum lives quite remotely on a hillside. When it's time for food we just send the dog out to get them back again, so easy to train too.

Wow - sounds perfect! I work from home which is the only way we would have a dog like a Weim as they are so attention seeking and hate to be on their own. I love having her at home with me, and in fact I think this is the first time in a year when I have been home and she isn't (as is at the vet) and it's strangely quiet and serene.

She is a little manic though, so we're having training with her at the moment so she doesn't jump up on the baby and get so excited when visitors come to the door. Worth every penny as she is calming down loads now that we know how to handle her, but am now worried she will have some terrible crippling disease and I'll wish for the old days when you couldn't get her to sit still for 10 seconds!

xx

IME I think it's very unlikely this is hip dysplasia, especially in such a young dog.

She sounds lovely & hope she's okay.

Could be ligament problem, our pointer started limping one day and a week later he was haveing an operation on it.

Was it your dog's cruciate ligament, FiveGoMad?

Yes, both back legs are no held together with titanium.

What did the vet say, Boobz?

All a bit of a mystery. X rays all came up clear (very healthy, apparently) and she hasn't been too bad today, not as bad as the agony she was in yesterday. Her bloods all came back ok except for lipases in her pancreas, which means she could have pancreatitis (but need more blood tests done to check)... but this wouldn't normally represent in the way it has, with poorly joints / muscles (it would be more of a sore abdomen thing).

So they don't really know, but have ruled out the really bad stuff, it seems. It might have just been a sprain and she's on the mend, but we're taking her back in on Thursday to check she's not got something more serious underlying these symptoms.

So she's all groggy now, feeling a bit sorry for herself after the GA, but she seems ok. I hope she wakes up tomorrow and is just full of beans like she used to be and we can put it all behind us. Thank god for insurance - the x-rays alone came to over £400!

Thanks for asking though Bella xxx

Now she's got terrible wind and runny poo! And she's whining all the time which is strange... she's on pain killers in case it was a sprain, but now she just seems a bit lost and not sure what to do with herself, farting and whining all the time!

God I hope it sorts itself out. I have to work away from home this afternoon and I hate to leave her like this.

Feeling for you Boobz, it's horrible seeing your dog in pain, I know.

Our Otterhound jumped on the bed just before Christmas and wailed and wailed. They thought he'd slipped a disc and trapped a nerve, so gave him pain killers/anti-inflammatories and he got a very upset tummy after. Copious runny poos and eventually was vomiting blood. Really really scary However, the vet gave him an injection to stop being sick, and some human pills to settle his tum and he's been great since. Oh and they changed his meds.

He had X-rays and an MRI - agree, thank God for insurance! He has a degenerative joint disease and hip displasia, but he is 10.5, so its really old age. We have to lead walk him for another 4 weeks, and see how he gets on. They mentioned operating, but have now decided to try to manage it with painkillers and gentle exercise.

Sorry - have waffled Was only posting to say it's probably the anaesthetic and painkillers which are upsetting his tummy, and that it's good news nothing showed on the X-ray, as hip dispasia does seem to....

Hope he's much much better soon.

Thanks Hot Cross.. sorry to hear about your hound not being very well. The x rays were all clear so you're probably right - it's probably just the after effects of the anaesthetic and pain killers, but she won't stop whining at me which is just a bit disconcerting. In fact, she's just stop whining so I've looked over at her and she's lying on her side and when she breathes in, the whole of her right side is shaking. After affects again?

Poor thing. We're taking her back for a check tomorrow morning but I hate to leave her like this for the afternoon.

Oh no, here's the whining again... oh Christ I'm going to have to cancel my meetings aren't I? Shit.

Your poor doggle. Our vet recommended resting a heat pack or hot water bottle on the bit we thought was sore. Our dog thinks its wonderful and will lie for hours in bliss! Or maybe a fan heater just to try to relax him a bit?? Otherwise I'd probably ring the vet again...

Can you cancel the appointments? You probably wont be able to concentrate anyway?

I'm off on maternity leave in less than 2 weeks so I can't really cancel as have so much to do before I finish!

We don't know which side is sore - it just looks like it hurts all over. Might be the right hip. I don't even own a hot water bottle (must get DH to buy one for me soon before the homebirth event).

Am running into shower (I know I know, it's past 11, I know) and then will make a decision about cancelling meetings (including a scrummy lunch!) after that.

Thanks for advice!

How is she today, Boobz?

She seems to be getting there actually... the runs have stopped (and the farts, thank god!) and doesn't seem to be so tentative on her legs anymore. She's still not herself but then she is still on pain killers so I think that's it. She also hasn't been allowed to go on a proper walk since Monday and she usually runs / walks for 2 hours a day, so I think she's getting cabin fever.

Blood tests for Pancreatitis not come back yet, but I don't think it's that anyway.

So, hopefully one more night and then she'll be back to her old self tomorrow and I can take her for a long walk on the common to see if she's really over it all.

Thanks for the concern - has been a horrible week but she seems 75% better already.

xxx

Hooray Thought I'd posted earlier, but see that was in my head I blame the snow...

Really pleased things seem more positive. Dogs are like children - they can get poorly really fast, but also bounce back quickly!

So she seems 100% today - thank god! Took her for a walk and was supposed to keep her on the lead, but was too scared she would pull me over on the snow and ice and what with being very pregnant, I didn't fancy that so I let her off on the common. She went beserk - running like a lunatic and didn't seem to be in any pain at all, so that's that then! Still got runny poos but we've got something from the vet for that, and she was back sleeping OFF the bed last night, rather than under the covers with me. So I think that's it. How bizarre that it went just as quickly as it went - and she was in SUCH agony on Monday - it was heart breaking to watch.

Weird. Good thing we're insured - would have hated to have spent £500 for "nothing"...

Thanks for all your concern

xxx

just as quickly as it came, I mean...

Boobz
my dog had sudden "hip diplaysia" vet said hip displaysia and or atheritis. gave anti-inflammatory meds. not working. dog was wobbling and refusing to eat sometimes had to hold her bowl up. another vet said vertebrae issue on neck neck is stiff could cause leg lameness too. today dog refusing to eat or drink seems upset and had diahreaa briefly. i looked up all her symptoms and brown tick disease came up... going to ask for blood tests. brown tick disease can show false negative and is missed a lot of times. have to have more than one test to prove. treatable with antibiotics. going to talk to vet tomorrow. hope someone is still here in the forum.