DHound has been lame for 6+ weeks

[PacificDogwod]

He is a 3 and a half year old rescue greyhound, we've had him for 2 years, he has never raced.

I have no idea what started him limping, no obvious injury or anything.
He's been tot the vet's twice now, painkillers and antiinflammatories have not made any difference.

It's his right hind leg and the problem seems to be very intermittent: sometimes he properly tripods about, leg held high, no contact with the ground, sometimes he limps and very obviously favours the other leg, sometimes he seems to have no problem at all (and runs like the clappers)

Next week he is going for an x-ray under sedation and blood tests (those are also to investigate his ongoing pooing and lack of weight gain further, but that's maybe a whole other thread).

Any experiences of lame mutts and what it turned out to be?
I am now a bit worried about him, he's too young for arthritis and hip dysplasia is uncommon in greys, but sarcoma is not....

My dog was intermittently lame in front a couple of years ago , same scenario , couple of vet trips then X-rays ( under GA) of both front legs which were inconclusive but did rule out arthritis or anything bony so treated as a soft tissue injury . Rested for about 6/7 weeks , not confined but house rest , no walks / running about and that sorted it out . Hope yours is nothing too serious .

Could it be corns? Think there have been cases of greys undergoing lots of xrays/investigations with no obvious causes then on closer inspection of pads corns have been found.....sore on hard surface walks.

www.greyhoundgang.org/learn/health/corns/

I have had two greyhounds - one had corns they are extremely painful and one had a sliver of glass in her pad it was invisible to xray and only skill and guesswork of vet found it as it was so tiny but enough to cause her terrible pain and inflammation. My girl also had lumbo-sacral disease where her spine met her pelvis and this was due to wear and tear from racing and it occasionally gave her trouble. Have you tried examining his pads and pressing them gently incase that is the trouble? Such a worry for you

Wow, corns!
That is a distinct possibility - he most certainly prefers soft ground/grass over tarmac, he's slow on walks, but entirely well in himself, only one paw affected.

Thank you for the link to that site, Monkey.
I am going to inspect his foot very closely by daylight tomorrow.

He's really had lots of rest, we used to go for long walk but he now only does 10-15min for school run 2x/day and goes in to the garden (where he does sometimes run, but it's a very small garden).

I have wondered about slivers of glass and thought I had a good lock but will have another again.
He was v muddy today and I washed all for of his feet/legs in warm water today and he did not seem to mind pressure on his pads or between his toes

You lot are just marvellous!!

He so has a fecking corn - do you know how many times I have examined that foot and not found anything because I did not know what to look for?!
Thank you so much x.

So, corn treatment for pointies - any advice?

The inter web is full of tales of woe involving curettage, boots, recurring problems etc etc - it seems that human corn plasters/verruca treatments are used quite widely...

Has anybody used TheraPaws boots? - they are not cheap, but very likely less expensive than an unnecessary x-ray

Our dog was lame for several weeks sometimes worse than others then one day had a run and then refused to put one back leg down.

X-rays revealed the cruciate ligament had snapped, it's a very common painful injury in long legged dogs apparently. It's been operated on and is about 80% back to what it was.

Vet said it would have been going probably for a while and must have been extremely painful. No obvious injury or swelling that we spotted though so very easy to do nothing about it. I'm glad our vet pushed us to have X-rays in the end.

Your vet can take the corn off under sedation. Much safer than using any home remedies.

Yes, I am going to speak to the vet - that was the plan anyway prior to the x-ray/bloods appointment.
In the meantime, he's had DSs' Epaderm put on his paws - I quite enjoyed his foot rub. Pampered pooch.

Glad that you have identified the problem hoping for a speedy recovery once vet has removed. Ddog may need a little boot to keep it clean after removal when out and about. Can be hard to keep them on as they have such thin ankles though. In the end I used a sock and a plastic sandwich bag taped on with elastoplast whilst walking.

Yes, we've used redundant baby socks and sticky tape for a minor cut before - v fetching!

Reading now feverishly about pointy dogs and their recurring corns on-line - greyhound forums are FULL of stories. Who knew?!

I am about to order a TheraPaw boot - yay or nay??

01932 224 918 why not phone Hersham Hounds they rescue greyhounds I got my two from there and they are open till 2pm - they would be able to advise you re the therapaw boot if you ask them as they will encounter this alot and have always been so lovely to me just tell them you have a rescue greyhound!

Oh wow, good idea! Thanks, I will phone them and contact the rescue he came from. I cannot believe I've not thought of that!