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If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

WWYD Vet or no vet? - dog not bearing weight on back leg after accident

32 replies

WeAllHaveWings · 18/08/2017 13:32

I think I worry about our 4 year old labrador when he gets hurt than ds! Probably because ddog is so placid it is difficult to judge if he is in any pain.

Yesterday when out walking off lead he came running towards me, jumped over some long grass and I assume landed awkwardly. He was screaming in pain for a few minutes, holding his back left leg up and then just lay down on the ground. I checked his leg over and no external injuries and he didn't flinch when I moved it about, I got him up and he still wouldn't put it down and was shaking, his leg below the knee was floppy/swinging and he lay back down. I called dh to come and pick us up in the car as I honestly thought he'd broken/dislocated something.

Ddog was still on the ground by the time dh arrived (5 mins), but when he got up leg seemed ok. He was walking on it and I couldn't see any noticeable limp.

Today, still cant see any noticeable limp and all looks/feels okay, but just noticed he had a limp when going downstairs in front of me.

If I lift his back left (sore) leg its fine I can move about and he doesn't react. If I lift his good leg he cant bear his weight on his sore leg alone and he has to sit down.

Should I take to the vet or give it a few days? Hate to think he might need treatment or be in pain but not showing it.

OP posts:
bluetongue · 18/08/2017 13:54

I'd take to the vet. May need an x-Ray to rule out a break or could also be possible ligament or other soft tissue damage. Worth it for peace of mind if nothing else.

CheeseAtFourpence · 18/08/2017 13:56

Definitely go to the vet. Might just need some painkillers.

confusedandemployed · 18/08/2017 13:56

Definitely vet. My JRT did this on wet ground, he'd ruptured his cruciate ligament.

inchyrablue · 18/08/2017 13:57

Our hound does this regularly. Hmm Luckily it has always been soft tissue damage. However he has always had some anti inflammatory and pain relief for a few days, plus a week or so on reduced exercise. Best have it checked out.

Carmichaela · 18/08/2017 13:58

Vet. Just get him checked over. If you leave it til tomorrow you may end up with an out of hours vet visit.

GruffaIo · 18/08/2017 14:03

Definitely vet! Our dog tore her ACL / CCL (so badly it needed replacing) from a similarly 'simple' accident. Sometimes if it's not major, you can rehabilitate them without surgery, so it's worth getting it checked out asap.

TattyCat · 19/08/2017 19:56

Vet, definitely. Mine did a similar thing and I took her straight there - they x-rayed her and she has dip dysplasia so will be in a lot of pain, a lot of the time as it's quite bad and she's only 4. At least we now know and we can manage it, for now.

KinkyAfro · 19/08/2017 20:37

Probably cruciate, my lab has had both done...sounds similar

FairfaxAikman · 19/08/2017 20:51

I'd get it checked out.
Dogs are terrible for compensating to hide any pain.

My girl strained her TFL muscle (rear leg) while out with my DF and we were on holiday.
I only noticed when I came back because we do dog sports and I know exactly how she moves and it was just a bit "off". Turns out she was compensating with her bicep femoris (next to the TFL) and it was rock solid - sorted with physio, ice blue and a week of lead walks but she never let out a peep to make it obvious she was in pain.

Original poster
WeAllHaveWings · 19/08/2017 21:26

Got an appointment at 5pm last night, by the time we got there he had a miraculous recovery and vet could find nothing wrong, no signs of pain, swelling, injury, anything, and didn't think it needed any further investigation now. Very kindly didn't charge us anything. Still ok today, so hopefully a one off and all ok.

OP posts:
Original poster
WeAllHaveWings · 23/08/2017 18:03

Dog has been fine since last Thursday, no sign of pain/limp or anything, but today when he jumped down the last two stairs leg went again.

Took him straight to the vets and they think it's his cruciate, they've given him pain killers for tonight and he's to go back in early tomorrow for sedation, an examination and X-rays. 😔

They said if it is his cruciate, because of his size (Labrador) and relatively young age (4) it's likely they'll refer to an orthopaedic surgeon in Glasgow for surgery.

If it is his cruciate what can we expect after surgery?

OP posts:
bengalcat · 23/08/2017 18:08

Well he'll be running around eventually - ask your vet or perhaps more usefully the guy/girl dog is operated on

CornflakeHomunculus · 23/08/2017 18:19

Fitzpatrick Referrals have a very informative page about cruciate injuries and treatment options.

It is a very common injury and surgical techniques these days are very effective indeed, the vast majority of dogs go on to make a full recovery.

One of mine had a similar but much less common (and much more complex) knee ligament injury and he's now completely back to normal with almost no sign he ever did anything to it.

Original poster
WeAllHaveWings · 23/08/2017 18:20

Will ask when we know more tomorrow, just wondering what to expect so we can be prepared, put things in place, maybe take some annual leave.

OP posts:
BiteyShark · 23/08/2017 18:20

Oh no, hope it doesn't turn out to be that, poor thing. Can't advise on what to expect but maybe someone who can will be along soon.

KinkyAfro · 23/08/2017 21:28

As above, my dog had left cruciate repaired successfully. Right cruciate done 12 weeks ago somehow failed resulting in a broken implant, 2 broken pins and a broken bone. God knows how it happened, she was crated apart from food/toilet breaks. Luckily we crate trained her from a pup so she's used to her crate. Now we're having to go for xrays every 4 weeks to see how she's heeling and where we go from here

KinkyAfro · 23/08/2017 21:29

Where are you? I was referred to Leahurst Small animal teaching hospital on the Wirral with our lab. I'm in Manchester

Original poster
WeAllHaveWings · 23/08/2017 21:57

We are in scotland which is why we'll be referred to Glasgow (dh thought she said Stirling, will check tomorrow).

We got rid of his crate when he stopped chewing at 18 months, I'll ask vet tomorrow if we should get another one for his recovery.

OP posts:
LEMtheoriginal · 23/08/2017 22:04

There are several surgical options that you could opt for with considerable cost difference. A referral will cost A LOT more. It might be worth looking for a first opinion practice that will do the surgery. The difference could be the number of zeros on the bill!

Original poster
WeAllHaveWings · 23/08/2017 22:20

LEM how many zeros? We have the first £4K covered with PetPlan, is it likely to exceed that and by how much? We have savings (bye bye new bathroom), but it would be good to be prepared for how much they are going to say this will cost as we've never had a big vet bill before. The vet didn't want to say anything until they've done the exam/X-rays.

OP posts:
Veterinari · 23/08/2017 22:27

4K should cover cruciate surgery with room to spare - def check on referral but either Edinburgh or Glasgow should be able to do it for significantly less than that. Benefits of a specialist referral hospital include specialist anaesthesia and nursing staff, and access to pain relief drugs that you're unlikely to get in a first opinion practice that does some orthopaedic work, so overall dog's experience is likely to be better.

Original poster
WeAllHaveWings · 23/08/2017 22:38

Thanks Veterinari good to hear, dog is very placid/submissive and nervous, really hoping it isn't too bad for him.

OP posts:
bluetongue · 24/08/2017 00:10

Oh no OP,. Not good news. It was what I was worried it might be after reading your initial post. Good luck with it all. So lucky you're insured.

Original poster
WeAllHaveWings · 24/08/2017 06:46

Yes, glad we've got the insurance, we received the renewal last month and it had gone up to over £500 a year and we did consider cancelling it and saving the money instead, thankfully we didn't!

OP posts:
confusedandemployed · 24/08/2017 07:01

In many ways it's good that it's probably the cruciate. It's a very common op with excellent recovery rates.

My JRT was 10 when he did his. Our vets practice did his op (one of their retired partners is an orthopaedic expert and still comes in to do ops every week) and it cost around £3k in total I think.

He had to have extremely limited exercise in the recovery period and I was warned that he would definitely become arthritic in that leg. He's 15 now and still hasn't got arthritis! Hope your boy makes as good a recovery.