Completely confused and down about my limping dog

[PatsArrow]

I have a border terrier who's 6.

When he was about 2 years old he had a bad injury from jumping wrong off a log and the vet thought he'd torn a ligament in his shoulder. We rested him for a few weeks and he had painkillers. Then he seemed fine.

Roll on a few years, in the last 12 months we've been in a recurring limp cycle. He limps, we rest him for week until he seems better. Then he's walking, running happily for a few weeks, then limps again. So we rest him, and so on.

The Vet has suggested arthritis. He's stiff when getting up from his bed etc. He's been taking YouMove for months but I've seen no real benefit. I give him Metacalm when his limp seems really bad. But it's pretty much constant at the moment. The vet says he has no muscle loss in the limpy leg. He's had a set of bloods done and all came back normal.
I got so down about the whole thing that I recently started seeing an accredited Dog Massage Therapist (found through the vet). Our first session went great. The DMT said his muscle fascia (yeah I had to Google it too) was incredibly tight, possibly happened over time from over-compensating from his original injury. This was probably causing discomfort. My dog seemed to love the session and really relaxed and his skin and muscles really did feel 'looser'. However since then, he's still regularly limping (despite more sessions) even though I've been limiting myself to 30 mins walks.

My border terrier is really tall and stocky which means he weighs more than a normal border. He's currently overweight. The vet would like him to be 13k for his height and build. He's currently 14.5k. However not being able to get out on good walks is hindering the weight loss a bit.

Sorry this is really long. I'm not sure where to turn. I know you get dogs can get arthritis but surely it's not normal to constantly limp even when there's been no new injury or excessive exercise?
I'm so low about it. Ive seen 5 different vets at my practice and none of them seem concerned but it's really affecting my dogs life, plus mine. I'm not sure what else to do.

Can anyone give any new ideas or advice? I'm really lost and me and my dog are both miserable :(

Hi OP,

What was the basis for the vet's arthritis diagnosis? Did they do any form of scanning to confirm it? If not, an MRI would be a good place to start date to definitively confirm the root cause and then your vet can come up with a longer term treatment plan from there.

If arthritis is confirmed then unfortunately it's degenerative, so if the limping is recurring more frequently it's likely that pain medication / anti inflammatories will need to be prescribed for regular use, rather than just during a flare up. There are various strengths of medication that can then be prescribed as your dog ages / becomes less receptive to the one they're on.

All the best

I’m sorry you and your dog have been struggling with this.

Arthritis can definitely cause persistent lameness after minimal exercise - it can be mild or severe, just like in people. There are lots of pain relief options (it’s not uncommon to have patients on daily Metacam, joint supplements and additional pain relief) so it might be worth explaining to them that the current pain relief isn’t enough and asking if there are alternatives/additional meds you could try.

Some pets also benefit from things like hydrotherapy - it’s a good non weight bearing exercise, maintains muscle, and will help him to lose weight if he’s not able to exercise on walks.

There also is the option of referring him to a specialist orthopaedic vet who might offer more diagnosis and treatment options - so it might be a good idea to ask your vet if they think referral would be suitable in your dog’s case. (It is worth being aware however this is likely to cost significantly more than your usual vet, as frequently they will use CT scans etc to evaluate the joints, and do very specialist treatments or surgeries).

My staffy went through a similar cycle of limping, rest, treatment, limping, rest, treatment. I spent several thousand pounds on investigations.

Turns out she was faking it for attention.

@Si1ver

My staffy went through a similar cycle of limping, rest, treatment, limping, rest, treatment. I spent several thousand pounds on investigations.

Turns out she was faking it for attention.

do you remember the dog that went viral for limping? His owner spent £200 on vets fees only to find dog wS copying him, he'd broken his leg and was in a cast!

Op I wonder if hydrotherapy would help? Speak to your vet but hopefully covered by your insurance.

You might need to look at long term therapy to help maintain the leg in good condition, like semi regular massages. Metacam can work best when given daily too, so speak to your vet about giving your dog a daily dose.

Weight loss is really important OP. My dog has arthritis, we feed her Hills prescription joint care food which is low calorie and on the vets recommendation Synoquin tablets which is a supplement containing glucosamine and some other things. We found the Synoquin really helped. The next step for us would be injections, but we are not there yet. I would consider swapping the You Move for Synoquin and see how you get on after a month or so. Best of luck.

One of my labs is the same - stiff shoulder on and off, diagnosis was early arthritis. She is 8 now and has been on daily Metacam for 3 years. The vet explained it to me as the daily dose reducing the inflammation in the joint so protecting it, better than waiting for a flare up & inflammation and then treating that. She is much happier on the regular daily dose.

www.hillspet.co.uk/dog-food/pd-jd-canine-reduced-calorie-with-chicken-dry

www.synoquin.com/

Sorry this is really long. I'm not sure where to turn. I know you get dogs can get arthritis but surely it's not normal to constantly limp even when there's been no new injury or excessive exercise?

Depending on how bad the arthritis is then yes, it can be normal for them to limp constantly, which is why many vets suggest daily painkillers so that they're under constant management.

I walk a dog with arthritis in one elbow and he takes painkillers and supplements every single day now and will do for the rest of his life. He's a similar age to your dog too, but different breed (border collie). Now he's on tablets you can't tell he's got arthritis but beforehand he would limp on/off fairly regularly.

Have a look at the Canine Arthritis Management website. Their FB page is also great, with lots of really helpful videos and Holly’s Army, support group.

There are lots of resources on the website to help you work out if arthritis is likely/probable and advice on what to do and how to approach diagnosis/treatment/support.

If after that you aren’t satisfied arthritis is the right diagnosis. If five vets at one practice have already seen him and it’s negatively impacting both of your lives, I would want a referral to a specialist at that point.

Also, as per a pp, the metacam really needs to be taken daily to control inflammation and pain.

I would also try hydrotherapy for exercise and weightloss and an experienced canine physiotherapist is worth their weight in gold.

My boy has arthritis, although he is a lot older than yours (16 in a couple of weeks) and has been on anti-inflammatories since he was 8. He now has two adjunct medications as well, along with high strength omega oil, Riaflex joint supplement powder and green lipped mussel. There are lots of treatment options for arthritis beside just anti-inflammatories these days, so don’t be fobbed off by the old ‘it’s just arthritis’ line.

Look up biceps tendinopathy/ tendinitis. It can be a cause of recurrent forelimb lameness which is often not straightforward to diagnose and may require specialist ultrasound or MRI.

I have found veterinary physio really helpful, as mentioned above.

Antiinflammatories are also invaluable (mine has been on meloxicam since about 18 months).

Finally, weight loss islikely to make a huge difference. Exercise has a limited impact on weight ('you can't outrun a bad diet') but calorie intake does. I'd reduce his food by 10%, review after 2 weeks and reassess and reduce again if needed. I keep my lame girl on the light side, much though she protests it, and it really does help.

Sympathies - it's miserable watching them struggle.

Also, and I appreciate I haven't seen him, even 13kg seems heavy. That's the average of what my girls weigh, and they're beagles, who are typically much larger than a border. They're also a stocky breed. I suspect he's significantly overweight which won't be helping.

I know it's not easy (beagles...) but reducing that may make a huge difference.

Thanks everyone. Really helpful advice. I need a few more visits to the vet I think.

He's not had a scan or X-ray. The vet diagnosed arthritis just from examining him and physical symptoms.

Si1ver - I can't believe your staff faked it!! My BT used to fake 'slowness' in walks for attention and an extra treat.

My border is about the size of a small Beagle. He's huge. The vet says he's seen one border larger than mine before but it's rare! Yes 13k would still be on the large size but the vet said, going by his frame he'd be happy with that.

I must knuckle down more on the weight loss. He's been on Fat Fog Slim kibble for years, but I will admit it's all the extras I give him when I'm trying to entertain him in the house while not on a walk.
I think I'll ask the vet to put him in Fat-club! So I'm accountable.

I will look up arthritis pages thanks.

Have you tried hydrotherapy? Some dogs, especially with stiff joints, really get on well with this

Not yet. I'm just finishing up some sessions with the dog massage therapist, who has helped with his flexibility all over. There is a hydrotherapy place near here though so I may look into that.

Thanks all.

A thorough physical exam, ideally when he is sore and with no meds on board, and then x rays. You have no diagnosis really at present; all you have is a guess. And yes, any animal with a tendency to lameness will do better the leaner they are.