I was playing ball with Trey a 9 year old golden retriever last night and he came up limping. We stoped playing and since it was late we went to sleep.

Today he still can not put any weight on the rear left leg. I have squeezed the foot and leg and it doesn't seem like the pain is there. I think it is the hip.

I am currently not working so a trip to the emergency room is a tough choice.

I am looking for suggestion. Should I give it a few days and see if nature can take over or am I being stupid not to get him to a vet right away.

Thanks
Mike

If he cannot put any weight at all on his leg, you're probably looking at a fairly serious joint injury, probably an ACL tear or rupture.

Sorry, but I think you need to go to the vet.

I know the economy is in tough shape right now, unemployment is increasingly becoming an issue. I know where I work we just had a 20% reduction in work force. I just can't help but think that veterinarians are going to be sensitive to this fact. Call them, I want to believe they will work with you so you can give your dog the care he needs now.

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yes, many vets are willing to work with you on a payment plan or something.

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If he is not in obvious pain I would try to keep him quiet, maybe even crated so he reats it. You might also want to try giving the dog a Ecotrin or other coated aspirin. It may be that at 9 years old he just over did it.
If you do not see any improvement in 24 hours or so I would bite the bullet and figure out some way to get him vet attention.

Good luck!

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That's really good advice - I hope the vet will be willing to work with you on this. I'm NO expert, by any means and hesistate to offer much in the way of advice. If it were me, I think I would be a little concerned that waiting may cause an injury to begin to heal incorrectly or cause whatever the problem/injury is to become much worse and tougher to fix later. I feel for you! please keep us posted.

Tiffany

I had the exact same thing happen with Barney, who is 7. I waited a day or so and took him to the E.R. because I wasn't sure if he might've broken something. Turns out he has sever hip displaysia and arthritis. The doc gave him some pretty strong pain killers which totally zonked him out. He said he would probably need hip replacement surgery and this will eventually "take him down." So I was like, great. I didn't want to have a zonked out dog and surgery seemed pretty drastic. So, I took him to a Natural vet, who isn't quite so quick to reccomend surgery. He had me start giving him Glucosomine Sulfate, MSM, and this new stuff called Elk Antler Mobility. Ever since, Barney has been totally fine. He stopped limping and hasn't shown any signs of having bad hips. It's been about 5 months. I don't really play serious ball with him because the running and quick movements of fetch is what aggravated it. I take him on 2 short walks a day usually and bounce the ball straight up in the air in the backyard. So, all-in-all, the supplements and slight lifestyle change have proven to give him a great quality of life and I'm so glad I didn't make a decision to put him into surgery.

I agree a trip to the vet.

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3 cats, 2 dogs, 1 fish

Not a Golden owner yet


Gold Elyse

I too, had my adult Golden come up lame one day. He had Lyme. It was the only symptom he showed. You should have that checked too.

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Miss You Sam...
Aug 1, '94 ~ Jan 8, '07
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My Jasper seemed to go lame on his back leg overnight. It ended up being hypothyroidism. With meds and time, he is back to 100%.

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I'm afraid I might be changing the subject here, but my vet mentioned this as something to look for starting around 4 years old in goldens. He didn't say anything about limping, but in getting thin and/or lack of appetite. ???

Tiffany