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Old Golden with swollen rear leg

12K views 87 replies 20 participants last post by  mjbaker84 
#1 ·
Okay as the title states... My golden Jake who just turned 12 yesterday (01/02/16) was standing today in my living room and he appeared to have a strong back leg. I even thought to myself wow his back legs are stronger than I thought?!

Well as he was sitting there later today I noticed his Rear left leg is swollen to close to 1 1/2 times normal. Appears from about the middle of his leg and down. Now he is an older golden that is sort of smaller (52 lbs) and always kind of walked stiff on his back legs/hips since we rescued him at 9 years old.

He appears to be walking fine still, goes outside like normal, up and down slow but like normal.

He doesn't act like its painful and no obvious other signs of exterior damage (no ticks, no bumps, etc). My wife felt his leg from the ground up and he doesn't act like anything is painful or hurts to touch.


Thoughts? any prior experience like this?
 
#2 ·
I don't have any suggestions other than bringing him into the vet first thing in the morning. Maybe a reaction or an infection? To be honest, if it were my dog I probably would have gone to the emergency vet tonight. Fingers crossed that the swelling is down in the morning. I would still get to the vet either way.
 
#6 ·
Update: Our normal vet couldn't squeeze us in so he went to a local one that was closer and they aspirated the leg and came out with clear fluid and a little blood.

Was able to get him into his normal vet and so far it appears to be Lymphedema.

It is either being caused by heart issues or potentially some sort of cancer in his lungs/heart area etc.

Chest X-rays showed his heart is slightly bigger than normal and some oddities on the x ray that cannot be ruled out as potential cancer or cancerous items (hence the specialist visit).

He seems to be in good spirits and still eats, poops, and sleeps like normal. His right leg is starting to get a little bit bigger now.

Since we live in Wichita, the only specialist for cardiology and what he needs and such is at Kansas State University. Our vet is calling first thing tomorrow to see about getting him an appointment.

I feel bad for him as well, we rescued him when he was 9 and he literally just had his 12th birthday January 2nd. So Happy Birthday you potentially have cancer.... :(
 
#8 ·
I am so sorry! Hopefully the cardiologist will have better news for you.
 
#9 ·
I'm so sorry, I was worried that you were facing something like this. I'm glad you were proactive and are getting information so you can know about his quality of life and find out how much pain he is in and what your options are. Hoping that you get the answers you need quickly.
 
#10 ·
One of my dad's English Setters (55 years ago) would "blow up" and Daddy would hae to take him and he would hae a lot of fluid drained from around his stomach. this went on several years. Mack was 15 when he finally passed. So hopefully you sweet boys will be able to have a much longer life as Daddy's Mack did.

I had a golden several years ago (got her as a puppy in '99) who had an enlarged heart chamber. She took a baby aspirin every other day and was on the same blood pressure as hubby, only on 1/4 the dosage hubby was on at the time.
 
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#12 ·
Update: We drove him up to Kansas State University and their Veterinary school/specialist location.

It is pretty much as we imagined.

He has metastatic disease (lesions in his lungs for sure). Essentially he has some sort of cancer in his lungs.

They believe the swelling of his hind legs may be a cutaneous hemangiosarcoma.

This all will lead to Death in some way or another. He could get anemia and collapse.

I asked them point blank if they had an estimate of how long he has left and they (both vet's there) said to expect it in the weeks to months at most.

He is the light colored one.

We have another vacation planned the first week of February out to California again... We are hoping he can be in good enough health and condition to go to the beach at least 1 more time before his health declines!

The first is when we drove out to California and visited family (he has gone at least 3 if not 4 times in the 3 years we have had him. We rescued him at 9 years old).

The second picture is almost immediately after we got in him January of 2014 with his "brother" Mack. Mack is now 10 and still as playful as ever!
 

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#13 ·
Darn. That's awful news. I, too hope he will be able to go to the beach with you. When we knew there was no hope of recovery for Girly, we made a list of things she liked to do (or wanted to do, in the case of a slice of chocolate cake!) and ticked them off one by one. We didn't make it to the beach, though, as she was not comfortable in the car any more. I hope you do something similar with your boy. I get great comfort in remembering how happy she was doing all her favourite things. And the look on her face when she realised she could eat all that cake was worth more than gold.
Again, I'm sorry about his diagnosis.
 
#14 ·
My Irish Setter, Boots, diagnosed with bone cancer in his knee a few months after he turned 12. Our choices were to amputate THAT DAY, give him a couple of days of good times as in a week he most likely would not be able to get up, would not be eating, but bringing him in to release him in a couple of days, or do nothing and let him go on his own.

Our heart said amputate, but our common sense said no. He already had pretty bad arthritis in his hips and one shoulder, he was almost 12 1/2, and it didn't seem fair to put him thru that and then hae him die in a couple of weeks. And no way way would we let him suffer and go on his own.

Long story short, he loved to go the beach, be it the real beach or the bay where we loved to wade fish. I wanted to give him a couple of days there. Also let him eat everything he loved or wanted. He loved tossed salad, melons and had a sweet tooth you would not believe. Well, those 2-3 days turned into exactly 10 weeks to the day. I took him to the bay every day and let him annoy crabs, try to catch shore birds, swim while I fished. One day I caught an undersize flounder, released it in about 6: of water and he put his foot on it, then stuck his head under the water and came up with that flounder. Another day he pulled a nice speckled sea trout off my stringer.

What we had for dessert, so did he--his own strawberry shortcake, banana split complete with 3 toppings and whipped cream, apple pie with ice cream a brownie, etc, etc. I would take him to my vet (just a little over a mile from our house) a 2-3 times a week and he would watch Boots walk--had developed a bunny hop with the back legs) and weight him. Boots put on weight instead of losing it and my vet would just shake his head and say "I don't understand it, but we don't have to do it yet." As I said, I had him exactly 10 weeks to the day. On July 8, he didn't swim so much, stayed in the shade more, etc. I told myself he was just tired, but I knew. The next day he fell and I could feel the hardness in his shoulder and knew the cancer was there. I didn't hestitate. I let him go that day. I could have kept him a few more days, but he couldn't have gone to the beach and this way, he enjoyed life to the very end.
 
#16 ·
anybody have any recommendations on anything to give him to make him enjoy his time even more?

He is still getting around fine and eating, using the bathroom, walking around etc.

He still gets his Fromm food and I have supplemented a bit of it with refrigerated good dog food as well and his normal pumpkin, fish oil, glucosamine and his prednisone for his allergies is updated to everyday and he gets Tramadol for pain (prior bad hips).
 
#17 ·
How about some hamburger done like a hamburger patty with his dinner now and then? Or some ice cream or frozen yogurt? Some of the others, who take their dogs for chemo, give their dogs a puppuccino from the coffee shop. And, if you have a dog who likes new stuffies, how would a new teddy bear go?
 
#18 ·
I had planned on that stuff.

He got 3 new stuffed toys... but didn't really care too much. He is more into food and Nyla-bones lol.

He has been getting spoiled so far.

Any supplements or anything else to give to him? The Kansas State Vet mentioned some chinese herb that could be given to him that would be good for him... obviously it won't cure or stop his cancer but would be helpful for him. I can't for the life of me remember what it was.
 
#22 ·
If it was me I would discuss giving him the fish oil. Fish oil has some blood thinning effects. Good luck with your boy. Keep him happy!
 
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#23 ·
As in don't continue giving to him? Or up how much he gets?

he gets one "1000 mg" fish oil pill with dinner every night and has for the 3 years we have had him.

Should I increase it or stop it?

also on the yunnan baiyio is there a place to get it for a lower price than Amazon? Seems expensive.
 
#24 ·
That is not very much fish oil. Seamus (who is 70 lbs) gets 6 1000 mg pills a day. I think he'll be fine. I don't think I would increase it unless your vet recommends it. I saw that Walmart.com sells Yunnan Baiyio but I don't know how it compares with Amazon's prices.
 
#25 ·
So sorry to hear about this awful diagnosis. I used Yunnan Bayao and Oriveda PSP-50(similar to im yunnity) for Daisy. I bought the Yunnan Bayao from activeherb.com and the PSP-50 from Oriveda PSP-50 - the most potent Coriolus PSP extract worldwide. Ask us why !. The Im Yunnity was extremely expensive so i found this amazing equivalent from a quality supplement manufacturer in the Netherlands (I know out of the county supplements sounds sketchy but I did tons of research and this is a really good company). You can give both supplements together with a dose of 2 pills 2-3 times per day 1 hour before food for better absorption. I also gave her a tablespoon cod liver oil in her food.
 
#27 ·
Jake is still getting around normal and eating normal. no evidence of the cancer if you didn't know.

I hope it continues!

He has been eating a few blueberries with dinner, and a little bit of banana and some good refrigerated food with his fromm (obviously all in portions).

The vet had us put him on predinzone full time so that has helped a bit.

His right leg has actually decreased swelling wise compared to the week prior!
 
#29 ·
Mj

MJ

I am so sorry to read about your boy!
Does he like to be brushed?
I would just shower him with extra undivided attention and hugs!
Hope you all get to enjoy the beach.
 
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#31 ·
He really doesn't care for brushing... lol!


Well it has been odd lately.

It started with his left rear leg being swollen, then his right rear got slightly swollen.

Now is left rear leg is normal size and not reddish/irritated like prior... but his right rear is pretty swollen and has developed a sore on the bottom side that he is constantly trying to lick and get to.

We think it could be because his leg was swollen and he was walking different on it and causing pressure on the wrong areas.

The sore has been seeping some of the fluid that caused his leg to swell. We have been cleaning it and letting it air out and putting tiny gauze on it and lightly wrapping with soft medical type bandage (but not like ace bandage, lighter and loose) while we are asleep.

We soaked his legs in a luke warm bath with some epsom salt and dried it and let it air out as well.

He seems to be still getting around fine, just licking like crazy.

Still gets his prednisone every day, along with pain pills, and some yunnan stuff with dinner.

He is also getting treats with CBD oil from a local reputable dog treat manufacturer.
 
#33 ·
Mj

MJ

Too bad Jake doesn't like to be brushed. I'm sure you can come up with something he really likes.
Your love and attention are all he needs.
Praying for him!!
 
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