[Aeacus]

Hi folks.

So, our male, 5 and half month old pup (pics in my sig) has developed a strange limping.

When?
We 1st noticed it yesterday evening.

What kind of limping?
When he walks, it's looking like so that his front feet wouldn't be on the same length, where his front right leg (left one from our point of view) would be shorter and producing that strange dipping when right leg is on the ground. Also, when he is limping, his head bobs slightly downwards every time he puts right leg down.

Strange part is, that he doesn't limp all the time, instead sporadically. 80% of his walks are normal, head stays on level and no "wobble" in his body. But sometimes, there is that limping. Also, sometimes, when starting to walk and 1st step on right leg, produces the limp (head bobs downwards) but following steps are normal and he walks just fine.

Dog reactions?
He comfortably puts weight on both front legs and doesn't lick or nab neither of his front legs, for there to be splinter or any other big issue for him. Also, there doesn't seem any issues when he is running or jumping. He is still the playful and energetic pup he has always been. He also follows us around, just like normal and there are no signs that he doesn't want to walk or walk less. Same goes for outside walks, where he eagerly walks forwards, sniffing in the snow etc, like a normal pup.

What we've done so far?
I touched and felt both of his front legs and he let me do that just fine. So, no painful spots for him and i didn't see cuts/bruises nor detect any swelling either.

Any other (semi-)relevant info?
Last Wednesday, we went to the vet to get his 3rd vac shot and while there, i asked vet to trim the long hair between his paw pads; so that the long hairs won't cover paw pads, giving him better grip on hardwood floor (our home) and outside, on the ice and snow. Also, so that the snow doesn't melt and get stuck in his paw hair. Vet agreed and trimmed his hair between paw pads. Oh, asked to cut nails as well, which vet did professionally.
And yesterday was completely normal day for him. No excessive running, jumping or other activities.

Has anyone of you even heard/seen this kind of sporadic limping? If so, any idea what it might be?
And should we visit vet?
My other concern, when visiting vet is, that at the vet place, he many not showcase the limping and walks normally, where vet may dismiss my claims about limping.

--
Aeacus

 

[goldy1]

Sporadic front leg limping is one of the symptoms of Lyme. Sometimes the limping will shift to the other front leg.
This was the telltale sign for knowing when my Golden needed to be treated with doxycycline. He never exhibited any of the other symptoms, just the front leg limping.
Simple blood test can determine. The doxy worked quickly within 2 days as I recall but he had to stay on it for the full course. Very treatable - just a very sneaky disease. Symptoms mimic lots of other things.
Keep us posted

 

[tikiandme]

At his age you might consider panosteitis......

 

[tikiandme]

With pano, the pup will present with sporadic lameness. It is self-limiting and the pup will out grow it. Take your pup to the vet and ask about it. If it is pano, do not over feed. I had a dog with it, and if I fed him over his regular ration he would start limping.....

 

[Aeacus]

Thanks for replies.

If it is pano, do not over feed. I had a dog with it, and if I fed him over his regular ration he would start limping.....

About that...

I read the kibble package label wrong (and i hope i'm not the only one with this mistake 😟 ) and we fed our pup, for 3 months, half of what he was supposed to get. Though, we did give him plenty of treats as well, during training.
I saw that error lately and for the past week, we have started to increase his meal amounts, 15g per day (5g per meal) more, just to get to the average/normal level of food he should be getting.

We feed him Platinum Puppy Chicken,
info: PLATINUM Puppy Chicken
And my error with label was, that i thought the weight on label is pup's current, actual weight, not the weight of adult dog. Due to this, his latest meals, based on his weight and age, before i noticed the mistake, was 180g per day. But he should be getting 430-595g per day. Or 500g for average.

So, could his limping be because we have increased his meal amounts?
He gets 3 meals per day and today he got 270g per day (90g per meal), yesterday it was 255g (85g per meal), day before that 240g (70g per meal). Tomorrow, we plan to give him 295g per day. Final goal would be ~500g per day (165g per meal).

Btw, he doesn't look skinny, despite getting less than it was supposed to. Also, vet checks have all gone well and even vet hasn't said anything about pup being skinny. But what worried me, and made me to find the mistake i did with label, is that, to me, our pup doesn't gain weight as much/fast. When we got him at 8 weeks, he weighed 8.8kg (came from litter of 4 and was overall bigger). Right now, at 5.5 months, he is 16.7kg. While adult male GR should weigh ~40kg (50kg if overfed). I'm unsure if the pup gains weight normally or did my mistake with food amount really slowed down his growth and weight gain.

 

[tikiandme]

I really am not the person to answer that. I can only tell you that when my 7mo. old male presented with limping, I took him to the vet. The vet did xrays and checked him over and said it was panosteitis. I found if I over fed him at all, he would start limping more often. It is best to take him to the vet and explain about his limping and get a diagnosis first. If it does happen to be panosteitis (also called growing pains) he will out grow it. You can also discuss the amount of food he has been fed with the vet. Don't worry too much about it. First you really need to find out the exact cause of the limping and go from there. Let us know what the vet says.

 

[Aeacus]

Update:

So, we went to the vet and vet took pup in for 30mins, to run tests and x-ray. After which vet showed us the x-ray image and explained what is wrong and gave advice what to do next.

Vet diagnosis:
(did my best to translate from Estonian)
"The puppy's right foreleg elbow tip not joined. Radius is faster growing than ulna. Starting with pain treatment. Needs an orthopedic consultation."
"Rycarfa 20 mg, 2 tablets 2 times a day, via mouth with food, 10 days."

Here's random image from the net, that i edited a bit, to showcase what we saw from x-ray and what vet explained to us as well:

The orange line indicates that the bone at that part is rounded, and not sharp, as it is supposed to be (front left leg has that sharp edge and is okay).
The red lines indicate the elbow tip that isn't connected, as it too is supposed to be (again, left leg has full connection and is okay).

Vet also said that there is small swelling at the trouble area and pup showcases mild pain when touched from there.
Oh, vet told us not to do long walks/exercise/running with him, to keep the leg safe. Where only outings outside are only for potty and then back home, despite pup wanting to walk/explore far more. That we've been doing thus far and it's quite difficult to get pup back home, when he doesn't want to go.

Going forwards, we booked a meeting with orthopedist and 1st available date is 27th Dec '21. He gets the medicine vet prescribed and we also bought him Condrovet Cachorros Puppies 120, to help with growing joints. He gets 1 pill per day, for now (amount is based on dog weight).

It's sad to see that our pup is limping and knowing that he has some pain. 😢 But he does his best not to show it to us, and instead is still eagerly following us around, running, jumping and being very playful. 🐕

Most saddening to me is, that few days ago, he learned the fetch on his own 😲 (one day, he brought his toy to me and i gave him a treat for it, then i threw it few meters away and he went and retrieved it, brought back to me again for a treat) and i'd love to train fetch with him a lot more (vocal command) 😍 but i can't do that, to keep his leg safe. 😭

So, now you guys know what happened.

Edit:
Almost forgot;
Vet told us that one option what can be done with faster growing Radius, is to make surgery and cut a small portion of the bone out, so that the further growth is normal. But vet also said that she is not an orthopedist and don't know for sure, hence why we need to go to orthopedic consultation.

 

[goldy1]

Wow - this is a lot to digest and must have come as quite a shock.
I hope the medication is relieving his discomfort. I pray for good results.

Please post an update after seeing the orthopedist on the 27th.

 

[Aeacus]

Please post an update after seeing the orthopedist on the 27th.

So, we just arrived home from the visit to orthopedist and things are looking good. 😄

Orthopedist checked both of his front legs, twisted them some and our pup also had to demonstrate walking in the hallway. There is still some small/mild limping present but overall, limping has reduced and our pup doesn't limp that much anymore.

Orthopedist said that the prescribed medicine helps to deal with inflammation and our pup's condition also seems better than earlier (when we visited vet and took x-ray). However, orthopedist also stated that x-ray is only two-dimensional and offers little info regarding the situation with the leg. Instead, orthopedist said that once the prescribed medicine runs out, and limping comes back, then we'd need to do Computed tomography (CT) scan, that enables to see a lot more info about the leg, since CT scan enables them to visualize the leg in 3D. CT scan would cost us €400 (which we can pay, if need be), but for time being, we need to look and see how our pup fares.

Oh, orthopedist also explained how dog bones grow. Radius grows evenly at both ends, so 50%/50%. But Ulna does not. Instead, Ulna grows 85% from the front end and 15% from the back end (back end being elbow side), so 85%/15%. And when Ulna doesn't have room to grow from the front end, Radius grows longer, producing limping. Orthopedist said that this is very common issue with dogs and can result in a "ballerina leg" (his words), where dog tiptoes when walking.

And... that is it for now. Update complete.

 

[Tagrenine]

What a cool update! Glad to hear your pup is feeling better. Thank you for sharing.

 

[goldy1]

Overall, a good update! I think you are in good hands with the specialist. You have gained an understanding and I am so glad to hear your little guy is doing better. Hopefully you will be able to get back to training and retrieving games.
Thank you SO MUCH for updating your thread. I learned something new and will say prayers for continued improvement!

 

[Aeacus]

Another update to conclude how it ended.

The last update was when we just went to orthopedist and he gave us another box of prescribed medicine, that lasted another 10 days. At that time, we were on 2nd box which had 4-5 days worth of medicine left. So, we continued with the treatment (giving our pup the prescribed medicine) until it ran out. Now, when the 3rd box was in use, the limping subsided completely, but once the medicine ran out, little bit of limping came back.

Since the limping wasn't so severe, and we were quite certain that this is due to the bone growth, we decided to give our pup a week or so, to monitor the limping, before going head with CT scan. In that time, limping disappeared and we thought all was fine. However, in mid-January, after our pup landed badly from jump (on the snow/ice), we think that he started to limp his left leg, but it was hard to tell and that went away in 1-2 days time.

Now, our pup doesn't limp anymore at all and all is in order. Though, he still gets his daily "Condrovet Cachorros Puppies 120" pills (to help in growing), 1.5 pills every day. Since now, he is over 20 kg and pill amount went up. Last week, at vet check, he was 24.6 kg.

 

[goldy1]

Happy to see this good update. They really keep us on our toes