Piper's mom
Moderator
I’m so glad Kip is showing no ill effects but after reading your account of Jessie’s injury I can certainly understand why your being extra careful!
A scary thing happened to Kip’s leg (UPDATE on Clicking)
- Thread starter Elei
- Start date
ghggp
Moderator
My thoughts exactly!
That would have scared me half to death hearing my dog crying out in pain! Thank goodness you responded so quickly or the leg might have broke! I always err on the side of caution myself! Yes, we are worry warts! Better that than the alternative... not caring at all!
Hanne
Forums Sage
It is so true - good thought
But as soon as Minnie is not as she used to be
then I get so scared and forget to think logically
Elei
Forums Enthusiast
Kip had his vet appointment on Thursday. The good news is that he apparently didn’t hurt his leg in his incident last week.
The bad news is that he now has less muscle on his right hind leg than the left. The right leg is the one that has had a clicking sound since he was a puppy. So the vet suggested another X-ray (his 3rd) so we did that and the X-ray looks totally normal. Which is good but not terribly reassuring since there are problems that don’t show up on X-ray.
His ACL seems totally normal which is also a relief.
The vet suggested that he could have a meniscus tear which is something we’ve considered before, but threw out because he doesn’t limp. Now that there’s evidence that he isn’t using his right leg as much as the left, this raises the risk that there’s an actual injury. My vet clinic can’t diagnose a meniscus tear. You need MRI, ultrasound, or arthroscopy. There’s an orthopedic vet I’m going to try to get a vet appointment with. Hopefully they can give me an answer.
The thing I don’t like about going to a different vet is that due to Covid policies I don’t even know if I’ll get to meet the vet. I’ll just be handing Kip off and waiting in my car. I know it’s necessary, I totally get that, but I HATE having to send Kip off with strangers by himself.
It’s also possible that there’s nothing wrong and he just prefers his left leg so uses it more. Of course I hope this is the case but I want to know for sure.
The bad news is that he now has less muscle on his right hind leg than the left. The right leg is the one that has had a clicking sound since he was a puppy. So the vet suggested another X-ray (his 3rd) so we did that and the X-ray looks totally normal. Which is good but not terribly reassuring since there are problems that don’t show up on X-ray.
His ACL seems totally normal which is also a relief.
The vet suggested that he could have a meniscus tear which is something we’ve considered before, but threw out because he doesn’t limp. Now that there’s evidence that he isn’t using his right leg as much as the left, this raises the risk that there’s an actual injury. My vet clinic can’t diagnose a meniscus tear. You need MRI, ultrasound, or arthroscopy. There’s an orthopedic vet I’m going to try to get a vet appointment with. Hopefully they can give me an answer.
The thing I don’t like about going to a different vet is that due to Covid policies I don’t even know if I’ll get to meet the vet. I’ll just be handing Kip off and waiting in my car. I know it’s necessary, I totally get that, but I HATE having to send Kip off with strangers by himself.
It’s also possible that there’s nothing wrong and he just prefers his left leg so uses it more. Of course I hope this is the case but I want to know for sure.
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trini
Forums Sage
I hear you about handing Kip over to a vet you don't know...if you do need to go that route I suggest you write out all your concerns and questions to be sent in with Kip. I do this now for even regular appointments with our own vet and it not only helps you but also helps the vet. Even with records faxed over to a new vet it is not the same as having an owner's write-up when you can't go in with Kip to talk to the vet face to face. Hopefully you won't have to go the MRI route because it is really expensive...we have had to have MRI's done on 3 of our dogs over the years and the most recent one 2 years ago cost $3,800.
Best wishes to Kip...and you too.
Trini
Best wishes to Kip...and you too.
Trini
Elei
Forums Enthusiast
Thanks for the tips about writing down my questions, Trini. I’ll do that.
Yikes!! I certainly hope we don’t have to do an MRI. To be honest I don’t know how much any of these diagnostics cost, and I don’t even know if any vets on the island do MRIs.
Piper's mom
Moderator
Good news Elei but that sure is a puzzler! Hopefully you can get some answers from the ortho vet
Sharon7
Moderator
I've been struggling to figure out what the problem has been with Faith's rear leg for over a year now. 4 vets examined her over that time, her leg xray came back clean, no hip or other joint issues, no arthritis. My retired vet said he thinks she has sciatica. So in a couple of weeks she will go have a spinal xray. it comes and goes, she tears around every morning with the puppy and jumps on and off the bed - no limping. But in the afternoon after our walk, she lies down and chews on her back foot, like she has neuropathy. I think her thigh muscle on that side is diminished too. The worst is when she just completely holds that leg off the ground, and she looks very, very sad.
Anyway, just wanted to say I get how frustrating it is to not know what is going on with Kip. Hope the ortho vet can give some answers; we may have to go that route as well. And yes it sucks handing them off even though I know my vet well.
Anyway, just wanted to say I get how frustrating it is to not know what is going on with Kip. Hope the ortho vet can give some answers; we may have to go that route as well. And yes it sucks handing them off even though I know my vet well.
Elei
Forums Enthusiast
I hope you get answers soon too. I think the only thing worse than not knowing what’s wrong is finding out it’s something really bad.
Currently I’m waiting for the ortho vet to review Kip’s records so they can decide if this is something they can help with or not
Elei
Forums Enthusiast
Update!!!
A few weeks ago Kip had his appointment with the orthopedic vet. This vet is supposed to be the best on the island for orthopedics and was recommended by several friends, so I felt good about going here.
The ortho vet reviewed all Kip’s X-rays, videos, and did an exam. He said there is zero indication that anything is wrong! He said that the click is most likely a random click and just the way Kip is. Just how some people have clicking joints for no known reason. The vet didn’t recommend any further diagnostics and basically said :nothing is wrong, just let Kip enjoy his active life.
This was such an amazing relief!!!I’ve been worrying about this ever since he was a puppy and now I can relax and just enjoy life with Kip.
I sure wish I’d gone to this vet in the first place. I could have saved myself over a year of anxiety and stress. Hopefully I’ve learned my lesson and I’ll just go straight to the specialist for future issues.
I’m not exactly mad at my regular vet, but I am a little frustrated. At various times during Kip’s puppy hood, I was told to put him on crate rest, prescribed NSAIDS unnecessarily, and told that “with one wrong move, his knee could ‘go’”. Obviously that freaked me out so bad! Then when they recently told me he could have a torn meniscus, basically the vet (different from our usual vet, but at the same clinic) was like “but we can’t tell for sure, nothing we can do, he could end up crippled, goodbye.” Which was also super upsetting. The orthopedic vet said there was NO WAY he could have a torn meniscus because that would be very painful. Shouldn’t my regular vet have known that?!!? Ok, rant over.
I’m super happy for Kip! I’m also very happy with the orthopedic vet. Although we only talked over the phone due to Covid, I was really pleased how they handled the case. Very thorough, answered all my questions, explained everything, took plenty of time rather than rushing me out the door. I think I may just switch vets.. Unfortunately the ortho vet is almost 2 hours away..
A few weeks ago Kip had his appointment with the orthopedic vet. This vet is supposed to be the best on the island for orthopedics and was recommended by several friends, so I felt good about going here.
The ortho vet reviewed all Kip’s X-rays, videos, and did an exam. He said there is zero indication that anything is wrong! He said that the click is most likely a random click and just the way Kip is. Just how some people have clicking joints for no known reason. The vet didn’t recommend any further diagnostics and basically said :nothing is wrong, just let Kip enjoy his active life.
This was such an amazing relief!!!I’ve been worrying about this ever since he was a puppy and now I can relax and just enjoy life with Kip.
I sure wish I’d gone to this vet in the first place. I could have saved myself over a year of anxiety and stress. Hopefully I’ve learned my lesson and I’ll just go straight to the specialist for future issues.
I’m not exactly mad at my regular vet, but I am a little frustrated. At various times during Kip’s puppy hood, I was told to put him on crate rest, prescribed NSAIDS unnecessarily, and told that “with one wrong move, his knee could ‘go’”. Obviously that freaked me out so bad! Then when they recently told me he could have a torn meniscus, basically the vet (different from our usual vet, but at the same clinic) was like “but we can’t tell for sure, nothing we can do, he could end up crippled, goodbye.” Which was also super upsetting. The orthopedic vet said there was NO WAY he could have a torn meniscus because that would be very painful. Shouldn’t my regular vet have known that?!!? Ok, rant over.
I’m super happy for Kip! I’m also very happy with the orthopedic vet. Although we only talked over the phone due to Covid, I was really pleased how they handled the case. Very thorough, answered all my questions, explained everything, took plenty of time rather than rushing me out the door. I think I may just switch vets.. Unfortunately the ortho vet is almost 2 hours away..