OK, if you saw my hello! thread, you'll see I mentioned that Luna has been having issues with a limp. Here's a more detailed (maybe too detailed, and also maybe still forgot details!) account of the issue. I'm sorry it's SO LONG.
In late July, she started limping a bit after laying down, we had never noticed an "injury" - that is we didn't see any specific time that she did something and started obviously limping immediately afterward, or a "yelp" etc. She is crated during the day when we aren't home, so it seems unlikely that she would have done it when we weren't around.
When it started, it was her right hind leg for about a week, right after my wife had been away. At first, I thought maybe her leg was just "asleep" from laying down (does that even happen with dogs?), because it would generally go away by the time she'd walk across the room.
But it kept happening. After a few days without it going away, we took her to the vet. The vet didn't notice anything on visual/physical exam so we did "rest" for a week or so. "Rest" with quotes, because she still would go up/down stairs and sometimes run around the house if we couldn't stop her. She will not let me pick her up to be carried/up down stairs, and well...we don't want to crate her at night as we know that will just end with her howling until we break down and let her come to the bedroom anyway.
She made some progress, but then she limped again, so we took her back to the vet for x-rays, but they didn't really see anything concerning – no signs of hip dysplasia or arthritis, or take note of anything else – so we went back to the rest game plan, assuming it was a muscle sprain/pull that needed more time. Note: by the time we got in for that vet appointment, she actually hadn't really limped for a couple days.
She did not limp again on that leg. After a little over a week of not seeing any limping, we started letting her be more active, longer walks, a little bit of running, though we still tried to keep her from jumping, or doing anything too vigorous, etc. She was fine for over a week, maybe about 2 weeks or so.
About 2 weeks ago now, her limp "came back", but this time the left hind leg. It seemed to be worse than the other side had been, and sometimes she'd whine while laying down. Incidentally, Indiana was subject to severe flooding and several days in a row of rain at this time, no idea if it is related. I don't think so, but maybe it's possible? It did make it easier to "rest" her, but the lack of exercise wasn't helping this time.
I will mention - if we let her off her leash and allow her to run, Luna is as agile as ever. She is fast, still makes fast turns, etc. No signs at all when she is up/active of any pain at all. It's only when she first gets up from inactivity. Again, if she gets outside, she is a rocket and will play as much as she can. Maybe this is her stubborn personality showing, maybe she's masking pain. But it seems like it would be hard to *completely* mask it to run the way she still can.
ANYWAY, I started suspecting Lyme disease, since alternating limb lameness is a symptom and we knew she had been previously exposed, and also she had been with me on a trip to my parents in the woods of Ohio in early July (and my dad has had a bout with Lyme disease, so we know it is present in the ticks on their property).
Her Lyme test came back yesterday - negative. I was actually surprised, and honestly a bit disappointed. I mean, not that I want her to have it, but I wanted to know what's going on, and well...I really want a non-surgical ending to this story.
Back to the drawing board.
The vet's next suggestion is to do another set of x-rays, this time focusing on the hock, and sending them and the original xrays to specialists to look for osteochondritis dissecans (OCD). He says, if that's what they find, he will refer us to a specialist and the treatment will be surgery. I don't know anything about OCD, other than what I've read online, but it seems more prevalent in larger breeds, and if I remember right usually manifests issues earlier - as in under a year old? She is over 2 1/2. Has anyone here had experience with OCD in a sheltie? Of course, I'm just looking for reasons for it to not be that.
I did see a thread on here about SDF in shelties. Though it seems if there is typically swelling around the tendon, so I'd imagine the vet would have noticed that in the physical examination. Also, I'm guessing SDF doesn't alternate limbs. Has anyone here had experience with SDF, and if so, what were the symptoms like for your sheltie? Of course, this option doesn't sound any better, since the treatment is also generally surgical.
Right now, we're waiting before we take her for more x-rays. She is currently on Rimadyl. She has seemed a bit better the last few days, less limping, and/or going away quicker after she gets up from laying down and she started bringing us toys again when we're inside. But that may just be due to the medication. It does not seem to make her any worse to give her exercise, so we haven't been as strict about it the last week or so. Actually, it felt like keeping her inactive might be doing more harm than good with the weight gain and general look of depression on her face when she's not allowed to be active at all.
Other info:
She was around 24 lbs when this started, and had been around that weight for awhile I think. Last checkup she was 25.4, I'd imagine due to inactivity from the "rest". We're going to try to get that weight back down a bit. The vet has never suggested a diet, but I think she's on the edge of getting overweight. Apollo had a smaller frame, but I know they generally wanted him closer to 20 lbs.
She has been on the 4Health dog food from Tractor Supply since we got her (I figured Apollo was on it most of his life and made it to 17, so it must be pretty good). We did mix in a couple bags that had "protein shreds", but the 2nd bag of it, the "shreds" were basically just a powdery mess, so she is back to just the normal food she's been on since we switched off of their puppy blend back in December. This would be 4Health Lamb & Rice. She doesn't get table scraps, and generally doesn't get a lot of extra treats.
We have given her some joint supplements. I started after the right leg issue. I got Cosequin hip/joint supplements. I did stop after her left leg seemed to be worse, thinking maybe somehow the supplement was causing issues. Yesterday I switched to some from Vet IQ, she's only had one "dose" of those so far. My guess is maybe none of them will really help at her relatively young age, but figured hopefully it wouldn't hurt.
In late July, she started limping a bit after laying down, we had never noticed an "injury" - that is we didn't see any specific time that she did something and started obviously limping immediately afterward, or a "yelp" etc. She is crated during the day when we aren't home, so it seems unlikely that she would have done it when we weren't around.
When it started, it was her right hind leg for about a week, right after my wife had been away. At first, I thought maybe her leg was just "asleep" from laying down (does that even happen with dogs?), because it would generally go away by the time she'd walk across the room.
But it kept happening. After a few days without it going away, we took her to the vet. The vet didn't notice anything on visual/physical exam so we did "rest" for a week or so. "Rest" with quotes, because she still would go up/down stairs and sometimes run around the house if we couldn't stop her. She will not let me pick her up to be carried/up down stairs, and well...we don't want to crate her at night as we know that will just end with her howling until we break down and let her come to the bedroom anyway.
She made some progress, but then she limped again, so we took her back to the vet for x-rays, but they didn't really see anything concerning – no signs of hip dysplasia or arthritis, or take note of anything else – so we went back to the rest game plan, assuming it was a muscle sprain/pull that needed more time. Note: by the time we got in for that vet appointment, she actually hadn't really limped for a couple days.
She did not limp again on that leg. After a little over a week of not seeing any limping, we started letting her be more active, longer walks, a little bit of running, though we still tried to keep her from jumping, or doing anything too vigorous, etc. She was fine for over a week, maybe about 2 weeks or so.
About 2 weeks ago now, her limp "came back", but this time the left hind leg. It seemed to be worse than the other side had been, and sometimes she'd whine while laying down. Incidentally, Indiana was subject to severe flooding and several days in a row of rain at this time, no idea if it is related. I don't think so, but maybe it's possible? It did make it easier to "rest" her, but the lack of exercise wasn't helping this time.
I will mention - if we let her off her leash and allow her to run, Luna is as agile as ever. She is fast, still makes fast turns, etc. No signs at all when she is up/active of any pain at all. It's only when she first gets up from inactivity. Again, if she gets outside, she is a rocket and will play as much as she can. Maybe this is her stubborn personality showing, maybe she's masking pain. But it seems like it would be hard to *completely* mask it to run the way she still can.
ANYWAY, I started suspecting Lyme disease, since alternating limb lameness is a symptom and we knew she had been previously exposed, and also she had been with me on a trip to my parents in the woods of Ohio in early July (and my dad has had a bout with Lyme disease, so we know it is present in the ticks on their property).
Her Lyme test came back yesterday - negative. I was actually surprised, and honestly a bit disappointed. I mean, not that I want her to have it, but I wanted to know what's going on, and well...I really want a non-surgical ending to this story.
Back to the drawing board.
The vet's next suggestion is to do another set of x-rays, this time focusing on the hock, and sending them and the original xrays to specialists to look for osteochondritis dissecans (OCD). He says, if that's what they find, he will refer us to a specialist and the treatment will be surgery. I don't know anything about OCD, other than what I've read online, but it seems more prevalent in larger breeds, and if I remember right usually manifests issues earlier - as in under a year old? She is over 2 1/2. Has anyone here had experience with OCD in a sheltie? Of course, I'm just looking for reasons for it to not be that.
I did see a thread on here about SDF in shelties. Though it seems if there is typically swelling around the tendon, so I'd imagine the vet would have noticed that in the physical examination. Also, I'm guessing SDF doesn't alternate limbs. Has anyone here had experience with SDF, and if so, what were the symptoms like for your sheltie? Of course, this option doesn't sound any better, since the treatment is also generally surgical.
Right now, we're waiting before we take her for more x-rays. She is currently on Rimadyl. She has seemed a bit better the last few days, less limping, and/or going away quicker after she gets up from laying down and she started bringing us toys again when we're inside. But that may just be due to the medication. It does not seem to make her any worse to give her exercise, so we haven't been as strict about it the last week or so. Actually, it felt like keeping her inactive might be doing more harm than good with the weight gain and general look of depression on her face when she's not allowed to be active at all.
Other info:
She was around 24 lbs when this started, and had been around that weight for awhile I think. Last checkup she was 25.4, I'd imagine due to inactivity from the "rest". We're going to try to get that weight back down a bit. The vet has never suggested a diet, but I think she's on the edge of getting overweight. Apollo had a smaller frame, but I know they generally wanted him closer to 20 lbs.
She has been on the 4Health dog food from Tractor Supply since we got her (I figured Apollo was on it most of his life and made it to 17, so it must be pretty good). We did mix in a couple bags that had "protein shreds", but the 2nd bag of it, the "shreds" were basically just a powdery mess, so she is back to just the normal food she's been on since we switched off of their puppy blend back in December. This would be 4Health Lamb & Rice. She doesn't get table scraps, and generally doesn't get a lot of extra treats.
We have given her some joint supplements. I started after the right leg issue. I got Cosequin hip/joint supplements. I did stop after her left leg seemed to be worse, thinking maybe somehow the supplement was causing issues. Yesterday I switched to some from Vet IQ, she's only had one "dose" of those so far. My guess is maybe none of them will really help at her relatively young age, but figured hopefully it wouldn't hurt.
: we're waiting to take her to an orthopedic surgeon for their assessment, no real news right now.