rescued 8 yr old Sheltie and suddenly started limping RR leg

M

mgriego

Forums Novice
We adopted a Sheltie that was rescued and have had him a little over a month. He is 8 yrs. old and was seen by the Vet , treated for dermatitis and fleas and had a walnut sized hemangioma removed from neck, which was biopsied and found to be non-cancerous. he is healing well and fur starting to grow back. He is very attached to me and barks every time I leave his sight, but will settle down after a time. My concern is that yesterday afternoon he suddenly started limping on his right rear leg....no apparent injury or sore spots when pressed anywhere from bottom of paw all the way up his leg or hips. Any ideas ? hip or joint supplements in order? If so what is the best. Thank you for any/all advice. His name is Jester.

mgriego
 
Congratulations on the rescue of Jester and welcome to Sheltie Nation.

Several members have had a similar problem occurring and you might try to do a search to see all the comments.

My senior sheltie also had an issue like this. I waited a few days to see if it would resolve and if not off to the vet we went!

One time he stopped limping after a couple of days. The second time he had to be on pain meds as he was diagnosed with bone spurs.

Hope Jester get better in a few days!

You are a great sheltie parent to make sure he gets all the proper medical attention!
 
Welcome to SN and congratulations on adopting Jester into your family...he is a lucky boy.

By 8 years old it is not uncommon for arthritis to be setting into some joints...this might be the culprit if there was no injury. But dogs are pretty stoic and he could have injured himself without your even realizing. I would limit exercise for a few days and see if the limp goes away...if not a vet check of his legs and also his spine might give you an answer as to what is going on.

Hopefully this is just a sprain or very mild arthritis.

Trini
 
This time of year our Mally occasionally gets small burrs in his paws. Maybe that could have happened to Jester? They are really hard to find sometimes.

Thank you for rescuing Jester. Hoping he is doing better. Do keep us updated when you can. Thank you.
 
Hello mgriego, welcome to you and Jester to the Sheltie Nation, the best place on the internet for any Sheltie info you might need, lots of knowledgeable people who are more than welling to share what they can for our beloved breed. Thank you so much for rescuing Jester, this will be a win-win for both of you. I don't have any words of wisdom for your fur baby, please do keep us posted on what you find and oh, we do love pictures here, we love oohing and aahing over your baby as much as you do. :fl :smile2:
 
Jester update

Thank you all for your kind words and advice. I called my Vets office and ran it past them. They recommended a hip and joint supplement with anti-inflammatory . He has been in it for two days and limp appears to be gone. He is able to run and romp like normal and when I kneel on the floor he can stand on his rear legs and put his front paws on my shoulders as if to give me a hug once again!
Now occasionally he stretches out the affected leg almost straight back as if to really sssttrrreeetttccch.
Once agin thank you for your comments... Now what to do for dry and flaky skin.
Regards
 
Great update on Jester's mobility! :)

I would try adding a fish oil supplement to Jester's food for dry flaky skin issues...but if you haven't had bloodwork done to test his thyroid levels I would strongly recommend having that done too. Low thyroid is fairly common in Shelties and one of the typical symptoms is dry flaky skin. If he is low thyroid the fix is easy...inexpensive med usually given 2x daily with follow-up bloodwork to check that the dosage is on track.

Hugs to Jester. Trini
 
Hi mgriego and welcome to Sheltie Forums. Thank you for rescuing Jester and giving him a loving furever home.

For his joints, there are a number of people on the forum who use Vibrant Pets. It's not cheap, but it does work. I recommended it to a friend of mine who's Scotty was having mobility issues and was struggling with Rally, Obedience, and Agility. Within a short period of time, the Scotty was back and performing well in the performance sports but also enjoying something as simple as walks again.

Vibrant Pets isn't cheap but does come with a money back guarantee and even the small package will last a while since dosing is 1 to 1 (1 cup of food to 1 scoop of VP for example). They have two formulas you may want to look at Senior Complete and Joint Muscle. If you have any doubt you can call the. Lee, the owner of the company, is very helpful in directing you to the correct product for your dog's needs.

I know some folks on the forum who have used it to help with skin issues. Since you have both joint and skin issues, you may want to call and talk to Lee if you are interested in VP.

Oh, and one more thing... they use to, and I believe still do, have a coupon code for Sheltie Forum members. The code is SHELTIE.
 
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