Late this morning we noticed that Tera was favoring her right hind leg. She had been in the backyard with our other dog, and we noticed it when she came in.I checked her paw pads for cuts, stickers, etc...didnt see anything. She now walks on just three legs and has the "hurt" leg hiked up in the air. Should I wait another day and see if it gets better, or should I take her to her vet to get it checked? Thank you!
Experienced Advisor Deepa Gopinath says:
March 05th, 2008 at 10:26 PM
Hi there. I would advise that the first thing to do would be to gently feel Tera's whole leg and see if she is particularily painful anywhere. If you get a strong pain response, then I would advise taking her to the vet at least so they can provide some pain relief. If she is fairly comfortable, you can see how she goes for the rest of the day and make an appointment in the next couple of days if she is still limping. The problem can be anything from a cut or foriegn body, fracture (unlikely if she hasn't experienced any trauma), muscle/tendon injury or a problem in her hip or stifle (knee). Being a small breed dog, she would be predisposed to 2 specific joint problems- patellar luxation (the kneecap pops in and out of the groove it is supposed to stay in) and legg-calve-perthes disease (te head of the femur, part of the hip, loses its blood supply), but another possibility is that she has torn a ligament in her knee. I would strongly advise keeping her confined to a small room, with her only excercise being very short leash walks to urinate/defaecate. Also please ensure she is not able to jump up on anything until she either improves or is examined by a vet. Please do not give her any human meds without consulting your vet as dogs can react badly to these. Hope this helps and please let me know if you ahve any more queries.
Pet products and meds (with prescription) at discount prices here
Do you know the answer this question? Are you a pet professional? Become an advisor today!
Not a pet professional? Register here to comment on this question and help fellow pet owners.
Do you have a pet question you need answering? Ask our caring pet advisors here:
Does this not answer your question exactly?
Our chihuahua has what appears to be a rash all over and it's making her very itchy. Just noticed it this morning as blotchy red areas on her stomach, but we think it is other... Read More »
recent vomiting and light blood in diarreah stool
Hello, our 12 week old puppy has had diarrhea for the past three days. We think it started from him eating the some of our other two adult dog's food. We bought some anti-diarrhea... Read More »
Molly has been vomiting all day, it is yellow watery but some is whiteish & frothy looking. Should I be concerned? Read More »
Buster gets the hiccups often. He's getting them through the night the and shortly afterwards he attempts to vomit. He has vomited once with a bit of yellow bile coming up but... Read More »
for two days the tip of my 10 month old chihauhau's pinis sticks out and wont go back in, he;s peeing as normal but it just wont retrack all the way back in. Read More »
Televets does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See additional information.
© Televets 2008
