Hopping on one leg

Terrasage

Terrasage

New member
William has started hopping on one back leg over the last couple of months. We went to the vet and she stretched and manipulated his leg and examined his foot, but couldn't figure out what was wrong. She gave us some pain pills for him; it's hard to say if they made a difference or not. It seems to happen only when he's outside, altho lately he seems to occasionally lose his footing in the house -but more than we remember him doing so in the past due to having hardwood and tile floors. It looks as if he stepped on something hot, that's the best way I can think of to describe it.

William is now 8 years old! He is otherwise in excellent health, eats fine, poops fine, etc. We'll be going back to the vet, but I wanted to check in with my wise-newfie owner friends here too.

Thanks for any thoughts.
 
Brandie&Maggie

Brandie&Maggie

New member
Hate to say it, but looks like it could certainly be a crutiate injury. Did your vet do a drawer test to check for instability? If not, I'd be looking for an orthopedic specialist to take a look.

My Maggie has a chronic CCL tear from before we got her that can't be repaired. When she does too much and is in pain, she moves exactly like your pup in the video.

I hope you get some answers soon!
 
Terrasage

Terrasage

New member
Thanks! It will help to at least know what we're dealing with--I have a vet appt. tomorrow morning and will post here after. Thanks again!
 
nowhavethreebears

nowhavethreebears

New member
Cruciate or possibly some type of neuro thing developing. Does he seem to have normal feeling and sensation in that foot? If so, most likely cruciate rather than neurological.
 
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ElvisTheNewf

ElvisTheNewf

Active member
Oh no! Poor guy. He's adorable and I love his coat, but definitely have him checked for a tear. Elvis just had his repaired in September.
 
R Taft

R Taft

Active member
I would seek a second opinion..maybe a ortho vet.....I am surprised at how high he lifts his foot, it is a little strange, but it needs to be further investigated
 
NinaA

NinaA

New member
Have had several knee injuries and never saw one walk exactly like that. Show this video to the vet. It would help them a lot. My non-expert guess would be a hurt foot.
 
DAWNMERIE

DAWNMERIE

Active member
I just made Vin watch the video. As dumb as it may sound, his thoughts were if he's not doing that walk at all inside the house that maybe he's getting pee on his foot and he doesn't like it. Another thought I had...Myra has not being going on our grass now for about 3 weeks, Vin put something down and it either smells odd to her or it bothers her feet...just some food for thought. Do you hear any clicking in the knee?
 
Terrasage

Terrasage

New member
Just got back from the vet's, who I showed the video too...he did a full manipulation of the leg, and then when he did the back, it cause William pain at the center of his back. The vet suspects it is a neurological issued. William goes in 2 weeks for an xray and is now on Deramaxx 50 mg/day and Gabapentin 300 mg 3x/day. Thank you all for your input, I will keep you posted.
 
ElvisTheNewf

ElvisTheNewf

Active member
I hope the pain meds help! When Elvis was on all that stuff waiting for surgery, we signed him up for a savings card at Walgreens and got all his meds there. It was way cheaper than the vet and she had no problem calling them in for me.
 
nowhavethreebears

nowhavethreebears

New member
That was my first though when I saw the video. Hopefully the new medication will make him comfortable. Please do let us know how he is doing over the next few days....
 
Terrasage

Terrasage

New member
Well, the med they gave him for neurological pain made a difference, for sure. He was still hopping, and then started just walking on it "harder" then his other leg. Now that he's off (ran out) of the neuro pain med, he's hopping again. He's still has anti-inflammatory pills that he takes every morning, but I don't think it's doing much good. He goes for his x-ray on Tuesday. Thank you for asking!!! I'll keep ya'll posted.
 
NewfieMama

NewfieMama

New member
Terrasage said:
Well, the med they gave him for neurological pain made a difference, for sure. He was still hopping, and then started just walking on it "harder" then his other leg. Now that he's off (ran out) of the neuro pain med, he's hopping again. He's still has anti-inflammatory pills that he takes every morning, but I don't think it's doing much good. He goes for his x-ray on Tuesday. Thank you for asking!!! I'll keep ya'll posted.
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Good luck and I hope it works out soon! Keep us posted.
 
Ivoryudx

Ivoryudx

New member
Have you considered a good massage therapist, possibly one who does Myofascial Release? I can't say enough about how much it has helped River, and Maddie. Someone who does the Myofascial Release on horses would be very good to contact.
 
Terrasage

Terrasage

New member
Well, guess what? William has a torn ACL. The vet also said it looks like he's developing a spur on his spine, but he's not sure how much that is playing into the limping. Our choices are surgery to repair the tear or continue to manage the pain with meds. At 8 years old, I'm not sure I want William to undergo surgery. I do think I'll look into the massage idea, thank you Ivorydux. We're going to keep William on the gabapentin, the vet said "most modern vets are using this medication"...(I love my vet, but I'm not sure what he means by "most modern vets")--at any rate, it seems to help alot.
 
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