dawnie Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Today, whilst jumping into the boot of the car, Milo hurt his leg (at first we thought he'd hurt his paw but as things developed we realised otherwise). It wasn't bothering him too much so we continued to the dog show and he was ok. During a break in our classes we went off for a walk and i threw his ball for him, he ran to fetch it then yelped and took the weight off one of his back legs. I checked his leg and couldn't feel/see anything. We sat down for a while then i noticed his leg had swollen around the elbow joint - i felt it all around and its swollen just above the main elbow bone (sorry not very good with dog anatomy). Has anyone got any ideas what this could be? We came home from the show (gutted) and i've put a cold compress on it but its still swollen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 (edited) I am sorry to say that this sounds like a classic cruciate ligament injury. Rest him completely, hot and cold compresses. Lead only exercise out to toliet and back and get him to the vet in the morning to check it out. If you have Arnica give him some of that, but completely rest is what he will need if it is a cruciate injury Edited September 20, 2009 by Anne Grose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawnie Posted September 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Thank you. Apparently its not his cruciate - the swelling is on the outer part of the leg - possibly a muscle tear or even a break (although he is putting weight on it so doubt if its a break), phoning vets 1st thing in morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Arnica will still help - hope that it isn't anything too serious when you see the vet this morning. Fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzycharm Posted September 21, 2009 Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Just make sure he only has lead walk in case it is the cruciate. Dogs can still weight bear with it sometimes. Only cold compresses to reduce swelling. Hope it isn't the cruciate and just a torn muscle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawnie Posted September 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2009 Thanks guys. He went to the vets this afternoon, he'd been walking ok all day then sods law i tried to lift him into the car and he panicked and jumped in and hurt his leg again. The vet wasn't happy with the swelling etc so kept him in to do xrays etc. I picked him up earlier this evening. The xrays didn't show anything specific except a lot of soft tissue swelling around the elbow, this would be consistant with a knock but he hasn't knocked his leg and if he had it would've been on the inside not the outside. The vet is very puzzled as to what it is and is concerned it may be an achilles problem that is being shadowed by the tissue swelling so they have put metal splints on his leg to restrict all movement to that joint, he's gotta stay like this for THREE weeks (any know any dog mental stimulation games!), and only have very very light exercise if any at all. So a little frustrating as we're still none the wiser as to what it is or why it comes and goes so quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Poor Milo. Hope it mends quickly. From my experience, I have found that they actually adjust to confinement quite quickly and although they look mournful they cope. Even my nutty 18 month lurcher coped well with 4 weeks cage confinement after back surgery, so i am sure Milo will amaze you. Give him a gentle hug from all of us here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudi Posted September 22, 2009 Report Share Posted September 22, 2009 Hi, hope Milo picks up soon. Invest in some Kongs and feed his dinner to him in them, maybe split his food into 3 times a day. Marrow bones are useful as they'll chew them for ages. Put a TV near his crate with a natural history programme on ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawnie Posted November 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Sorry for the delay in updating this. After 2.5 weeks of having his leg bandage (and some cross words with the vets re their pricing structure) things took an unsuspected turn one night when i was looking through some old photos of Milo in the snow last winter and there it was, the swelling on his hock joint. It had been there all along. It doesn't explain why he's injuring his leg or what he's actually doing to it but it meant the bandaging could come off. So, off my own back, as i'm still concerned that he's sustained the same injury to both legs, he now goes to hydrotherapy and also has Joint Aid with his food. He seems a lot better although the swelling is still there, so after spending loads of money at the vets i'm still no further forward and didn't get any answers. But I am more aware of it and don't let him go bananas like he used to. He's very happy and loves his walks just like he used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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