Labrador – front leg limp – advice please

My black lab bitch (6 1/2) suddenly developed a limp 6 days ago. The Ex, who I share the dogs with, took her to the vet who apparently said it could have been caused by over-exercise or running over rough ground, neither of which have been the case. He also said that jumping from my estate car boot was a very likely cause!

She was put on Metacam with very limited exercise and now seems fine.

I’m due to pick them up at lunchtime today and The Ex is insisting that I buy a dog ramp to avoid a repeat of the problem. I’ve done a quick search and they are about £70. I’m very loathe to do this at this stage because I don’t trust what she’s said re vet advice and that the problem is likely to have been caused by the car, as it appeared 2 days after dropping the dogs off. Problems re The Ex are too long a rant to go into details but this has coincided with the camping season about to start and I take the dogs away to The Lakes etc. regularly!

Can a vet really diagnose a potential long term problem like this on its first appearance?
Isn’t it more likely that she may have simply strained something eg. muscle or ligament as it has resolved itslef within a few days and is the first episode!

I feel the car is not relevant, as she used to jump out of my old car which actually had higher seats than the new estate, which is only about 2 feet to the ground + the limp appeared 2 days after they had been dropped off.

Advice from vets and experiences from STW dog owner welcome. Unfortunately it’s too late to build a new patio for the ex 8)

Ramps are £70 if you’re a mug. Ebay

Sounds like the vet was either guessing, or going by previous experience. Bit like a human diagnosis – unless its scanned you’re not going to know exactly what the damage is.

ime if something a dog is doing is causing it pain, it wont do it. my old dogs gradually became more reluctant to jump into cars, vans as they got older. and they were always limping for some unknown reason. both labs

❓

Our lurcher injured her front wrist when young, she has been lifted in and out of the car ever since and not allowed up stairs.

I would advise complete rest for a week followed by on lead for a another three and dont let the dog jump in and out of cars. Dont let mistrust of the Mrs harm the dog.

Dont let mistrust of the Mrs harm the dog.

No. I wouldn’t do that even though she uses them as a lever at every opportunity.

I’ll see how she looks when I collect her today and might pop into the vet on my own to get advice directly.

In my opinion the vet would have no idea how the injury was caused… but presented with a dog with a limp and an owner citing jumping out of cars as the only exercise its had in the past 2/3 days then yes – a diagnosis of ‘injury caused by jumping out of a car’ would seem fair (from the vet). You will have no way of knowing what else the dog may have done while with you ex, so guess you have to accept it as a possible cause.

All you know is that your dog has an injured leg, so pain killers and limited exercise make sense, then as above… if jumping out of cars hurts then she wont be so quick to jump out again next time. It could have just been a bad landing (two dogs jumping at the same time and twisting) or it could be unrelated.

I don’t know a lot about labs, but i seem to think that they can suffer from joint issues as they get older, and although 6.5 isn’t old, she is no longer a pup. From what you say I’m sure that they are fit and not overweight. If it was me I would just keep a close eye on her for a while, give her a lift down from the car for the next few weeks, then see how she goes. Dogs sprain their legs the same as we do, if i sprained my ankle playing football, it doesn’t mean that I would never do it again – but I would be cautious!

Why don’t you just lift the dog out of the car for a while – that’s free? Not the best movement for a dog anyway, jumping down out of a car, especially as they get older. You don’t have to take their whole weight, just take the load off their shoulders. I always do it with my younger dogs while they are still growing – usually just take a bit of weight by the scruff as they jump down…

ps. Why would you seek advice from a mtb forum rather than trust a vet?? 🙄

Our 2yo cocker occasionally develops a limp after heavy excercise which usually involves jumping over streams etc.
Usally gone the next day. She is a nutter though.
I’ve found that most Labs are [in general] overweight and hurting a joint when jumping is not that surprising. Metacam obviously worked – but use the bare minimum as it can have a bad effect on kidneys.

just because the dog is jumping out of a car doesn’t mean that jumping is unnatural for a dog… yes the car is man made but i’m pretty confident dogs have been jumping since our lord god first invented them.

saying that, dogs are loons and if you feel you need to temper it’s behaviour to help it heal then there’s no harm in that 🙂

Think its the tarmac landing which causes the problems…

EDIT – So maybe take a spare bed as a landing pad??

surely tarmac has been around since before dogs? the best option for all involved is to park on nature, where dogs were invented to jump.

ps. Why would you seek advice from a mtb forum rather than trust a vet??

I’m fairly sure that riding a bike and being a vet aren’t mutually exclusive.

😀 Yay… we all need 4 x4 to drive on the nature, then maybe just let the dogs look out of the windows, they don’t really need to get out do they 😉

dogs were created with eyes to see, if you crack open the window a little they can use their god given nose to smell and depending on your dogs taste in music you can either turn up the radio, let them listen to the sounds of nature or a nice audio book.

Trust the vet first IMO

Then:

Check first for sharp objects in foot. Is your dog licking his paws a lot? Easy to sort out.

Check pads – are they tender between the pads? One of my dogs suffers from this and shows in limp after walks/end of day. Licking another tell-take sign. Needs rest if pads sore.

Are front paws swollen at all? Could be start of arthritis? *

I avoid 4x4s for the getting old dogs in the back reason, ditto ramps. Dogs front paws on ledge and a slight help from me usually suffices.

* I took my dog to vets this weak because of swollen front paws and limp. Diagnosed as arthritis (previously diagnosed) but advice was anti-inflammatories BUT to keep plenty of exercise. Apart from cut paws the advice I have been given is to keep exercising unless there is an obvious sign of distress from the outset.

Good luck

Why would you seek advice from a mtb forum rather than trust a vet??

Balanced view and personal experience + as cougar says, there are bound to vets on here.

I/m fairly convinced that the car has nothing to do with it as it happened a couple of days after I dropped them off and she doesn’t take them anywhere in the car.

She has already spent £50 at the vets and I’m keen to avoid any repeat or long term meds. With all due respect to vets, they are there to make money and like most medical prfessions, will cover themselves for worst case scenario which happily (for them) involves follow up appointments to make sure the patient is well. I have no problem with that sort of care but don’t feel it necessary for something that may well be a one off incident.

+1 for lift the dog.

Is the dog overweight? Has it been scanned to diagnose it properly?

Standard course of treatment is take a cheap easy option first and see what happens (which is sounds like they have done) and then go see how it develops. Although one concern is for insurance as if the vet goes making assumptions about something serious that is not then it could affect your premiums/cover exclusions and if the dog then does get a real problem with the leg later on it might not be covered.

+1 for lift the dog.

Mate of mine did that with his Giant Schnauser, and got a hernia for his troubles.

1st thing is to make sure the dog isn’t overweight, so many labs are.

If on exam there was thickening of the joints and obvious pain on manipulation of the joints then it would be possible to suggest it was likely to be an ongoing problem, though radiographs would likely have been offered at that stage.

If there are no changes on exam and the dog has recovered then a gradual return to exercise and lifting dog out of car for a few weeks would be sensible.

Unless the owner saw how the dog became lame or has a good idea the cause is educated guesswork.Dogs are like the mafia, they don’t talk. If your dog shows hesitation in jumping out of the car it is probably finding it sore, however lots of dogs act 1st (oh good a walk! ) and jump out even if it will be painful as they are a bit thick really.

If she is sound now and not showing any reluctance I would probably not worry too much about the cause and more act to prevent further episodes, weight management if needed, regular exercise avoiding sudden increases in time/effort, controlling high impact exercise eg twisting/turning after balls etc. Lots of people swear by glucosamine etc but studies are not that convincing.

Car ramps can help older dogs but it is often a good idea to get them used to them before they need them and if you do get one make sure it is really solid or they won’t trust it or use it. However I don’t think I would suggest buying one based on the history.

Standard disclaimer of all advice being useless unless you have examined the dog. HTH

I/m fairly convinced that the car has nothing to do with it as it happened a couple of days after I dropped them off and she doesn’t take them anywhere in the car.

thats not the point. The point is jumping now could make it much worse.

We’ve just had this with our black lab, he’s a rescue dog but is about 5.

Is your dog insured? If so, do not mess about with the vets, get a referral to a specialist.

Our was limping on his front left for about 3 months on and off, the vet could do nothing for him that could help. We live in notts, so ended up taking him to East Midlands Referrals in Hucknall, Notts. Graham who is the specialist was amazing.

Turns out if he’s limping on his left, the problem is in his right leg and he’s trying to compensate. After proper analysis, ours had fragments of bone in both his front elbows, which was causing the pain. Over the past 3 months, he’s had to have both his front legs operated on, but honestly he is like a new dog now.

Apparently labs can get bone fragment from 3 months and its very common. If he he’s limping in one, chances are he’ll needs both legs operating on because it’ll be the same in the other. They only operate one at a time though.

Knowing what I know now, we were really apprehensive at first, but they whole process has really given us our dog back from when he could hardly walk. He’s back to legging it round like a puppy now!!! There are no tablets a vet can give you that will fix it if its the same as ours.

Overall it can to a bit expensive. Our total bill came to around £2k, but it was all covered by the petplan insurance we have got, and the specialist dealt direct with the insurance. I personally wouldn’t hesitate going back to the specialist, our experience from start to finish was amazing compared to the vets and I’d highly recommend Graham if you are anywhere near the midlands.

I’ve had her out two short walks since yesterday. First one, she was kept on the lead for most of it and was allowed to run around for 5 minutes. When I say run, she had a trot around and sniff, while her brother ran around as per usual. No limp, favouring of any leg or obvious pain. Not herself though. Second walk this morning (pic below), I took her out before any Metacam given. She was more like her normal self but still not ‘running’ as per normal, so I’ll be taking it very easy with her for the next couple of days until she goes back on Monday.

Weight is an issue, as with most labs. She has been on Royal Canin since a pup and the only extra she gets from me is mackerel or sardines mixed in with her meal and the occassional dog biscuit. The Ex on the other hand thinks it’s ‘clever’ to give them a bowl of whatever she has had for dinner and I suspect her Mother is also giving them titbits, as they have always put weight on when they come back to me. This has been the source of many arguments but now this has happened she may get the message and stop it.

She is on Petplan, so further treatment, if required, is not an issue. Hopefully she will get back to normal over the next few days/weeks and I will make a point of lifting her in and out of the car until I decide on other options.

Thanks for all the replies and advice/experiences.

Sophie this morning.

Apparently a change in behaviour is a clear sign something is wrong but i’d give her time to see if she can get over it before going down the specialist route. We waiting 3 months and we had pain killers, metacam and seraquin before we went to the specialist. In hindsight, the vet didn’t know what was wrong so we should have gone to the specialist sooner, but we just didn’t know what to do with him. Some days he would be better than others but just still not himself.

He’s still on seraquin and will be for life to help with the joint movement but we only use metacam now tactically for when he’s out all day to help him. It has honestly made a huge difference to him being sorted properly.

ChrisA

Pleased to hear your dog is back to his old self. I’ll bear your experience in mind and if she hasn’t improved in a few weeks I’ll be looking down that route.

At this stage, due to the fact it was sudden onset with no previous problem, I’m looking (and hoping) more along the lines of a strain/sprain, so fingers crossed.