My dog has a slight limp which she can walk off

Slam62

Slam62

Slam62

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Hello all

Our border collie is 5 years old and loves running like a mad thing chasing a ball, however recently she has developed a slight limp that is most pronounced after a sleep following exercise.
I’m loathed to take her to the vet as they seem a bit like dentists in their finance model to me.

I’m thinking I’m going to have to make sure she goes extremely easy on it for a few days and see how it goes.

When she actually does a bit of running she seems to forget all about it and the limp completely disappears.

Has anyone had any experience of this type of thing?

Thanks
 
Odd in a 5 year old, but our 10 year old has been like this few a years, always seems to be a bit stiff after a post exercise nap but then springs into life if there is a ball, squeak or food on offer.

Other thing it could be is excessive wear on her pads or a foreign object in the foot, but I reckon you'll have probably already checked that.
 
My dog had a limp a few months ago after a walk. It didn't go away after a few days, so my wife was quite worried and wanted to take her to the vet.

However I noticed via the garden ring cameras that as soon as we weren't looking at her, she had a sudden and miraculous recovery.

Took a couple of weeks of us ignoring it before she gave up on that little trick.

I did give her a thorough check over incase she had anything in her paws or any actual injury - but there wasn't anything there. She must have pulled it a bit during some strenuous running, then enjoyed the extra attention it got her.
 
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Slam62 said:
When she actually does a bit of running she seems to forget all about it and the limp completely disappears.
Click to expand...

Yea, don't let her do that. It's adrenaline taking over and numbing out the pain. The damage will get worse if she continues. Like any injury rest is key. I would give it time and not goto the vets for at least a month.

I've had multiple dogs with limps, mainly springer spaniels but also a Rottweiler Pointer (we think) as she was a rescue. Usually giving them gentle walks sees the dog fully recover. When they have 4 legs they can easily limp on 1 leg to help let it recover.
 
Throwing a ball, particularly using a ball thrower can cause injuries in dogs because they run as fast as they can they come to a sudden halt.

Our 4 year old Vizsla showed signs of slight injury on her front leg joint, and as soon as we noticed it we stopped throwing a ball for at least 2 weeks to make sure it could heal up. She was fine after that.
 
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Slam62 said:
Hello all

Our border collie is 5 years old and loves running like a mad thing chasing a ball, however recently she has developed a slight limp that is most pronounced after a sleep following exercise.
I’m loathed to take her to the vet as they seem a bit like dentists in their finance model to me.

I’m thinking I’m going to have to make sure she goes extremely easy on it for a few days and see how it goes.

When she actually does a bit of running she seems to forget all about it and the limp completely disappears.

Has anyone had any experience of this type of thing?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Our labrador had elbow dysplasia, but that usually presents within 1st year. He had a couple of operations to alleviate the pressures and adding pins to strengthen the bones. Luckily we had insurance otherwise it would have cost £7000+ plus physio.

Osteoarthritis usually develops from elbow dysplasia, which could be what you are seeing. As he grew older he was stiff after sleep, but fine unless he ran too much.

Whilst we did not go to Fitzpatrick Referrals the operations were his creations. Our surgeon had said that 10 years before that there was little that could be done, only had pain management for a couple more years before pain would get too much. Instead he lived another 10 years, though last couple of year he had to have daily dose of Metacam for pain. Noel is a supervet - he changed veterinary surgery completely.

https://www.fitzpatrickreferrals.co.uk/orthopaedics/canine-elbow-dysplasia/

I would take her to the vets check, but diagnosis is difficult if it just a soft tissue issue.
 
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