Help! My Dogs Hurt His Leg.....

[GeneO]

Hi Everyone.

I have some distrubing news today. Last night at 230 my 6m old Carin fell out of my bed and has been favoring his right rear leg. He didnt cry out and didnt cry when my wife who is a former vet tech was checking his leg and pelvis. I was wondering if anyone has had this type of unfortunate accident. I surely dont want him to be in pain. He has peed once last night right after the accident when my wife took him outside. But this morning he hasnt. I have confined him to his kennel as to limit is movement. Since today is Sunday I have called the breeder where we bought him she is in our town and I am waiting for her advise. I am wondering if I should take him to the vet on an emergency visit but all they might do today is put him in a cage until tommorrow. So I just might wait and have him here at home were he will be more comfortable in his kennel. I am just hoping it is a bruise and not a break or anything to do with his hips or pelvis. Does anyone have advise on asprin or tylenol. He doesnt put any weight on that leg.

He weights 8 lbs. Thanks for the advise.

GeneO and Tom Tom

[wags]

Hi GeneO and Tom Tom.

Wes jumped off a chair and it turned out he had a pinched nerve. At first the vet said not to give him any aspirin because he wouldn't notice the pain and put weight on the injury. Also, the vet didn't know what type of injury it was- if it were serious.

Well, Wes' leg looked better after a while, but he started to act strange. So I called the vet who suggested we give him one baby aspirin in the morning and one in the evening.

At that time, Wes was 7 months. He is almost 14 months now and now weighs about 12 pounds.

[bradl]

Poor TomTom. We've had similar experiences as you and Sally, usually once or twice per dog! We usually try to gently 'work' all the joints and touch and poke everywhere to see if there are any immediate sensitivities or signs of structural damage. If the dog is showing signs of shock or intense distress it's off to the vet we go. If they seem more interested in a piece of cheese than in me patting them down and wiggling their toes, we usually try a little 'bed rest' first.

If they are limping or favoring a leg after some aerial stunt we usually limit their activity for a day or so and offer baby aspririn as Sally did (with a lot of crate time to allow the analgesic time to promote healing, and keep them from re-injuring themselves because they're feeling better). I would not give a dog Tylenol or Advil. http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/altvetmedg...gcataspirin.htm

Most times, they are back to normal again in a couple of days. If the limping persists more than a couple of days (sorta depends on how pitiful they look) it will be off to the vet for an x-ray or whatever the doctor orders. Small dogs occasionally have luxating patellas and that apparently shows as a skipping or lifting of a rear leg from time to time, often while simply running around. Your vet can check patellas during a non-emergency office visit.

Sometimes after they hurt themselves you may notice them lifting up a leg for a bit of sympathy and a treat. Occasionally they will lift the wrong foot

[GeneO]

Thankyou very much bradl and sally. We took Tom Tom to the vet today and he did x rays and said that Tommy had two very little fractures one below the knee and another one above the knee. He said just to watch him and not let the kids get rough with him. Doc Barda also said that slowly Tom would start to put weight on his leg and start to use it again at his own pace. Once again I really thank you for the replies. He is hopping around today wanting his Kongs and pillow. Thanks GeneO

[CathyAnn]

Geneo...sorry to hear about your Tom Tom's leg. I must say that I am surprised the vet didn't put a soft cast on? When my Cairn fractured her leg a few years back, our vet did so with her. She felt much, much better with it on than not.

Hmmmm.....

Cathy