Soft tissue injury?

[Stellababy]

Hello all,

Stella has had close to 6 weeks now where she doesn't place the full weight on her right, back leg when she stands and puts it to the side a bit when she sits. She seems to feel no pain and runs and jumps like normal. We took her into the vet and he didn't see anything wrong with her, but thought it might be a soft tissue injury. He prescribed some anti-inflammatory medication and we were to restrict her activity. So, we have been done with the anti-inflammatory medication for about 4 days and nothing seems to have changed. Also, she doesn't want to slow down and seems to be getting more hyper because of the lack of serious exercise.

Has anyone else gone through this? How long should a soft tissue injury take to heal? The vet said the next step is to x-ray her, but didn't think we would see anything so I'm hesitant to waste the money. Has anyone ever gotten a massage for their dog? I heard that is good for relaxing the muscles.

 

[LILYLARUE]

It could be a ligament tear too. Though an x-ray would be good for any bone injury or fractures, an MRI would be better to show soft tissue damage. X-rays would show if the joints are out of alignment, but not really the reason why. MRI's would show the ligaments and soft tissue and if there is any damage and where. If it's a tear and it isn't diagnosed, you could end up with a complete tear from her activity level. If its a partial tear or miniscus tear, sometimes it can be healed on it's own but that takes time and very minimal activity.

As for showing pain, boxers are extremely stoic. They often do not show pain, as most dogs won't if they can help it. It's the way of the wild, injured dogs in the wild would be killed by the pack because it's a detriment to the pack. Only the strong survive as they say. But if they are limping, then they are in pain......otherwise they wouldn't be limping.

 

[Sansal]

If she does not put weight on her leg that IS a sign that she is in pain.
How old is your puppy and how long has this been going on?
Is she always limping or is it on and off?
For how long have you restricted her activity? Soft tissue injuries can take a while to heal.

Although very helpful in diagnosing unfortunately MRIs are really expensive and usually not an option for pet owners. X-rays cost usually around 100-150$ and are helpful in ruling out structural problems that could cause her to limp.
Another thing to rule out is Lyme disease.

My girl Sky has had major problems last year with her joints. She was limping on and off for an long time, ACL tears were suspected, we went to many different vets and surgeons until we found out she had immune mediated polyarthritis.

It is very possible that your girls injury is minor and hopefully she will recover soon and you won't have to worry about it. However, if the limping does not get better, even with restricted activity and anti inflammatories the next step would probably be an x-ray and further testing (and a second opinion if your vet is not on board).

(((Healing Vibes))))