Sudden limping?

[avts1977]

Is there anything you can do to ease limping? Winston came up the stairs and into our bedroom (where we're watching TV) and when he came in he was limping. No whine, no yelp, no sudden loud noises like he slipped on the stairs or was playing with Cheyenne. He just walks in the room limping.

We sat him down and checked his paws just to make sure nothing was there and there were no cuts and massaged his shoulder and leg. He didn't whine or jerk his leg or foot or anything. And he doesn't mind standing on it, he just limps when he walks (it also didn't stop him from jumping up on our bed again :rolleyes: )

I don't want to take him to the emergency vet (very expensive here) if he's just yanking our chain, but if he's not done limping in the morning, I'll call our vet and bring him in. In the meantime, is there anything I can do for him?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[JulieM]

Crate rest and short on-lead walks to potty is about all you can do for a limp of unknown origin.

 

[kmhickles]

We've just gone through the same thing. Smirnoff decided to take his first leap and ended rather badly.

He jumped from the garden step into the conservatory and didn't quite make it; banging his left back leg.

He did not yelp, cry or moan; he just sat down and went extremely quiet. I just stroked him and said "oh that must have hurt!" I kept an eye on him and he seemed perfectly fine. Until the morning; he was limping like a good'un.

I had to take him to the vet as he was slowly getting worse; The vet gave him a painkiller, checked for broken bones and booked him in for a xray the following morning. His instructions was to keep him quiet and don't let him get excited; try to keep him asleep and resting as much as possible to keep his weight off.

I did as I was told; the following morning he had improved incredibly! Just a slight limp but I took him back to the vet just in case; he is now on anti-inflammotary tablets.

Im glad I took him to the vet; I would hate for him to suffer in later life just because I thought he hadn't broken anything. Better to get anything checked out by a professional. Small price to pay for peace of mind.

 

[avts1977]

Update

I still haven't taken him in yet. We're keeping him off his feet (my husband is carrying him up and down the stairs), but we've seen a couple of things that are making us wonder if he's really hurt or if maybe he slept on it wrong or something (or if he's milking it from all the attention he got).

When we carried him downstairs and put him on the sofa, he just slept until we took them both out. He limped out the door, onto the patio, and then the minute he stepped off the concrete onto the grass - BAM - no more limp! He walked all over the yard without a limp, then back onto the patio and inside the door, and - BAM - limping again! So we decided to let him walk around a little while we were feeding them, and it seemed that the limp was severe when he was in the room with us (almost to the point that he'd put no weight on it) and then when he walked into another room it would incredibly vanish (we'd watch from around the corner)! It also didn't hurt him badly enough to keep him from jumping up on our bed and the sofa when we weren't looking.

So we're keeping him on bedrest another day and we're going to watch him. I have an appointment set for tomorrow that I can cancel if he is miraculously cured! I'll let you know!

 

[kmhickles]

Ummmmm, sounds suspicious!!

He obviously likes the attention - how old is he??!??

 

[avts1977]

He's 3. We just rescued him two weeks ago, so I don't know if he's pulled this stunt before. No one else from the rescue mentioned anything (he was with his foster mom for two weeks, too). Our other dog has never done this before! But believe me, we've got our eyes on him!!

 

[kmhickles]

Oh dear, keep me posted - im interested to know if he is playacting.

Clever dog if he is!!!!! :D

I've got all this to come I think. :confused:

 

[nanabear]

You haven't said which leg it is - front or rear?
Mack has had two surgeries for ruptured cruciate ligaments in his rear legs. It is not unusual for them to carry the leg or limp around the house and then use it when outside - outside is so much more interesting.
I would NOT let him jump while you're figuring out what the problem is. I can't stress enough, rest is of the ultimate importance in healing this if it is a soft tissue injury.
Boxers are so stoic, they can be quite badly injured or hurting and not make a sound, never whine or cry.
Please update when you take him to the vet - hoping is is a simmple "tweak" that will be better soon.

 

[mmllr]

My parents have a dog (not a boxer--australian shepard) that learned that if she would limp, she would get extra attention. When she first started it, we checked her leg, paw, anything that might hurt or cause her to limp, but found nothing. When she thought we weren't looking, the limp stopped. We realized she was faking it when she forgot what leg she was limping on and started limping on another leg. Nothing was ever wrong--just a pure act.

Hopefully nothing is wrong with your guy and he's picked up on the sympathy act. I would go see the vet if it still persists.

Good luck!

 

[avts1977]

It's one of the front legs. I would be much more worried if it were a rear leg after everything I've been reading on here.

He only limped once today. He started out not limping and then he limped walking on his way to the bed from the water bowl (right in front of me). I didn't say anything - I just watched him, and after that (early this morning) he hasn't done it at all. I'm going to wait and see how he does and have him take it easy (getting harder since him and Cheyenne are trying to play). I'm hoping that when he realized he wasn't getting the extra attention that he'll quit.