Soreness question

[Bruschi]

Hello. I have a 3 year old male english. He is very healthy and weighs around 55lbs. He gets walks everyday at the beach with my girlfriend and has a pug brother that he plays with daily... He is on weight watcher food and never gets table fed. My question is that he gets very sore in his back leg/hip. Not sure which one. When he sits for a while I have to help him up. Then he'll walk, but he'll limp and eventually walk/run ok... He doesn't seem to be in any pain when I stretch his leg or rub his hip... I've taken him to the vet and they couldn't find anything. I haven't had any x-rays done, but wanted to see if anyone had any input before I spend hundreds of dollars on something that may just be a waste of time...

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help!

-Dave (Bruschi)

 

[Lucy-licious]

Hi [MENTION=2320]Bruschi[/MENTION], welcome to EBN
I have no experience with this but I'm sure someone will e able to help you and your boy.
We love, love, love pics by the way

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Hi[MENTION=2320]Bruschi[/MENTION]..my experience along these lines were with a rottie..not a bully. My sweet Ana ended up being diagnosed with a spinal stenosis issue. Since she was a rescue..we were never sure what caused it..but our vet thought it was from some previous injury. Something that brought her great relief was acupuncture. If you can find a vet hospital that has an acupuncturist or can recommend one..I think you could alieve some of his pain and stiffness without great expense. Our first visit was about $100.00 and included her treatment. The normal visits were $60.00 and we started every week and eventually decreased the visits. It was most interesting to watch this big dog totally relax with needles all over her body. She absolutely loved her treatments. Just a thought..hope you quickly figure it out. Just remember dogs do not show pain if at all possible.in the pack world the weak get cut out..and even our dogs adhere to instinct.

 

[NJBullyMommy]

Hey there and welcome! When my boy Brutus was a puppy we noticed that he sometimes would do that.....especially since he would lay awkwardly on this back legs. We figured he was just sleeping funny and they fell asleep. Turns out that he has a mild case of luxating patella. Basically there is room in his legs joints (knee and hips) and are not as well put together as they should be. We also heard a clicking sound when he would run around too. I don't know if this helps at all....if not, I'm sure you will get many more answers on here. Everyone is so great about that

 

[LucysMum]

Personally, I would try to find out what is causing the stiffness/soreness. Did he have a previous injury that would cause his leg or hip to be arthritic?? I have had a little experience with joint issues with my girl. She has a touch of arthritis in her knee as a result of an injury that occurred when she was a pup. If it is an arthritic joint a glucosamine chondroitin may give him relief. Lucy takes the branded form- Cosequin. It took about a month to work but I feel like it helps her.

Is it possible that he pulled a muscle? Lucy pulled a muscle around Christmas and she was on strict rest for 6-8 weeks. If he has a pulled muscle and you continue to exercise him--he will never heal.

If he has never had an injury he is still really young to have arthritis--so I would be interested to find out that something may be going on in the hip area--or like NJbully mommy mentioned a luxating patella may be the culprit--or something more tricky like a torn acl. All of these conditions can present like what you are describing.

Also, as you know Bullys are stoic so he may be in more pain than he may be letting on.

Did your vet rule out any hip problems? Did he manipulate the hip area? Did he manipulate the knee area ( I think it is called a drawer test)? My vet is pretty good with ortho stuff. Lucy also sees a specialist too.

Sorry for all of the questions-- hope this helps you.

Welcome--I can't wait to see pictures!

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

@lucysmom..I do so agree with finding out the cause. I realize I didn't say that. ..and also with the joint supplements. I was only suggesting a pain relief option. Also when we started acupuncture..we had to bring an in depth referral from a vet or specialty hospital. Our acupuncturist had a disc from our vet so she could totally see where our dogs pain centers were. It is just another option and really helped us having our dog a couple more years until she developed a totally unrelated bone cancer.

 

[LucysMum]

[MENTION=2092]JAKEISGREAT[/MENTION] Yes, I agree with you--I am a believer of acupuncture too. I have a cousin who had a dog in terrible pain and the only relief the poor dog had was through the help of acupuncture. I wouldn't hesitate taking my girl in for treatments if her pain or mobility worsened. You had an excellent point.

 

[GatorRay]

[MENTION=2092]JAKEISGREAT[/MENTION] Yes, I agree with you--I am a believer of acupuncture too. I have a cousin who had a dog in terrible pain and the only relief the poor dog had was through the help of acupuncture. I wouldn't hesitate taking my girl in for treatments if her pain or mobility worsened. You had an excellent point.

I agree with this. I had a back injury (tripped over a cat and fell down the stairs in the middle of the night) and the best pain relief I found was with acupuncture.

I hope you can figure out what is wrong with your boy!

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

I agree with this. I had a back injury (tripped over a cat and fell down the stairs in the middle of the night) and the best pain relief I found was with acupuncture.

I hope you can figure out what is wrong with your boy!

Ooo @ gatorray. Ouch!

 

[sheshistory]

I would get your bully x-rayed. This sounds like it could be a hip problem - possibly hip dysplasia - in which case the earlier it is detected, the better. The symptoms you describe can be indicative of many things but they are classic signs of a hip dysplasia problem also, which should be diagnosed as soon as possible.

Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[Bruschi]

Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions. It's really great to see all of you who truly care!

I've owned Bruschi since he was 8 weeks and he's never had any sort of injury. He never would limp like this before my girlfriend moved in and really started exercising him daily with her 2yr old pug. (Who is a nut!) We've been resting Bruschi over the past few days and he seems to be walking fine now... Does anyone have any suggestions for a glucosamine?? As I mentioned when I rub his hip/leg, stretch it out, put pressure on the joints he has absolutely no pain and will just lay on his back and actually enjoy it!

Again thanks for all your help and as always I appreciate any suggestions!

More pictures to come!

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

[MENTION=2320]Bruschi[/MENTION]..if you have a Trader Joes market near you..they have a great glucosimine chewable for dogs. Very reasonably priced and every dog we've given it to..ate it! My vet told me about it. In their pet section. I would still check with my vet..this limping, even if brought on by exercise, can be a symptom of a greater problem. He doesn't have to have had an injury to quickly develop arthritis or dysplaysia. Could be a lot of things..I would check with my vet..you can still give glucosimine..but I think you need more info.

 

[LucysMum]

That is good news that he is responding to rest. Like I mentioned before Lucy had a pulled muscle a few months back and I'll tell you that it took so long to heal. We would try to get her back on an exercise routine and a few days into it she would be limping again. You may want to rest him another week and start back into exercise slowly. Also, I would not encourage any jumping until that leg has a chance to heal (if indeed it is a pulled muscle)

I am unsure what dose to give for glucosamine--but found a link with some information below. You may want to double check with the vet to make sure the dose is correct. I use the branded Cosequin. Lucy takes the DS capsules. I sprinkle the contents in her food twice a day. I provided the link for that too!

Glucosamine for Dogs

Nutramax Laboratories, Inc.

 

[punky]

i have a two year old with the same problem.. seems like when she overdoes herself with play and longer walks she cant move much the next day.. when i make a vet appointment she is fine when the time comes to take her in and the vet cant find anything wrong.. i have had x-rays that show nothing.. i cut down on the distance of her walks and the vet said i could be in the joint.. to try joint vitamins and give her a low dose asprin on the days she limping...