My apologies in advance if this was covered and I just wasn't able to find it on the board.
I have an 8-mo. male greyhound pup. He's going to be a big 'un; his feet and joints and muzzle are bigger than even the larger greys we've known. (the pic at left is at 4 mo.)
He'd been limping the past week (not unusual; when he tears around the yard he's not exactly cautious) and we figured he'd turned an ankle again. He tends to limp when he walks, fine when he runs. After a few days it was fine, then late Saturday afternoon he began to limp again and not want to run. He was also very listless and hadn't eaten. I'd been giving him an ibuprofen periodically (he's a stoic little guy) but by late Saturday night we were worried; he was crying and clearly distressed. By 1am he was yelping, writhing, and panting so much that I was seriously worried. t089 During the week we'd repeatedly prodded, squeezed, stretched and in every way palpated every inch of his limb and could not find anything swollen or sore or that even made him change expression, let alone flinch. But I was worried he'd perhaps fractured it or secretly eaten something dangerous (besides my new Rossiter system textbook!) and decided to take him to the emergency animal hospital and not wait to try to see our own vet Monday.
We were there for 5 hours, during which time they X-rayed the heck out of him, checked bloodwork and all his orifices and all they could find was that the growth plate on his shoulder looked a little "irregular" but not growing abnormally. Nothing was broken or fractured or amiss. Yes, the $700 diagnosis was "growing pains"!
While I'm relieved he's not injured, I am amazed this could be causing so much distress that he's lame and needs pain medication. He doesn't even feel well enough to harass us or play with his toys, though he's eating again. I know larger dogs take up to 18 months for these plates to fully fuse and the problem to go away, but for it to cause such obvious pain in a high-pain-threshold dog is worrisome to me.
Does anyone have any suggestions for what I can do to help his shoulder feel better in the meantime? I've been running energy through it and working around the area with gentle friction, but I don't know if that's the most helpful thing I can do. Afterwards he sleeps awhile and then feels a bit better, but then gets listless again.
I'd really like to have my mischevious little "helper" back!
I have an 8-mo. male greyhound pup. He's going to be a big 'un; his feet and joints and muzzle are bigger than even the larger greys we've known. (the pic at left is at 4 mo.)
He'd been limping the past week (not unusual; when he tears around the yard he's not exactly cautious) and we figured he'd turned an ankle again. He tends to limp when he walks, fine when he runs. After a few days it was fine, then late Saturday afternoon he began to limp again and not want to run. He was also very listless and hadn't eaten. I'd been giving him an ibuprofen periodically (he's a stoic little guy) but by late Saturday night we were worried; he was crying and clearly distressed. By 1am he was yelping, writhing, and panting so much that I was seriously worried. t089 During the week we'd repeatedly prodded, squeezed, stretched and in every way palpated every inch of his limb and could not find anything swollen or sore or that even made him change expression, let alone flinch. But I was worried he'd perhaps fractured it or secretly eaten something dangerous (besides my new Rossiter system textbook!) and decided to take him to the emergency animal hospital and not wait to try to see our own vet Monday.
We were there for 5 hours, during which time they X-rayed the heck out of him, checked bloodwork and all his orifices and all they could find was that the growth plate on his shoulder looked a little "irregular" but not growing abnormally. Nothing was broken or fractured or amiss. Yes, the $700 diagnosis was "growing pains"!
While I'm relieved he's not injured, I am amazed this could be causing so much distress that he's lame and needs pain medication. He doesn't even feel well enough to harass us or play with his toys, though he's eating again. I know larger dogs take up to 18 months for these plates to fully fuse and the problem to go away, but for it to cause such obvious pain in a high-pain-threshold dog is worrisome to me.
Does anyone have any suggestions for what I can do to help his shoulder feel better in the meantime? I've been running energy through it and working around the area with gentle friction, but I don't know if that's the most helpful thing I can do. Afterwards he sleeps awhile and then feels a bit better, but then gets listless again.
I'd really like to have my mischevious little "helper" back!