Jumping Greyhound Now Limping In Pain | The Health of the racing Greyhound

DM
Guest

Jumping Greyhound Now Limping In Pain Feb 1, 2021 10:22:56 GMT 10

Post by DM on Feb 1, 2021 10:22:56 GMT 10

Hello, new to this forum, looking for some advice. I have a 5 year old female retired racer. She was jumping last Saturday 1/23 on leash in the snow, nothing crazy. But she landed on her feet and suddenly was screaming and limping on her back right leg. I thought maybe she had stepped on something in the snow. She came inside the house limping and still screaming. She finally calmed down and lied down in her bed and seemed to be doing okay. I took her out later than night for potty and she walked down the outside stairs ok (she did a stretch and whimpered a little when stretching her back legs) and seemed on the mend. But on Sunday, when she woke up she was a lot worse and could not stand up with out screaming in pain or walk. I took her to the vet that day, but the X-ray showed nothing abnormal (broken bones, fractures, cancer signs), so they think it is a soft tissue injury. They gave her gabapentin and carbuprofen to go home with with instructions her only activity for the next 14 days is potty and she needs to be on bed rest to help heal.

She has been on strict bed rest, only getting up for potty breaks. I have been using a harness to keep weight off her back legs for more support. She cannot walk without it. After two days she was still in pain and not walking well, so they gave her a 72 hour fentanyl patch on Tuesday 1/26 for stronger pain relief. That seemed to help a lot, but it may have been masking the pain, as today it seemed like the fentanyl was fully out of her system because she did not want to walk on her back leg and screaming and was limping when walking outside for the brief time she made it out there. Every time she gets up she is yelping in pain and when walking. She does not even want to get up to go potty even though she knows she need to go and is uncomfortable. The vet said to take her back in for re-evaluation if she was not better in 3-5 days. She seemed to be getting better up until yesterday, but I'm afraid it was just the fentanyl masking her pain. As a side note, she is a vocal dog in general if you push her wrong on accident on the couch, but she is definitely in pain, though a small portion might be her anxiety. I'm planning on taking her back to the vet in the morning.

Does anyone have any suggestions on if this sounds like a soft tissue injury or something else? Might an ultrasound help pin point what is wrong? I'm afraid that it might be something more serious that might require surgery and I am hurting her by waiting too long. Many thanks.

Tom Meulman
Administrator

Posts: 1,183

Jumping Greyhound Now Limping In Pain Feb 2, 2021 4:10:54 GMT 10

Post by Tom Meulman on Feb 2, 2021 4:10:54 GMT 10

Hi DM,

I really wish I could provide an answer to what is causing such a severe pain reaction.

Going by the fact that the X-rays haven’t pinpointed any bone damage I would have to assume either a muscle or ligament injury. But what is puzzling is that a simple muscle injury, one that is not severe enough to be easily visible and diagnosed, seldom causes limping or such a severe reaction.

It is really going to take a very careful physical examination by your vet of the whole of the limb, in particularly up high in the thigh as well as the groin, hip and lower back to diagnose the problem and find a solution.

My best wishes that it is solved quickly, and no at this point in time I honestly do not believe it is an injury that is severe enough to require surgery.

Cheers, Tom

Last Edit: Feb 2, 2021 4:22:52 GMT 10 by Tom Meulman

Everything that happens to a greyhound can only happen because of an action or inaction by its carer, so don’t blame the greyhound when it all goes wrong.

DM
Guest

Jumping Greyhound Now Limping In Pain Feb 3, 2021 11:15:00 GMT 10

Post by DM on Feb 3, 2021 11:15:00 GMT 10

Hi Tom,

Thanks so much for your response. We have been stuck under snow so weren't able to get to the vet yesterday. But last night she did a lot better when she went outside and didn't cry as badly. We took it very slow with harness supporting her back legs. No biting but a little bit almost impatient whining because she couldn't go at her own pace. When she squatting to go there was whining so there definitely is still pain, and she can't walk without us supporting her in the harness. But when she came back in and laid back in her bed, we had left some treats on the floor. She sat up and actually got up out of her bed to get them and walked around the room (carpeted) without the harness with no crying for about 30 seconds. She sat back in her bed after she seemed to have enough. It seems like some of her crying might be related to a lot of anxiety she has about her injury and moving? She seems to be improving for the moment, and she is still experiencing pain after a week, but since she walked around last night without crying might it be something that just needs time to heal?

Tom Meulman
Administrator

Posts: 1,183

Jumping Greyhound Now Limping In Pain Feb 3, 2021 16:33:53 GMT 10

Post by Tom Meulman on Feb 3, 2021 16:33:53 GMT 10

Hi DM,

Thanks for the update, and yes given enough time any muscle, ligament, and bone injury will heal without any assistance. So if she’s improving it may certainly be best to give her another couple of weeks to see how it settles down.

While most greyhounds are quite stoic when racing, some can certainly be big sooks when it comes to something that is hurting. Particularly if someone makes a big fuss over them as they certainly love the attention and will play up to that.

Here hoping everything settles down quickly and she can go back to being a bouncing happy girl.

Cheers,
Tom

Everything that happens to a greyhound can only happen because of an action or inaction by its carer, so don’t blame the greyhound when it all goes wrong.