Vet Question

[CrazyChuckCarbo]

I have a 5 yr old female boxer and she has been in good shape up until several months ago. Back then she started favoring her left hind leg. She would be fine when I let out both of my boxers (also have 2 yr male boxer) from the dog run when I get home but she would lift that hind leg and walk on 3 legs for a while. She's been to the vet 2 times now and they're not sure what is going on. The 2nd time I took her in they did the x-ray and checked her out good. The doc didn't really think it was an ACL, he thought her hip was ok, etc. He did give her something for pain for several weeks and a vitamin that I gave her 3 times a day to promote joint health and she was on that for about a month. He also thought I should take a bit of weight off her so I cut back on her food accordingly and she looks like she's shed a few pounds. Since the pill ran out she has started to regress and lift that leg more. The original vet recommended taking her to more of a specialist and that's where we are now. Does this sound like an ACL tear or hip or what? I've noticed the area just above her tail on the flar of her back is wet a lot and thinking she must be licking that area or maybe biting that area. She doesn't have fleas either. He mentioned that the ACL surgery could run as much as $4K if that turns out to be the case. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks.

 

[JonnyVito]

My moms boxer was the only one I have personally known that tore his ACL all the way. He would favor the leg all the time. Now I am no vet so I am not really gonna be much help but the wet spot is more then likely her licking the area that hurts. My boxer licked his paws all the time until we put him on a food to help inflammation of the joints. Depending on what the vets says you might look into this food anyways as it has really helped my boxer. I put him on it when one of my other dogs got older and had bad hip problems. He just turned 8 and I am just now starting to have problems with his joints or at least he is finally showing his age. I hope they figure it out.

 

[Been Jammin]

@CrazyChuckCarbo

Definitely need a surgical specialist to check her out. Might need an MRI or Bone Scan. I did have a similar case recently and it turned out to be a Ruptured Caudal Cruciate Ligament. Dogs are prone to tearing the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and it is fairly easy to diagnose on exam. With a ruptured CCL, they present with similar symptoms but it is unlikely to be diagnosed without an imaging study or exploratory surgery.

Another case I saw about a year ago was a Golden Retriever that was limping in a front limb. We couldn't diagnose the cause until an MRI revealed a tumor growing from a nerve running along the scapula.

Bottom line, sometimes it can be challenging and expensive to get to the diagnosis.

 

[CrazyChuckCarbo]

Thanks John and BJ.