Hi all!
I only joined a few days ago as a friend recommended me this group for some nice friendly advice so hello!
I have a working cocker spaniel pup, Harley, hes a chunky lad and 5 months now but at 4 months he suddenly (after a short walk) went hopping lame on his hind left leg. He couldn’t put any weight on it, was very uncomfortable and practically didn’t use it whatsoever, he couldn’t sit on it, lie on it. He had 3 different vet opinions. 2 vets thought cruciate ligament and the other said he could of slightly torn the cruciate but not fully. All vets examined him, couldn’t feel any movement in his knee but one vet he did turn as if it was painful. I was devastated, haven’t cried so much since a kid! The vets gave him some very strong (injected) painkiller to keep him calm as was on crate rest. He showed improvement a few days later (hopping but not AS lame) so they started him on metacam instead and 3 x 15 minute lead walks a day.
This was over 4 weeks ago now, we have one week left and he’s back to the vets to see how he’s doing, if he’s no better off painkillers he’ll be having a CT scan.
He is now walking on all legs, muscle feels even on both hind legs. He looks ‘sound’ but occasionally looks stiff on the ‘bad’ leg, most people say they can’t see anything wrong with him its only as I really look and know him well.
I bought him with the intention of working him when hes older but he does live inside with us, as a very spoilt doggy. He is very intelligent and even though we’ve had a huge set back, his sit/stay and heel training has come on really well (anything we can do without him running basically!)
I saw the vet in passing a week ago and she said maybe it was something more minor than the cruciate..
Has anyone got any experience with this kind of injury? If it is something like cruciate then he is insured luckily, a friend who has experience in this field said if it was the cruciate it will never fully heal even as a pup and most dogs or puppies will need a operation eventually IF this was his cruciate he damaged.