Non-Hunting GWP with Painful Wrists - Input Please
Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 11:07 pm
I have a female GWP, Mags, who came to me as a stray 5 years ago. She is about 6 or 7 now. We do not hunt. Several times a week she and our other 3 dogs run on 10 of our acres that is fenced with field wire. The area is heavily wooded. Mags does her own thing while the other dogs pretty much run together. Mags spends her time hunting and digging up gophers, armadillos and possums. Many times most her body is underground as she is digging. When she hunts her movement is more like a fast fast walk than a run. Her front legs move like our other dogs, but her back legs sort of sway together side to side. Most the time she is out I have no idea where she is, although she does brush by me from time to time to check in.
About 2 weeks ago after spending only a couple of hours hunting she came into the house and her front legs appeared stiff when she walked. She had no problem jumping up and off the sofa. I checked her legs and feet over pretty well, I thought, and all seemed fine. In the morning she was fine. This happened several more times then she seemed to be fine.
Last night after being out hunting 4 hours doing who knows what she came into the house, got on the sofa and went to sleep. After my dinner I kept hearing a dog whimpering. I had a hard time at first figuring out which dog was crying. When I figured out it was Mags I checked her out. She showed pain in her face which I thought was strange. I wanted to get her off the sofa and take her outside to do her business then get her to lay down next to the fire. When she jumped down off the sofa she screamed out in pain.
We took her to the vet this morning. He examined all of her legs well and all were fine with the exception of her carpi (wrists). When he moved them and bent them back towards the back of her legs she let out screams. She screamed and tried to bite the vet tech when he stretched her legs out to xray them. She was in extreme pain.
The xray was negative for arthritis. He did a Lymes test and it too was negative. He said she could have Lymes even though the test was negative. Since she was a stray we have no way of knowing if she had a Lymes vaccine.
The vet is assuming she has Lymes and sent me home with 4 weeks of Doxycycline. He said if she is better in 4 days it is probably Lymes and to go ahead and finish the antibiotics. If she is not better in 4 days he gave me a sample of Rimadyl. Either way she will have to be reassessed.
I told him that she runs fine then comes in in pain. He told me that running does not turn the wrists in to where they would hurt, and that she will instinctively not do any activity that will cause her pain. However from what I have read on this forum, a dog like Mags might overlook her pain while on the hunt.
Does her problem sound familiar to anyone here? If so, I would love some input and opinions as to what you might think her problem is. I have never had a dog with arthritis or Lymes. But I have had Lymes and I have arthritis.
Thanks.
About 2 weeks ago after spending only a couple of hours hunting she came into the house and her front legs appeared stiff when she walked. She had no problem jumping up and off the sofa. I checked her legs and feet over pretty well, I thought, and all seemed fine. In the morning she was fine. This happened several more times then she seemed to be fine.
Last night after being out hunting 4 hours doing who knows what she came into the house, got on the sofa and went to sleep. After my dinner I kept hearing a dog whimpering. I had a hard time at first figuring out which dog was crying. When I figured out it was Mags I checked her out. She showed pain in her face which I thought was strange. I wanted to get her off the sofa and take her outside to do her business then get her to lay down next to the fire. When she jumped down off the sofa she screamed out in pain.
We took her to the vet this morning. He examined all of her legs well and all were fine with the exception of her carpi (wrists). When he moved them and bent them back towards the back of her legs she let out screams. She screamed and tried to bite the vet tech when he stretched her legs out to xray them. She was in extreme pain.
The xray was negative for arthritis. He did a Lymes test and it too was negative. He said she could have Lymes even though the test was negative. Since she was a stray we have no way of knowing if she had a Lymes vaccine.
The vet is assuming she has Lymes and sent me home with 4 weeks of Doxycycline. He said if she is better in 4 days it is probably Lymes and to go ahead and finish the antibiotics. If she is not better in 4 days he gave me a sample of Rimadyl. Either way she will have to be reassessed.
I told him that she runs fine then comes in in pain. He told me that running does not turn the wrists in to where they would hurt, and that she will instinctively not do any activity that will cause her pain. However from what I have read on this forum, a dog like Mags might overlook her pain while on the hunt.
Does her problem sound familiar to anyone here? If so, I would love some input and opinions as to what you might think her problem is. I have never had a dog with arthritis or Lymes. But I have had Lymes and I have arthritis.
Thanks.