# Intermittent Lameness/Limping



## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

are you able to carefully check each of his toenails? I've seen a split toenail cause that....


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I checked his toenails and saw some of the nail underneath was splitting off - is that what you mean by a split toe nail? I clipped the loose part off on friday and handling it didn't seem to bother him at all. I just trotted him and he's still slightly lame at the trot but sound at the walk.


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## HovawartMom (Aug 10, 2006)

Time for tough love and leashed walks,for a couple of days.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

the nail itself might be split if the underside is splitting off. That might be what's bothering him.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Hmm, I'll check when he's back...so the "toe" part of the nail might be split? What do I do if it is?


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I checked all his nails and I don't think any are split. He hasn't been limping today at all but I've restricted his play time to pretty much zilch. Hmm, hopefully this clears up and doesn't require a trip to the vet...


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## Katie and Paddy's Mum (Mar 31, 2010)

To me, it sounds like a soft tissue injury - he may have a slight strain either in the front leg or shoulder. Sometimes they just over-extend themselves or play too hard and hurt themselves slightly. If it were something more serious (like something broken) he would not be able to put any weight on it at all. 
On the occasions when Katie has had a soft tissue injury, my vet has always told me to restrict activity for about a week ... that meant leashed walks and only long enough for her to do her business. He hasn't prescribed any meds as the limp was never bad enough to warrant it. He said if she was pacing, panting a lot that those were signs she could be in pain. But she never would. In fact the limping was often intermittent - like what you described.

If I were in your position, I would give it a few days (with forced rest and many yummy things to keep him occupied!) and see how he fares. If he is still limping and showing lameness in 36 hours I would then think about a vet visit.

But again, you're the best judge of his comfort level and you know Ranger best!
I hope he's better real soon!! Blue is going to miss his crazy buddy!

---
Kim


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Thanks for the advice! I was watching him with eagle eyes today and haven't noticed him limping...it seems to be either bad enough it's noticeable at the walk, or slight enough that most people wouldn't see it at the trot and nothing at the walk. 

I kept him inside for most of the day today and interrupted all playing with Blue...I'll keep it up for the next few days and see how it goes. Good thing I stuffed 2 kongs for him at lunch today! Thanks again!


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## T Man (Mar 18, 2010)

I'm no expert, but when I saw your subject line I immediately thought of panosteitis which my male seems to have right now. I know you indicated you palpated his whole leg and didn't seem to find any tender spots, from what I read if you press on the middle part of the bone at a point where it is least fleshy most dogs will react if they have pano.

Again not an expert, just something I am dealing with right now that sounded similar. My dog is on anti-inflammatories and reduced exercise for the next week or so until it clears up.


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## Crispy (Feb 7, 2010)

*wandering lameness...*

By any chance does ranger exhibit these symptoms after hopping down off of something? Not to throw a scary situation your way, but we had a golden who exhibited brief periods of lameness. usually only a step or two and then returned to normal gait without further issue. I would always catch it out of the corner of my eye and would never get a real good look at it. It also appeared to be wandering from the left to the right side. I checked her paws, nails, pads etc.. and couldn't find anything wrong. I took her to a Vet and was told it was possible Pano but it could also be growing pains and rectify itself. A week later she jumped down from a chaise lounger (12-14 inches high) and lifted her leg for a several steps and then walked normally. 
Further examination from our (New) Vet revealed a Patellar Luxation. This was confirmed by a Specialist. Because she had it bilaterally she would often shift signs from left to right and it appeared "wandering". Everytime she would hop down from something her knee cap would basicaly roll out of place and until it "popped back" she would limp.
I sincerely hope this is not the case, but it certainly should be looked for.
hope it helps,
Chris


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Hmmm interesting, thanks T Man and Crispy. 

I'll try pressing the spot on the front of this leg bone and see how he reacts. I haven't noticed any lameness in the last 2 days but he was on very restricted activity yesterday/this morning.

Crispy - he seems fine when he jumps down from things. I've been watching him the past few mornings and he's walking down stairs and jumping off my bed in the morning and looks completely normal. He showed stiffness when he was around 9 months to a year old, but that stopped when he got a new bed to sleep in. Since then, I haven't noticed anything up until this point. It seems to be happening when he's outside roughhousing and then he comes in limping. (Which is why he's on restricted activity at the moment!)


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

One more thing to throw your way: intermittent lameness is a classic sign of a TBD. Sometimes it migrates from limb to limb, but sometimes it doesn't. If you get stuck on what it could be, a SNAP 4Dx test can rule out the three most common TBDs in a matter of minutes.

Untreated, Lyme can cause nephritis and death fairly quickly, so don't let intermittent lameness go undiagnosed for more than a week or two.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Oh scary. I'll keep that in mind, too. We were hiking a lot in March/April/May but I never found a tick on him afterwards...though my friend did have one once. I'm also not sure how common lyme disease is up here...either way, good to know if this keeps going on and we end up at the vet's, I'll make sure to mention it.

Thanks!


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