Injured front leg/shoulder, anyone experience similar?

[Melissa & Porter]

On Friday, Porter stopped jumping and climbing stairs.  It happened slowly over the course of 5-6 hours.  I don't know when the original injury happened, but by evening, he could not get into bed with me :-( and I had decided to take him to the Vet in the morning.

My husband had to take him while I was schlepping the kids to Saturday morning stuff.  It just about killed me to not be the one to go, but I gave him detailed notes.  My husband conveyed back to me:
dx: soft tissue injury in right front quadrant
bloodwork negative for Lyme disease and "a variety of other things"
steroid injection for first 24 hrs, followed by Rimadyl (dog-advil) 500mg twice a day

What is freaking me out is how pathetic and lethargic Porter is.  I am so used to him stalking me all day long.  Now, he is lying in one place for hours.  Both nights since the injury, he has tried to launch himself onto the bed and stopped short...like 15 times.  I carried him up (at 65 lbs, he's well over half my weight) but I regretted it because I worried about him jumping back down and me injuring him in the carrying.

Has anyone else's dog had a front of the body injury?  How long til it healed? 

He walks almost normally, but sits or lies down asap, and watching him get up is heartbreaking.  That right leg trembles and you can almost imagine him gritting his teeth.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm really sorry to hear that Porter is injured, poor guy.
Some of the lethargy may be from the Rimadyl. It is quite a bit stronger than "doggie Advil" and does make some dogs sleepy, like strong human pain meds. That's a good thing, because dogs just don't seem to understand cause & effect when it comes to things like pain. The more lethargic he is, the more he'll give the tissue a chance to heal.
I hope Porter heals quickly and is feeling much better soon!

[ej]

I have no experience with this. Though Zooey wore down all twenty toenails down to the bones when she did several rounds of "wheelspin" on a concrete ground. Bled a great deal, and could barely put weight on all feet. It took her 2 weeks to recover. Thats was years ago.

Poor Porter :( I wish you speedy recovery. Hugs & Kisses from Julie, Z & K.

[Melissa & Porter]

Thanks Karen, Julie, & Jane.

Karen, The med does list lethargy as a side effect, and you are right, he'd wrestle with his buddies if he weren't zonked. The insert also says that "of dogs experiencing liver side effects, 1/3 were labs." I hate info like that--enough info to stick in my mind, but not enough to be useful.

Julie, Zooey's nail injury sounds awful. What is a wheelspin?

Jane, Yes, I miss my shadow, and his attempts to shadow me are pathetic. I wish we had a better extended "stay" because when he followed me to the basement today (where I had a one minute task to do), I couldn't help but call him an idiot! Then I opened the hatch basement door, we went up those four stairs to the driveway and then three more back into the house--slightly better than the inside flight of stairs.

[ej]

The vet called it "wheelspin" but I think it is the same as the zoomies.

[Melissa & Porter]

Ahh, zoomies. What was Zooey thinking? Poor girl.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

M - I am so sorry that you and Porter is going through this. Keep us posted on how he heals. Wish I had some info to share - I can only help with scratched corneas.

When he does I would love to have a doodle play date. I haven't seen you in forever!! I think Porter and Charli would be the best of buds. I would love to meet here or at your house but I am staying away from the parks since the outbreak of kennel cough here in Essex County.

[Melissa & Porter]

I read your scratched cornea blog post and told my neighbor about that bad bad toy. I hope Samantha is doing okay and you are almost to the end of that regimen of drops. My neighbor said she can't buy the toy because her dog shreds, eats, then poops the rope, and sometimes the strings are long enough to be half in and half out his butt--gross that she has to assist and really dangerous. Hence, almost no rope toys for him.

I'd love to meet up. I'll let you know when Porter is doing better. Fingers crossed it is soon.

[Eva (Lilo and Rocky)]

we have experienced several soft tissue injuries, both to front and hind legs; from jumping down rock walls; tumbling off stairs; falling off the couch, and other unknown reasons. Recovery time was a couple of weeks in all cases. Your dog should stay away from stairs until he doesn't limp any longer; at least one week. Keep him calm, no chasing balls, no active play, lots of cuddle, and he will heal faster. It's very frustrating but not really serious compared to broken limbs - I assume this and other shoulder problems like OCD have been ruled out from an x-ray??? Good luck and speedy recovery to the patient!

[Melissa & Porter]

Eva,

"Good" to know Porter is the only dog who gets injured. In Feb, he was limping and on this same med for about four days.

There has been no X-ray, maybe because he presented with the problem suddenly and I think that is more a gradual onset...also something about pain with extension and flexion...whereas his pain is with weightbearing, but I will keep this in mind either way.

I will do my best to keep him low-key. Today he woke up much perkier. I wonder if I should half the pain med to keep him from overdoing it??

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I hope Porter feels better soon. The more he lays around, the better the healing.

[Melissa & Porter]

Thanks, Nancy. I am going to try to keep him mellow. Right now, he is listening to the neighbors dogs having the usual play session he is a part of. He is pacing in front of the windows...a fantastic sign, since yesterday he just lay on the floor.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Poor Porter. I hope he continues to rest so he can heal. My Gracie Doodle was running to get her ball today and slammed her back foot into a brick wall missing her jump over it. I didn't see it happen but my DH and neighbors were all out with the dogs throwing tennis balls and heard it rather than saw it. She was totally dumbfounded and just sat there not moving. Finally they got her to stand up and after a foot massage she started chasing the ball again. I will wait and see how she is tomorrow morning when she hops off the bed.