# 16 week old limping



## Eiros (Jun 30, 2011)

I am concerned about Jack's limping and am trying to figure out what it's from. He's favoring his right front leg since Friday morning (it's Sunday morning). Friday morning he was clearly in a lot of pain and was restless / crying. Saturday and today the crying has stopped but the limp is still pretty pronounced. When moving and squeezing the leg, joints, and shoulder area he shows no sign of discomfort. He played with some puppies Thursday afternoon at our training club but showed no sign of limp or injury until the next day! Could this still have been the cause? If he is sprained, how long should he take to recover?
He is currently on low-allergen adult food and I give him a spoonful or two a week of cottage cheese when he gets a frozen Kong. For the passed few days he has been resting a lot and seems lethargic. We had to crate him for awhile yesterday because of a wedding and he often seems stiff after resting in the crate. Should I move the barriers in his crate to allow him to stretch out more? He seems to want to run and play fetch sometimes but I'm afraid he'll hurt himself further. 
Any ideas? He has a vet appointment tomorrow too so I can check with her.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

At his age, he should be in a full sized crate...no barriers.
He may have started a bout of Pano, Vitamin C will help reduce inflammation and I would give him 500mg(human grade C with rosehips) a day and over a few days up it to 500mg 2x's per day. Then after a week, bring up the dosage to 2000mg(split between meals) 
Arnica is another supplement that helps in healing.


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## Eiros (Jun 30, 2011)

Oh you think I should take the barriers out? You could probably fit three of him in the crate! Haha... the crate is 42"x26" and he's about 32" long. It would give him lots of room though.


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## Two (Jul 18, 2011)

I thought the reason for the barriers was so that the puppy won't use the bathroom in his crate. I have been told to use barriers but it might be different for different dogs, or different opinions.

Oh, and have you inspected the leg / paw at all? Probably just a sprain.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I would think a 16 week old would be crate/potty trained enough to not potty in it? But all dogs are different....


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## Eiros (Jun 30, 2011)

OK thanks.


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## PaddyD (Jul 22, 2010)

It could be pano (panosteitis). Hopefully if it returns you will take him to the vet.


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## Eiros (Jun 30, 2011)

Two said:


> I thought the reason for the barriers was so that the puppy won't use the bathroom in his crate. I have been told to use barriers but it might be different for different dogs, or different opinions.
> 
> Oh, and have you inspected the leg / paw at all? Probably just a sprain.


I've inspected the leg, paw, and shoulder. He doesn't flinch, cry out, or jerk the paw away etc. I will keep an eye on him.


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

If pano is ruled out, could be tick disease.

Arnica always comes in handy for sprains and such.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Not much a vet can do for Pano, diet/genetics play a role in it. Half the time, a vet can't even diagnose it.
I always let my dogs self limit, I didn't want to give NSAID's unless they were truly suffering.


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## Eiros (Jun 30, 2011)

Like I mentioned, I will take him to the vet tomorrow and ask her. Just wanted some guidelines on what to ask/look out for in the future. Truthfully we are looking into switching vets after his puppy stuff is done because we always end up spending more money on this or that every time we go, and I'm not sure I really trust everything she says. That's why I wanted some opinions before I went in there and she talked me into something I wasn't sure about!

He is self-limiting his exercise. I'm hoping it's a minor strain and not pano and certainly not Tick disease!  I feel like he is to young for Frontline etc. especially since he's had a couple doses of revolution for mites/skin irritation but I know that doesn't repel all ticks! I have never found a tick on him though and check him regularly.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

Are you already going to the vet for vaccines? If so, I would wait on them until your pup is 100%...especially if the vet is giving the rabies vax. 
If it is a routine booster, that may not be so big a deal, but I would space out the rabies with other shots and not give it if the pup is already stressed due to injury.
I hope you'll update!


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## Eiros (Jun 30, 2011)

Oh okay. He's getting a booster vax, he has not had his rabies, but I'm not giving those until a few weeks after the others. We've never seen a change in him after any of the vaccines so far but you bring up a point I hadnt thought of.


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## Eiros (Jun 30, 2011)

Here's an update:
He went to the vet yesterday and she said that because of his young age and his diet (we feed him adult food) that it's not likely Pano and more likely a minor sprain from playing rough with some puppies the day before the limp appeared. She perscribed a few days of Deramaxx and said we should limit his activity for two weeks! Not sure how that's going to work out especially since he thinks he's "all better" now that his pain is better and shoots like a rocket out of his crate every time I let him out! :crazy:


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