Floravada1717

Hi I am hoping for a little bit of advice really as to what to do.
Basically last thursday my pup got up from a sleep and she woiuldnt put any weight on her FRONT left leg and her back end seemed to be all over the place too...it was a little bit like she had suffered a stroke.
We checkeed all her limbs and couldnt find any source of pain so we carried her around the house to her water bowl ...outside for toiletting and to bed that night.......she was very sleepy all night which suited us just fine as we couldnt get a vets appointment till morning and we didint want her injuring her self any more.
The following morning her back end was perfectly fine and she only just had a limp on and of on her left leg and by about 2 hours later that had stopped all together.
We took her to the vets and they could feel a clicking in her left leg and suggested metacalm to help her if she had inflamation and suggested a possible xray.
Now obviously if she needs an xray i will get it done but she is 100% well again now with no outward signs of trauma or any pain...........so I guess what i need to know is coud this have been brought on by a too longer walk (30-40 mins) a couple of days previous ??? and do you think she still needs an xray or should we wait and see what happens??
Eagily waiting your theories please

bubbad

First let me say for an 18 week old puppy that is too long of a walk 15 to 20 min of walking better. There could be a number of things going on besides nothing really going on.Kepp an eye open for anything like the getting up and seeming lethargic or the motor skills seem off .If that happens again ask for blood work to be done if your Vet does not tell you it needs done. Pano is a problem in young bassets from about 5-6 months to 18 months of age,where they may limp on a leg or have a couple legs involved at one time,inflamation can occur from taking the long walks or the start of pano.With pano they need to be confined in a crate or small area with no hard playing or exercise for a time. Vets that are not use to dealing with bassets kmow very little about them in the sense that basset puppy parts click,feel loose, that their muscle tone doesn't really set up right away they take a few months to usually get cordination of their parts together.I'm not saying don't have the x-rays ,it just may not be so easily solved.

Hound Dad

I think bubbad has given good advice. Generally, this is a relatively common story in young Basset Hounds, and there may be nothing or something going on, really the only person who can tell is you knowing the personality of your hound, or the vet by looking. While I don't think anyone could say don't have the x-rays, only you and the vet can know that. The clicking is actually part of a growing basset hound, lots of parts of their legs click and don't feel like a normal dog's leg, and if the vet isn't familiar they can get worried about something relatively normal. However, panosteitis is a common bone disease in dogs, it is generally some type of unexplained pain and lameness sometimes shifting from leg to leg, usually between 5 and 14 months of age. Alongside the lameness generally the dog will also have fever, weight loss, or lethargy although they don't have this all the time. The only way to diagnose this properly is blood work, so definitely ask for this.

Orion

I second the advice previously offered by Bubbad and Hound Dad. My Basset, Moses, is going on three years old now. When he was young, from about 6 months until about 2 years old, he had periodic bouts of "wandering lameness" (pano). After a few visits to the Vet (who also owns Bassets) to rule out any other potential problem, the Vet advised that he would eventually grow out of it- it's kind of like growing pains, I guess. I hated it because it pained him so much that he didn't even care to eat- the episodes would usually last a couple days then go away for weeks or months. My vet said it was okay to give him buffered aspirin (not ibuprofen or Tylenol) when he was bigger; I think I just split a pill and gave half with his morning and evening meal. I hope your puppy feels better soon, I know how hard it is to see them in pain

Mikey T

Is the limping ocurring on the front or rear leg. if it is a rear leg I would suspect given bassets are prone to it a luxating pettella in one or both legs given the other symptoms you point out. the knee cap slips out of place and stilfe joint will allow the joint to go past straightor sometine loock the joint from movint to straight.. if it occured in both legs at the same tine this could cause the rear end to be very unstable. when the knee cap slips back into place all is fine when it is out of place it can cause pain and the dog tend not to put any weght on it slips back into place and the walk around like nothing happend.

This is something the does not get better on its own. depending on the severity surgery is often required but if done before arthritis begins in the joint many dogs never have another problem with it. I have seen puppy as young as 12 weeks old with a pretty big problem with luxating patellas on both legs and it created a wobbly unstable gate but if you watch carefully it would orignate at the stifles (knee) not at the hips


What is patellar luxation?
Patellar Luxation


The wobbly gate is not something one would suspect of pano and 18 week is early for pano. Starting at the hind end is not typical of pano but certainly there are cases where it does, typically it begins with a fore limb.

Personaally given the wobbly gate I would have the dog check out. such a gate can be sign od nerve damage from either a disease process or a back disc issue which you will want to rule out as well.

Floravada1717

Sorry I should have altered it..........I have now. It was her front left leg.
Its now 4 days later and she seems perfectly fine still.
We have decided against any long walks now as we have read up about their unsuitability for bassets as young as this.
We have also banned her from walking up and down our flight of stairs and made a ramp for her to go outside too.
So no jolting of any joints now I hope. We will see how things go for now and decide on xrays if we have a reoccurence.
But for now she eats ok, drinks ok,walks ok,gaining weight ok,sleeps ok,is a very happy pup.....and also poops and wees ok too.
So we think for now we have noting really to worry about.
thanks for all the advice and feel free to give nmore if you feel you need to I will keep an eye out for more replies.
Many thanks

Tilly's Mum

Mikey T

the best thing you can do to prevent orthopeadic problems in basset is on the nutrition side in in a basset case less is more

1. feed a large breed puppy food, these have less calories, calcium and phosphorous than regular puppy food and in the case calcium and phosphorus les than adult food. all in excess are none to caus abnormal bone growth and developement.

2. keep the puppy skinny. see diet do's and Don'ts and optimal Feeding for Large Breed Puppies