Until the dog is examined, keep their exercise to a minimum and use a lead for short toileting visits. If your dog is lame, you should contact a vet for advice. If your dog is lame, check their paws thoroughly as they often get wounds or foreign bodies, such as nail injuries, thorns and sores in this area. Many lamenesses are caused by joint problems, such as hip / elbow dysplasia, osteochondrosis or osteoarthritis. For example, cruciate ligament disease, luxating patellas and ligament injuries.Īnother cause of lameness is damage to a bone, such as a crack, fracture, or new bone formation, which can occur with certain diseases. Soft tissue injuries are a common cause of lameness, including muscles, tendons and ligaments. Some causes have a good prognosis, whilst others can be more serious. There can be many different reasons why dogs can become lame. It is common for the dog to try and hide pain, so get to know when your dog is normal so that you can spot signs of lameness early. Symptoms range from the dog looking slightly uneven in its stride, and not putting full weight on the leg, to holding the leg up and walking only on three legs because they do not want to put any weight on it (non-weight bearing). The level of lameness in dogs varies depending on the cause. Although the hock was not completely dropped, it is likely that the support of the SDF was missing resulting in a partial dropped hock, and caused flexion of the digits during stance.As a pet owner, it is very important to understand if your dog is lame, as it is a sign that the dog is in pain. It may be that after repair of the tarsal injuries, either the retinaculum holding the SDF in place was not sutured, or the sutures broke down, resulting in luxation of the SDF. On the affected side, the superficial digital flexor could be followed distally, but instead of wrapping around the gastrocnemius tendon and covering the tuber calcis, it went laterally. On closer palpation of the calcaneal tendons and superficial digital flexor tendons of both limbs, there was a difference between the two limbs. Sound familiar? BUT, the common calcaneal tendon had no swelling, and was actually quite normal. During the stance phase of gait, the tarsus was dropped lower to the ground than the normal limb, and the toes were in a flexed position, almost like a club foot. The range of motion of the tarsus was relatively good considering the amount of trauma, but there was significant lameness while walking. In addition, there were changes in the lower rows of tarsal bones that resulted in a partial arthrodesis. At the time of presentation, there was malunion of the calcaneus, but it was healed. The calcaneus was repaired with a bone plate and tension band wire, and the central tarsal bone was reduced with two screws several months before referral. The second case was a former performance dog that sustained severe trauma to the tarsus, including a fracture of the calcaneus, and a luxation of the central tarsal bone. In addition, the superficial digital flexor tendon was damaged, and the two structures were "stuck together", which might further limit motion of the superficial digital flexor tendon. This was confirmed with ultrasound evaluation of the tendon. Diagnosis? Rupture of the common calcaneal tendon. The amount of flexion in the affected limb was much greater in the lame limb compared to the normal limb. While keeping the stifle in an extended position, the hock was flexed. There was an obvious swelling of the common calcaneal tendon above the point of the hock, or the tuber calcis. Watching the dog walk, it had an obvious lameness, the hock dropped closer to the ground during the weight-bearing phase of the gait cycle, and the toes were in a flexed position, kind of like a club foot. The dog remained lame after several weeks and was referred for further evaluation. The first one was a working dog that got one of the hind limbs caught on a car door a laceration over the tarsus was sutured by a veterinarian. I saw two cases today with a dropped hock.
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