[Dailydrool] Wyatt's hip

[stevebarlow4 at verizon.net]

Maybe it's a hip.  

Wyatt is 11 years old (as of may 7th).  When he was 4, he had a partial tear of his CCL in his left knee which did not get surgury.
He's neen fine after his recovery, better than I expected.

In February, he started showing stiffness in his right leg. At first, I thought it was a knee or back. He's had back problems before, but until February, he could get himself on the sofa.

He was showing improvement in April... but his older sister tends to get in scuffles with him over food and keeps agrivating the injury.

I took him to the Vet about 3 weeks ago, we gave him Metacam which helped a little bit.. enough to be noticable, but he is obviously very stiff.  But this is different.  At the vet, he showed no drawer sign for the knee, and didn't yelp like he did with the CCL treat. He didn't pull away when the area was touched either.  To me, it looks more like a hip. He will stand on this leg to pee and raise his other leg, so I don't think it's a knee.. but walking is noticably very painful.

We did NOT do X-Rays at the vet as with my story(above) the vet(his all his life) has assumed it was an injury. She said to bring him back if it doesn't get better for x-rays.  (he needs to be sedated by appointment to get them). 

I'm also concerned that he's putting so much pressure on his knee with the CCL injury. If that goes out, we're in a heap of trouble. Otherwise, he could hobbly around with medication for a while.

Anyway.. I've been reading about hips, and while the onset was sudden, I'm curious that he may have always had a mild form of hip dysplasia.. which could explain his leg and back problems in the past.

I always called it running like a puppy, but at fill sprint, he has a peculiar hop.. always had... not there when he walks.  He's also always 'hopped' up and down stairs rather than walked them like his half sister(same sire). Same thing for when he 'hops' on the furniture, clover does a big jump.. he alwasys put his front legs up. and dig one big 'hop'.   He's also always been known as a moaner/whiner.    But again, up until february 2008, (born may 97), he's always loved his walks.. and has shown better endurance than his sister(though a slower less agile dog).



So what do you all think? An injury? A hereditary condition that might have been made worse from injury... I know the only way to know is to take him to the vet for xrays.  But I'm hoping for experience. 

This is my baby... he and I have a special bond, even more so than his sister. I hate seeing him like this.. but I also know that his knee injury when he was 4 took 6-8 months to recover, and was also painful to watch.  I've been blessed by him for 11 years...


Steve