Saturday, July 31, 2010

The Vet

We went to the vet today. But before that, I decided to go to the park and retape Miley walking so that the video wasnt sideways when I put it on my computer. After getting the video, I usually email it to myself but this time the file was to big for gmail. So I then spent a few hours trying to figure out how to transfer it to my computer without youtube. I was finally able to link my phone to my computer with bluetooth. WhooHoo for me! I really dont want to load some videos onto youtube just to watch them. So now I dont have to. Anyway I will post one of the videos. Its really hard to see, but Miley does this little skip at 47 second on the video. Probably most people wouldnt even notice it but when you constantly walk behind your dogs you notice things.
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So I took my computer with me that had a few videos from todays walk on it. I thought , "this lady is going to think Im a crazy person when I show her this video". "What skip?" But she didnt. She actually saw it and more. She told me she saw Miley change her gait for about 6 strides, lifting the weight off her right foot faster during those 6 strides and then she went back to a regular gait. LOL, Im not a crazy dog person. I also told her about her leg making a cracking noise every time she jumps on the couch. Also that I felt she was dropping more bars than normal. And the last thing was what happened this week. When I took her to the park with all the hills for good hiking, Miley didnt want to walk. She walked fine on the flat part but at the bottom of the first hill she stopped and didnt want to go. I first thought it was just a sheltie quirk. I did make her walk and after about 20 minutes she was fine. When I take her to the flat park, she walks just fine. It didnt occur to me until yesterday that maybe the hilly park and the skip in her step might be related. They vet checked her all over and gaited her. Mileys leg did make the cracking noise but she felt it was in her hock and wasnt bothering Miley. What she did fine was on her left back leg, she could extend it all the way back without any problems. But when she tried to rotate and then extend, she didnt like that. I didnt see any change in Miley but the vet felt her tense up all her muscles and couldnt completely extend the leg. The right side was fine. So on Tuesday Miley will get some hip x-rays just to rule out anything. But she thinks its a iliospoas injury. If the x-rays are clear then an ultrasound of the iliospoas area. Bummer. So if it is a muscle injury, rest ( no crate rest), leash walks, heated US and laser. Im hoping I caught this early and she recovers quickly. Will see.

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Good job on realising there was something wrong with her gait! The vet sounds like a really good person! I hope all goes well with the xrays! And hope Miley recovers quickly!

Sam said...

Nice catch, and AWESOME that you have such a thorough vet. Come to think of it, Marge's iliopsoas injury back in March was kind of like that -- just a BARELY detectable change in gait. And our treatment plan was the same - rest, leash walks.

Marie said...

I'm glad that the vet was able to see what you were concerned with. I hope the x-rays shed even more light on what is going on. At least then you'll know which direction to go.

Jules said...

oh that sucks. If you want to talk about it feel free to e-mail me (juliegp187 at gmail). Been there, done that, not a fun injury. Sending positive and healing energy to you and Miley.

Chris and Ricky said...

Gosh, you and your vet are good! I couldn't see the skip but I only watched once. Good for you for getting Miley in to see the vet so quickly. I bet you did catch this early and she will recover very quickly. Fingers crossed for good news on the x-ray. We're thinking about you guys!

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

Boy, I am so sorry that Miley is still having problems, how lucky though that you did the video so the vet could really see everything going on. That was really smart on your part. Boy there sure seem to be a lot of dogs with the iliospoas injuries. Poor Miley she has sure had her share of injuries she is lucky she has a mama that is so in tune and watching so carefully before they turn into anything really long lasting. So what will they look for in the hip xrays? What are they ruling out with those? I am going to keep my fingers crossed and my pups will cross their paws this turns out to be a quick, easily taken care of thing.

Diana said...

Kathy, she said she wanted to r/o any problems with the femor head. That small dogs are prone to legg perthes (sp?) disease. She didnt think that was going on since she could extend the leg straight back without any problems but she felt we should check. Diana

Sara said...

Oh Diana, I'm so sorry to hear Miley is injured. Such a shame, but I'm sure your keen eye helped catch it in the early stages, so hopefully Miley will be able to respond to treatment and recover quickly.

The vet at camp yesterday said this is a very common injury in agility dogs.

LauraK said...

You've got a great eye, I don't know if I would have caught that. I hope Miley rests up and recovers quickly and that it's nothing too serious!

AC said...

Diddo everyone: Good job catching it early and glad your vet saw something too.

I think this is a great example of how videos/pictures can really help make a diagnosis when you have a responsive vet.

Paws crossed for nothing serious and a speedy recovery for Miley!

Dawn said...

Hopefully you got it early. You are very observant! And it's nice to know you're not a crazy dog person, isn't it!

Loved watching that Sheltie-walk...looks so familiar!

Katie said...

Ugh. We're suffering through recovery of an iliopsoas strain here too. Steve's was more visible because he won't use the leg going down stairs.

Hip xrays were clear, but the sports vet we saw was careful to rule out CCL injury as well.

It's been a miserable injury to heal for him.

I hope Miley recovers quickly and easily!

Johann The Dog said...

These things are so hard to diagnosis! I hope you find out soon what's going on.

Wonder...is she tight in her groin/tummy area, the muscle that runs from ribs back? Is she hunching? Just curious...

Diana said...

No she isnt hunching. She seems normal except for the weird skip thing she has been doing on our walks and not wanting to walk up this one hill at the park. Diana

Johann The Dog said...

Good news on the x-rays, hopefully you caught whatever it is early. You have a very good eye. I get crazy sometimes watching JoJo...still do. Hoping for good news. Hate the waiting.