muscle wastage

[-Alison-]

Would appreciate a little advice please. Im a little concerned over Merlin. Recently I’ve noticed he’s been bunny hopping and almost carrying his left back leg alot. On checking him over there seems to be no discomfort on moving his legs about but there is a noticeable amount of muscle wastage over his thighs, slightly more on the left than on the right. I am struggling to give them the amount of exercise that I used to, having lost Tony at the end of March I now find myself relying on having to find people to babysit most of the time. Occasionally I bundle the kids up and take them with me but then walks are limited to where we can go where I can control both children and dogs and they are not easy or good walks. Sometimes a friend of mine will come and take them all out with his dog for the evening which is good as I know they get about 3 hrs on those days. Having said that most days they still get about 90 minutes free running and I make sure alot of swimming is included in that too.

It seems alot of muscle to lose over such a short time to me. He was always a stocky well muscled boy. Is this a trip to the vets or is it likely to be down to the fact that they are getting on average at least an hour less a day now?

[kizkiznobite]

hi alison…i bet you struggling ….you in a hard place at the moment…

ok the lado…

the muscle will waste if not used….and even if not used correctly so it may will have been that you missed any early stuff starting…in the circumstances that well understandable…

so hows the cruciate…has he strained it…have you checked for hot spots etc…are his toes claws ok…is he get any dip in the spine with any raising in the centre bit by thorax…

any chance of some pics/vids…

[Val]

Hiya
I would say 90 minutes with swimming is enough to maintain muscle what would be good is if you could post some pictures of the lad front and rear and one from the top.
Does he also stand with his weight on one leg more than the other?
The first thing that comes to mind with bunny hopping is a cruciate ligament injury.
Val

[Val]

We have done it again Bev great minds and all that  :agree:

[kizkiznobite]

haha val… ;D

[-Alison-]

thanks Bev and Val, will get the camera out over the weekend  🙂

[-Alison-]

Ok managed to get some video clips of him over the weekend

[img width=468 height=382]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d95/looney_mom/th_DSCF0460.jpg[/img]
[img width=468 height=382]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d95/looney_mom/th_DSCF0456.jpg[/img]
[img width=468 height=382]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d95/looney_mom/th_DSCF0463.jpg[/img]
[img width=468 height=382]http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d95/looney_mom/th_DSCF0464.jpg[/img]

Didnt do so well with pics of him standing tho  :-\  he was quite happy to stand for me but kept turning to follow me so will need a helping hand with those.

Have been thinking over the weekend. Way back in Nov ’07 I took him to the vet as he was bunny hopping after a trip to shore. The vet said he was carrying too much weight (he was around the 24kg mark) Have to say I wasnt convinced that was his problem, he has always looked fit and healthy and has a good waistline but vet said he didnt want to do anything til he had lost at least a kilo. After we got his weight down the vet said he couldnt find anything wrong but offered me some anti-inflammatorys which I refused. He said some dogs just naturally bunny hop ??? Wondering now if I did the wrong thing saying no…

Now I’ve noticed it, I can clearly see he struggles a fair bit, he was lying down frequently on Saturday and was reluctant to run & play & explore like he usually does  🙁

[kizkiznobite]

me thinks that not cruciate …that classic bunny hopping …not even knee pain hopping….dont even look like elbow to me either….

val….thorax vertebrae/…with foot compensation on the diagonal?……maybe toes or wrist?? he showing a mid section roll i think and he not lifting on the turn… :-\

will come and see him thursday and see the movements close to

[Izzie]

Trixie used to walk like that before we went to see the chiro

turned out she had 3/4 vertebrae out in her neck and back

[Val]

Definatly thorax vertebrae, classic to me, think I have gone blind going back and forward with the videos
Val

[quote author=kizkiznobite link=topic=14402.msg269214#msg269214 date=1246282519]
me thinks that not cruciate …that classic bunny hopping …not even knee pain hopping….dont even look like elbow to me either….

val….thorax vertebrae/…with foot compensation on the diagonal?……maybe toes or wrist?? he showing a mid section roll i think and he not lifting on the turn… :-\

will come and see him thursday and see the movements close to
[/quote]

[kizkiznobite]

if i remember right …trix had more of a head hang…so yep verts. further up neck area…lado isnt doing that bit of the behaviour…hence me thinking it thorax…

[kizkiznobite]

me too val…the last vid speaks the most…

rest him up the next few days alison…will see you thurs on my way back from IOW

[-Alison-]

Thanks Bev & Val. I’ll do that Bev. There was one more vid which I cant get PB to load, not for love nor money but it is him just walking and you can clearly see he struggling lifting that foot  :-\

[kizkiznobite]

email it me
x

[-Alison-]

:ok: good idea  🙂

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