Hi All

I have a 10 month old King Charles Spaniel puppy. The last 3-4 days when i've been taking him on our field for his usual run he's been limping and not using his back right leg (keeping it up off the ground). He is showing no signs of pain or anything but the leg feels stiffer than the other.

He is his usual happy self and it doesn't appear to be causing him any pain as i've moved the leg around and felt around and it feels fine.

However, someone mentioned it may be hip displasia. Do you think it could be a pulled muscle and I should leave it a few days to see if it heals or should I be taking him to the Vet straight away?

If he's a small breed (is he a King Charles spaniel or a Cavalier King Charles spaniel? They're different breeds) then it's more likely to be a problem with his patella (kneecap) than his hips. I'd get the vet to have a check to see if his kneecap's loose.

I would say take him to the vet to be safe. He may not be showing signs of pain but the very fact he's not using the leg says there is some discomfort. Years ago I had a JRT who ran around like a mad thing. He started limping on his back leg one day. He didn't yelp when it was touched but I took him to the vet and it was a torn ligament. It's just better to know rather than leaving it to chance.
Hope your little fella is soon back on all 4 legs!! x

Agree with both may be the knee but being lame is not normal so pain or not he should see a vet as soon as possible. We must remember too that  some dogs do not show pain until it is very bad, so your dog may be in pain but keeping it to himself.

Just took my 9 month old youngster.  She is actually using her leg when walking, running and jumping (yes she's mental and goes a thousand miles per hour).  Not patella, hopefully not hip but seemed quite sore around the hock.  My girl is just holding hers up when standing still.  She is on cage rest and anti inflammatories until Tuesday when if there's no improvement hip and whole leg will be x-rayed.

THis is a girl where all parents and many of her ancestors are health tested.  Just hoping it's nothing serious :(  I did give her a few days cage rest before going to vets but its not improved.

I would automatically think of your breed as it being a patella problem.  Vets it the best place to go.

Well yes you use your experience before rushing to the vet, I did yesterday. My old boy was miserable, hanging his head and holding up one foot or the other at the front - thought he probably had a problem in the neck and upped his Rymadol from 25gm to 50 for a few days, he is much better this morning. Had he not been I would have taken him to the vets but I did not want to put an old dog with a pain into the back of the car if I could avoid it.

I would say definately take him to vet to get checked-it may be he's limping due to twisting his leg or something but best to be safe than sorry.When I first took my puppy to the vets they gave her anti-inflammatories and said to rest her,hopefully this will help your puppy

If he is limping it is hurting, just because they don't yelp out doesn't mean to say there is no pain.
It could be a number of things but i would start off with a few days complete rest.  no walks, jumping on furniture, running round the garden or going upstairs.
If no better then i would go to the vets and get it checked out.

Have you checked his nails? My terrierX started to limp after a walk - couldn't see anything wrong with his legs and he didn't mind me checking them at all and I thought he may just have turned awkwardly or something. Next day he was on three legs so off we went to the vet. After  a very thorough examination he discovered Cooper had split a claw right back close to the pad - he had to stay in for it to be clipped level with his pad and cauterised. His toe is still swollen two weeks later but is slowly going down in size but all four legs are back in contact with the ground and he is rushing around as usual.

I had checked his claws but the break was so close to his pad that it was very hard to find - took the vet about 15 minutes and I still found it hard to see when he was showing me the break.

Thanks for all of the advice.

I kept him on a leash and restricted his running to '0' and he has stopped limping all together

I will keep an eye on it and get him to the vets if he shows signs again but he seems fine now so perhaps a pulled muscle, torn ligament

x

Good news !