Hi all,

My little girl (who has been fine all day) has got up from a nap (she's 6 mths old) this evening and is carrying her hind leg.  She won't put any weight on it.

To the best of my knowledge (she's with me most of the day) she hasn't done anything to herself.  She is quite bouncy and does jump around a lot so it's possibly a strain type injury. 

I've had a good look and can't find anything obviously wrong simply because the leg is very swollen.  The swelling starts in her groin and extends all the way down the inside of her leg, around her stifle and down to her the point of her hock and to her foot (which is also swollen).  The area is not red or hot.

I've manipulated her limb, extending it backwards seems comfortable and there is free movement, however extending it under her tummy towards her head is causing pain and for her to tense up. Rotating it outwards appears fine.  It doesn't appear dislocated as the legs position is normal.

I've put ice in a flannel on it, given her some Metacam and crated her for rest now its bedtime.  I will of course be on the phone to the vet first thing tomorrow morning to get her seen.

Just wondered if anyone thinks that I should actually ring the vet now (23:50) or whether with the Metacam/ice/rest she'll be OK until tomorrow morning.  Any advice would be appreciated.

Hopefully she is fine and think you did everything to keep her comfortable until this morning.

Hopefully just a strain and with some rest she will be back to normal very soon. Hopefully your vet will be able to put your mind at ease :-)

For that amount of swelling, I would think it's some sort of fluid build up.  I'd be worried as it's spreading into her tummy too.  Hope she's been ok overnight and you get some answers today.

Hi

Thanks for your replies.  She was no worse overnight, perhaps slightly better this morning, swelling was the same but there was some attempt at weight bearing on the leg.

I've just got back from the vets.  My vet has examined her and can't find any structural issue.

He says the swelling is "pitting oedema" which is probably due to Lymphadenitis as her popliteal and inguinal lymph nodes are swollen too.  He thinks it's likely she's trod on a blackthorn.  He's given a steroid and antibiotic injection and I've got to take her back tomorrow morning.  If the swelling has reduced and things look better then that's good, if not he'll X-Ray her tomorrow.

Did you mention to the vet that you had given her Metacam? It's not usually a good idea to mix any NSAID with steroid, but hopefully it should be okay. I hope she is better soon.                               

Yes I mentioned the Metacam, he felt the time gap was acceptable.  Thanks for pointing that out though as its good for other people to read that the two shouldn't be mixed.