My dog is favoring his front leg. What can I do or when should I see a vet?

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. When dogs are 'non-ambulatory'- not walking on a leg, this is usually a sign of significant pain. Also, swelling is concerning for either a significant injury (fracture/dislocation), an infection or abscess (pocket of pus), or in older animals we worry about cancers. I would recommend having Swayde seen by a vet to see if anything serious is going on, and would recommend x-rays. Best of luck with Swayde.

Poor Wednesday! Unfortunately, I am unable to prescribe any medication without examining Wednesday myself. I do not recommend giving her aspirin, as it may have some unwanted side effects in dogs such as damage to the kidneys, gastric ulcers, and bleeding issues when given in high doses. She should definitely be seen by a vet as soon as possible, especially because she is limping. Your vet can take x-rays to see where the trauma is, and perform blood work to make sure that Wednesday's organs are functioning properly to handle any pain medication, as well as place a cast or splint if necessary. You should try to keep her as calm and quiet, with as little activity as possible until she is examined by a vet. Good luck and I hope Wednesday feels better soon!

No, that isn't correct. It isn't safe to give dogs aspirin, even baby aspirin. It cause GI ulcers ad bleeding. If Lily can hardly walk on it, she needs to see a vet because she is in a lot of pain. Rest her tonight, and take her into a vet first thing in the morning. If you fear she is extremely painful, take her into an ER vet now. Best of luck.

I always recommend against giving baby aspirin to dogs. It makes it more difficult to give them medication if we need to switch them. If Jack hurt his rear leg I do recommend a physical examination be performed on him at a vet. Dogs can have just a simple soft tissue injury but they can also have issues with their knee cap or even an Cruciate ligament rupture (like an ACL in a football player). Going to the veterinarian they can prescribe good anti-inflammatories that would not be able to be given if you gave the aspirin. They can also dispense good pain medication to help Jack. Until you can get him to a veterinarian I recommend strict rest and only leash walks to go outside to the bathroom and then back inside. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and I hope Jack feels better soon.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would still keep the appointment you have with the veterinarian. In the meantime, you could start a pain medication to help her out. I would recommend Well & Good Buffered Aspirin. You can find this product at PetCo and it is specifically for dogs. Follow the dosing on the bottle as directed. The veterinarian will likely give you a different medication that is safer to use long term. I hope this helps! I would definitely get x-rays of the leg tomorrow to look into this further and rule out any bone fractures.

Poor Pepper! First off, please do not give her any more aspirin. It's not safe to give in dogs because it causes GI ulcers and GI bleeding. It could be that she is suffering from arthritis, but it could also be that she has torn a ligament in her knee called the cranial cruciate ligament. This would lead her to be unable to put any weight on it. It's very clearly hurting her a lot because she won't put weight on the leg. She needs to see a vet for this problem, and I would call the vet first in the morning to get her an appointment to be seen asap. Tonight, rest her as much as possible. Take her out to toilet on a lead only, and bring her right back in when she's done. Do NOT give her any more aspirin or any other human pain medications. The vet can prescribe safe ones as needed. Best of luck, I hope this helps.

He really needs to see a vet for this. This lump is over a joint and it looks swollen in the photos. It is not recommended that you give any medications as that can skew the vet's exam. He is obviously in pain if he is not moving and whining. I suggest you get him to the vet today if at all possible.