My dog's leg is black, swollen, and shaking. How to ease her pain?

Poor Pepper! The slight shaking can be a sign of pain, and if the leg looks swollen and she's lethargic, I would be concerned that she is in pain. The swollen leg can indicate an injury or an infection. I know it's Sunday in New Zealand, but there are vet clinics who are open for regular hours today here. I would take her into a vet today to have her leg examined and treated. Please do not give her any human pain medications, as many are toxic to dogs and can be fatal if given. If you absolutely cannot find an open vet clinic today, rest her. No running, jumping, or playing. Take her out to toilet on a lead only, and bring her right back in when she's done. Then take her into the vet first thing Monday. Find an ER vet if her leg becomes very swollen, she becomes very lethargic, and/or she stops eating. Good luck, I hope this helps!

The damage done to her leg could be soft tissue or as extensive as a fracture. Until being able to get her to a vet the best you can do it’s try icing her leg and restricting her activity. If you have a crate for her it would be recommended to keep her in that most of the time so that she does not cause any more trauma to the leg just by trying to walk or run around When she needs to go to the bathroom take her for a short slow walk. Getting her to a vet sooner vs later is highly recommended as they will be able to determine the full extent of the injury and prescribe her some pain medications to ease the pain.

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 Angel! It's actually quite serious that it's swollen and she cannot bear any weight on it. This is not something that can be treated at home, she absolutely has to see a vet for it. I would see if you can borrow money from family and friends to afford the vet, and I can give you some resources that may help. You can see if your vet accepts payment plans, if there is a low cost clinic in your area, or you can apply for Care Credit online. There is also an organization called Red Rover that give grants for treatment of sick animals, and you can see if you qualify for one of their grants. Best Friends also has a list of resources that offer financial assistance on their website. http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_pet.html?credit=web_id91754962 https://www.redrover.org https://www.carecredit.com http://bestfriends.org/resources/financial-aid-pets http://lessonsfromaparalyzeddog.com/when-pet-owners-cant-afford-veterinary-bills/ http://www.dogheirs.com/resources-affordable-veterinary-care/ Check out these resources to see if one can help you. Please make an appointment for her asap. Best of luck.

It sounds like the leg is very painful, and I would not try to examine it yourself as she may get upset. Instead, I recommend taking her into the vet to have it examined, and have some pain medication prescribed. It's best to have a vet examine it to make sure the underlying structures weren't damaged by getting twisted up in the shower curtain. Please do not give her any human pain medications, many are toxic to dogs and can be fatal if given. Because she had this accident last week and is still not using the leg, I would take her into the vet today.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I am concerned that this may be a broken bone injury judging from the pictures. For pain relief, you can use Well & Good Buffered Aspirin, which you can find online or at your local Petco quite easily. I would also consider looking into CareCredit to see if you are able to apply for a line of credit to address any medical problems for Chino. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

I am sorry this happened to Marley. That leg does look quite swollen and I would be concerned that she slipped and fell onto it, causing that swelling. Sometimes in older dogs they can fracture a bone much more easily then you would imagine if that bone is already diseased or just weakened. If you have any prescribed pain medications that are not expired for Marley, I would recommend that you give them to her (as prescribed directly on the label). If you can get her into a vet today because of the pain and swelling, I would highly recommend it for Marley. I am sure she is very uncomfortable.