My senior Labrador is limping and whining. What can help him?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Limping can be due to many reasons that go from relatively uncomplicated such as soft tissue injuries and osteoarthritis to more complicated and serious injuries such as fractures and even bone tumors. I highly recommend that you have Roxy evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. They would be able to localize her pain and decide what the next diagnostic step which will likely be radiographs. At the very least, they can start her on pain control medications. Good luck and have a good day!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. It is possible that he has a fractured bone that is causing him discomfort and lameness. I would recommend having a veterinarian examine him so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I would recommend having x-rays taken of this leg to rule out any bone fractures as the cause. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Lameness can be caused by a number of things. Unfortunately, in this breed, ACL injuries are common and are typically due to degenerative changes with the ligament (if this is a back leg lameness). Also, if this is an ACL injury, there is a > 50% chance that the opposite leg will be affected by the same problem down the road. On the examination with the veterinarian, they will check her knee joint and see if there is an instability called a cranial drawer or a tibial thrust. Both of these manipulations help confirm the suspicion of an ACL injury. Most of the time, an ACL injury requires surgical correction to fix. This can be discussed further with your veterinarian once diagnosed. This may not be an ACL injury and may be osteoarthritis or hip dysplasia causing discomfort. I would recommend x-rays of the affected leg. If this is a front leg, there are other possibilities such as arthritis, a bone fracture, infection, ligament injury, elbow dysplasia, etc. I would definitely get Bliss on a joint supplement along with omega 3 fish oil. I typically recommend Dasuquin and Welactin for supplements, which can be found online quite easily. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please remember to rate this answer as helpful or not. Thank you!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would be looking into the possibility of this being something affecting the joints per se such as immune mediated polyarthritis or perhaps something like hypertrophic osteodystrophy given his young age. These are possible things your veterinarian can look into. Treatment of course would depend on findings. At the very least they can try pain control medications and anti-inflammatory drugs. Best of luck!

A number of medical conditions can cause limping. Labrador Retrievers are prone to several joint problems that can cause pain and thus limping, including elbow dysplasia and patellar luxation. But there are a host of other problems that can cause limping, and in very simple terms it's just a response to pain, so the source of the pain must be determined first, using physical examination and x-rays, in order to determine what's causing the pain, and how to treat it. For more facts and characteristics about Labradors, visit PetCoach's breed page: www.petcoach.co/breed/labrador-retriever

It sounds like the lameness get worse and now it got to a point of non weight bearing, so in this case I would recommend to take him to a vet. The vet will examine him, asses the lameness as well as probably give him pain relief and joint supplement. The vet may want to consider to run some diagnostics if indicated from the physical examination. Good Luck

Her reduced activity level may be due to the lameness or arthritis pain. I recommend a veterinary exam for the lameness. They will feel her neck shoulder and the rest of the leg to determine the cause. They may also do X-rays to look for bone and joint problems. If they think Ruby is painful they can prescribe pain medication. I don't like older dogs to get too lazy and not exercise since they can gain weight and lose muscle mass which makes the lameness worse. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Ruby.