I took the Zs to get their dentals today, so I tossed them into the back of the Dogmobile. This was one of the first times I've driven with them in the rain. Zeke was up on his hind legs peering out the back window when the rear wiper swept. Zeke tried to stab at the wiper like he wanted to catch it. It immediately made me think of Auntie Keren's video she posted some time ago. Unlike Guinness, though, Zeke quickly gave up on catching the wiper thingy.
Zora came through her dental with flying colors. Zeke needed one tooth extracted as the roots were exposed. We also had his hips X-rayed as he has developed an odd-tick: When he "transitions" between a walk and a run, he starts behaving like a three legged dog. He "hangs" his right rear leg and only uses his left rear to propel himself. When he is walking, he has a normal gait. In a dead run, his gait is also normal...but in between, he does this. It used to just look like a "misfire", that he would occasionally pull the back leg, but now it happens consistently. To the best of my knowledge and Yamisi's (the Zs original owner), he has never suffered a leg injury. The X-rays revealed some very mild dysplasia. The vet is recommending supplementing his diet with Glucosamine.
I picked them up around 6 PM. Zora bounced back fairly quickly. Zeke is still a bit stoned. In spite of this, he kept trying to come downstairs to be with me. I kept him in my lap for a bit and then finally put him back in his crate to snuggle with his sister. I'm sure he'll be more like himself in the morning.
Hope Zeke feels better soon,guess he will get eggies should cheer him up in the morning.
I hope Mr. Zeke is feeling much better tomorrow. Ouch on the extraction! My Maddie had the "hitch in her git along" thing going too. Walking was fine. Running was fine. "trotting" was trot, skip/hop, trot. Supplementing sounds like a very reasonable thing to do.
Bonnie sends sloppy kisses to Zeke.
David we found Olivers mild dyspalsia when our vet thought he had done his curiate ligament, all the way to a specialist 4 hours, who said no it was not a torn curiate. So I got our vet to x-ray and low and behold a mild dyspasia. I think he actually displaced it, as he he was in pain, probably rabbit chasing with a quick pull up and turn to avoid a fence. Our breeder says it can be seen in dachies. Hard to see how he gets up to a run as he is a long hair. Sometimes as we live on a hill by the end of a long runny walk he sits down half way up the hill and I get to do weight training. We have the though "better to know" we give him Sacha's Blend.
Glad toffies were all ok for the main.
Roberta
So glad the Z's teeth cleaning went well-it always makes me sad when they're all doped up and confused. Reilly had hers done recently and the vet found a chipped tooth with a weird groove carved into it. It's still solidly in, so they left it, but that is why her teeth looked so gross to me. That chipped tooth had a rough surface that accumulated a lot of tarter. The vet was laughing at me, because she did one side first and was like "why did you bring this dog in for teeth cleaning-they're bright and shiny!". Then she turned her over to do the other side and was like "oh, okay, I see." :2funny:
Glad to hear all are doing well. Nothing too serious. Give the babies extra hugs today for the rough ordeal they went through yesterday. :bandaid:
Glad all went well with the dentals. Funny Zeke and the wiper :wink:
Toby has the same hitch with a back leg and has had it since I adopted him. I had them x-ray and they didn't see anything. We figure that he may have had an injury, and learned to compensate that way and now it it habit. Walking and trotting are fine - it is his running when he picks up the leg....strange.
Hope the Z's are feeling themselves today !
Add oLlIe to the "Hitch in his get-a-long gang" Exactly the same description that David gave of Zeke. I didn't notice it until after the vet's visit. Now I am going to worry about it. :thinik:
I have a dog structure and movement book that says that hop in the back is very common in short legged breeds. I'll quote it-it's not a problem in the sense of pain or injury, just a common gaiting fault.
From K9 Structure and Terminology, Edward M Gilbert Jr and Thelma R Brown:
"Short-legged dogs such as the Dachshund never have trouble in the trot with the rear feet hitting the front feet; the rear legs cannot reach as far forward as the front pawprints. Because of this reason, rear legs can travel out of rhythm with front legs.
...[If]the rear legs have less reach than the front legs. Therefore, for both ends to cover the same distance in the same time, the rear legs must take more steps than the front legs. The legs, as the dog travels, will change rhythm. An unbalanced short-legged dog may start at a trot and change to an irregular gait rhythm...Short-legged dogs with legs out of rhythm often hop to get legs in cadence. This is similar to a soldier out of cadence who makes a quick double step to get into step."
Thanks for the info , Kathleen.
Might be the knee slipped out of the grove ? Might slip back on its own too. Good Luck
Good to heart everything goes smoothly, just hope Zeke will back to his playful self as he recover, way to go for them..