My 7 month old Rottie has been limping for almost a month

 

by Danna
(Charlotte NC…..USA)

I noticed about a month ago my Rottie limping and not being able to walk on her left front leg. She did not fall, get into an accident or did I noticed her injuring it in any way. I know she runs in the backyard, plays, jumps and is all over the place.

So I do not know how she hurt it. I did take her to the vet the very next day. He put her under to get a complete panel of x-rays. He said the her elbows, hips, and joints were in great shape. He noticed no signs of dysplasia, or elbow problems. He thinks she may have sprained it while playing.

I know a sprain takes a long time to heal. I am wondering how long before she stops limping? She does not appear to be in pain in any way shape or form. Acts completely normal for a puppy except for the limp she has. The Dr. said limited walks and play for 2 more weeks. Hard to keep her down. My questions is , Is it normal for her to limp for so long? Will she limp like this forever? Any info helpful..Thank you for your time…

Danna

Hi Danna
Many times I wish I was a veterinarian so that I could be of more help… and this is one of them!

I don’t have any professional experience or vet knowledge myself so will only be able to give you my personal opinion and input, a veterinarian is going to know more than I do for sure.

However, in my personal experience, a pup doesn’t limp for a month or more due to a minor ‘sprain’, unless they’re not allowing it any rest at all and are aggravating it to the extreme.

You did the right thing to get the X-rays done so that you could rule out signs of dysplasia, fractures etc.. and it’s good that nothing showed up. But, X-rays don’t show soft-tissue injuries, and it could be that she’s damaged a ligament rather than a bone. Rotties have a tendency to tear the ligaments in their back legs quite easily (something as simple as stepping in a hole or running awkwardly on ground that’s uneven can do it), I would imagine they can do the same thing to the front legs!

This breed has a very high pain threshold and she may be in some discomfort but just not showing it. If I were you I would ask for a referral to a specialist who deals with orthopedic-type problems and maybe get an MRI done. This is just my feeling, and of course your vet may already have ruled this out, but I thought it was worth suggesting.

Other than that, it may be possible that she has Panosteitis. This is a type of bone inflammation sometimes seen in large breed puppies. Usually it would show up earlier, but I would imagine it could possibly happen in a pup of this age. Again, an X-ray probably wouldn’t show it, but you can learn more about this condition and how to test for it on my Panosteitis page.

After more than a month I would definitely take this up again with your vet and try to get some more tests done to put your mind at rest.

Hope this helps, best of luck.

Comments for My 7 month old Rottie has been limping for almost a month

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Jul 04, 2017

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My 2 Rotties are Limping NEW
by: Raj

I have 2 rottweilers of 13 months. They are brother and sister. They were around 4 months and all of a sudden both of them started limping; the male is affected with the front leg and the female is affected with back leg. Normally, they will limp when they get up after a long sleep/sit. Then, gradually they get better.


May 04, 2017

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My rottie is 7 months and is limping on left back leg NEW
by: Anonymous

Recently I have noticed my Rottweiler limping on his left back leg . When we go on walks he seems to put less wait on it than his right , it’s almost like he’s tucking it in I want to want to wait a week or so just to see if it goes plz can u help


Sep 09, 2013

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6 month old Rottie limping NEW
by: Agard

I have a 7 month old Rottie male who had a limp about a month ago. He had it for 3 days so I took him to the vet. The x-rays showed his growth plates where still developing and with a large dog it can cause some pain and limping. He did get over the limping and seems to be fine now.


Aug 22, 2013

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my 1/1/2 Rottweiler puppy having trouble walki g NEW
by: amy

My titus is having trouble with his back legs. He was fine yesturday. But today he can’t move at all. I had to carry him up to my room. Cant afford emergancy vet. What can I do. He has been having problem s but not this bad.


Apr 13, 2013

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Limping Rott Puppies NEW
by: Carrie M

Hi I have 2 pur breed Rottweilers that are brothers and almost 8 months old now. My 1 baby has been limping for about 2 months and whines and crys allot! I took him to my vet to have them both fixed and my vet said it is common in the larger breed dogs and im finding allot of people saying the same thing about their Rott puppies. The Vet said they do outgrow it, and its from the way their bodies grow. I get worried about my baby too and do hope he outgrows it soon. I hope this helps.


May 22, 2011

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OCD
by: Connie

Your pup could have OCD, Osteochondritis Dissecans which is seen in growing pups usually between the ages of 6 – 9 months. One of my rottweilers has this problem and was diagnosed at about the age of 8 months. I first seperated him from my other 3 young dogs for 4 weeks which gives it chance to reattatch and heal. I hae another rottweiler, a great pyreneese, and just a dog (all rescues) and they play hard and all the time. At first when I saw him limping I htought he had something in his paw but after a week I took him to the vet and had an xray done. After his 4 weeks of confinement I slowly allowed him to interact with the other dog’s and again he bgan holding his front left paw up. He would play and run as though nothing was wrong but when play time ended, he would once again feel the discomfort of his condition. I have been told most cases form a low grade discomfort is why te dog is able to regain normal activity with out showing signs of pain.dog’s don’t complain !! I took my dog back to the vet and he had an injection which I couldn’t tell you what all was in it, I just know it cost about $480.00 and had no guarantee. It could last a month, year, or not at all. Unfortuantly this has not offered him much relief s he began limping again within a few weeks. The next step is surgery and due to the cost which I have been told is thousands and thousands,I am going to contact the school for vet’s in my area, or near my area and see if I can get him an appointment for surgery there. If you go to thepetcenter.com and type in the serch bar ocd in rotweilers it will bring up an extremley informative page telling all about this. My dog has it in his shoulder but they can have it in the ankle, shoulder, and elbow joint. Hopefully this is not what your pup has but it is worth checking out just in case. Good luck.


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About The Rotty lover 2159 Articles
My name is Dr. Winnie. I earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Duke University, a Masters of Science in Biology from St Georges University, and graduated from the University of Pretoria Veterinary School in South Africa. I have been an animal lover and owners all my life having owned a Rottweiler named Duke, a Pekingese named Athena and now a Bull Mastiff named George, also known as big G! I'm also an amateur equestrian and love working with horses. I'm a full-time Veterinarian in South Africa specializing in internal medicine for large breed dogs. I enjoy spending time with my husband, 2 kids and Big G in my free time. Author and Contribturor at SeniorTailWaggers, A Love of Rottweilers, DogsCatsPets and TheDogsBone