My almost 9 week old puppy started slightly limping on Tuesday morning after a rough play session with his sister who is a tough little puppy. I rested him the rest of the day and today. He seems like he is getting worse this evening. He is pretty weak, is preferring to lie down instead of standing or sitting and is having a difficult time getting up from a sitting and down position. I first thought the limp was coming from his left front side, now it seems like he is just not wanting to move much at all. He is eating fine, but I am becoming very concerned. Obviously I will put a call to my vet in the morning, but anyone have any ideas? I was thinking of giving him some childrens tylenol for the pain, but not sure how much to give him. He's about 15-16 pounds, anyone know? Any thoughts would be appreciated, I'm feeling pretty unsettled. Thanks.

IMHO : I wouldn't give him anything tonight , especially Tylenol.

coated aspirin works better, but with a 9 week old pupster AND the fact that he's getting worse over the course of the day/night. you don't know if the vet will want to sedate or put him under when you take him in. you wouldn't want it interacting with any prescribed meds either if it comes to that.

I can't diagnosis, but yes, crate rest till you can get him seen by the vet would be best- leash walk him for potty breaks too until then would be my best advise.

I would recommend getting your puppy to a Vet ASAP. Please DO NOT ever give a puppy any over the counter medication without talking to a Vet first. NEVER give a dog Tylenol or Advil. Just because something is safe for a child does not mean it's safe for a puppy.
That your puppy is also getting weak besides limping is a big concern. It could be anything from a fracture in the leg to even Lyme disease. We had a 10 week old Corgi puppy come to the practice with a slightly swollen stifle and acting lethargic. We X-Rayed the pups rear leg to check for a fracture and did not find one. Upon further examination we found a tick bite on the puppy so we did a 4DX test and it showed positive for Lyme. The puppy has been on the appropriate medications for a few days now and is doing much better.
Good luck with your little one!

NO Tylenol. It's toxic to dogs!

Mike

Tylenol is not toxic to dogs in appropriate doses--(it is HIGHLY toxic to cats even in small doses)but never give anything if you are going to go to the vet because any of the pain relievers will interfere (for 10 days!) with the action of a prescribed pain reliever that your vet may want to give. so in other words, if you give an aspirin before you get to the vet and then the vet gives you Metacam, that Metacam will have less effect for the first 10 days because of the aspirin you gave.

Puppys play hard, rest him. See what difference a day makes. Then you might give him a baby aspirin if he is still that way 24 hours later.

Kathy, I didn't know that about the Metacam. Interesting.
Kristin, good luck with the pup today at the vet and keep us updated with his diagnosos. Hope he's feeling better.

Kathy, I have been told "never switch from Aspirin to another NSAID without waiting at least a week to ten days in between".

Had a vet tell me 1 or 2 days is fine.

This is not for purposes of diagnoses or something such as Metacam not working properly, but to prevent serious problems.

What are your thoughts on this?

He's likely getting puppy shots so I would suspect HOD.

HOD usually involves swelling of the joints, ankles (pastern), knees. Does this pup have swelling?

If it is HOD the sooner its caught the better the chances.

Thank you all for your thoughts. I had him at the vet this morning and she thought he either has a joint or blood infection, or could possibly be the beginning stages of HOD, I have to call tomorrow morning for the results of the blood work. I have no idea how this happened but feel so bad for my boy. She had me start him on some Clavamox, one baby asprin every other day and crate rest. After researching last night, I was thinking HOD since his pain and swelling seemed to be affecting more than one limb. Anyone have any advice for dealing with HOD? Vet says there's not much you can do at his age that is safe. Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

HOD can be nutritional but is very strongly linked to multivalent vaccines.
When was he last vaccinated? He should be treated for the vaccine reaction as that is what likely caused it. IMO, the clavimox will only make things worse. Most cases of HOD occur within 7 days of a vaccination.

He was vaccinated last Thursday with Intervet's Progard 5. First signs of limping were Tuesday.

How should vaccine reactions be treated? Prevented in the future? I highly appreciate any thoughts and advice. I will hold off on the clavamox, unless of course I find out tomorrow that he has an infection. Thank you.

I would look for a homeopathic vet...if they can reverse the vaccine damage, the HOD will settle.
You could also read this: http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/examples_of_vaccine_reactions_in_great_danes.htm
A bit different view, but a good starting point.

Thank you. I'm sure you don't have the answer, but how do I know if it is a vaccine reaction or HOD? Or is it both?

I would treat them as the same.
If you would like to email me, I may be able to send you some good articles.
Personally, I wouldn't treat this with an allopathic vet right now...I would try homeopathy first. Large doses of vitamin C can help too...about 2,000mg.

I would do as prescribed by the vet while waiting for the test results and then start exploring all the various treatment options available.

Kathy,

I stand corrected. I've always been under that belief. I have no intent to spread inaccurate info, so I'm glad you posted.

I guess this means next time I drop a tylenol on the floor and 6 dogs go for it, it's not quite the major emergency I thought it was.

Mike

What does HOD stand for, please?

http://www.vetinfo.com/dencyclopedia/dehod.html

Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy

hyper increased, tropic, growth
osteo, bone
dystrophy, poor/bad growth

It is an inflammation of the growth plates, which is the knobby section at the end of the bones. It is characterized by lameness, "walking on egg shells," and can be accompanied by depression, weight loss, and fever. The joints may be swollen and feel hot. It occurs most often in young (2 to 8 months of age) large breed dogs, and occurs equally in both males and females. It usually appears on x-rays as soft tissue swelling in the area of the growth plates.

Thank you, Barb

Kristen,
I hope that what ever is wrong with your young boy that he'll be doing better soon. There's nothing more frightening then not knowing what's wrong. My fingers are crossed for a good out come! Keep us posted...
Melody

How's the pup doing??? What did the test results show?? Hope there's been improvement!

Looking for an update.

If you go with the Vit. C please go slowly. You have to increase slowly to bowel tolerance. when you see loose stools back off a bit till stools are normal and then increase again.

Talk with your vet about this with such a young pup or better yet a holistic vet.