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« on: May 27, 2005, 03:52:23 pm »
My malamute started limping when she was about 6 mo old for no apparent reason. I took her to my vet and was referred to a pet hospital to have a leg specialist look at her. The original vet that looked at her felt that it might be dysplasia in her front legs. This vet was actually someone filling in for my normal vet as he was on vacation. She totally panicked me! Anyway, they did xrays and he indicated that there was dysplasia in her front legs with the right one being worse. Luckily, there were no bone fragments floating around so surgery was not needed. He also mentioned that even tho it was possible that it might get worse as she ages since she is a big dog, it could also be that the pain was being caused by her growing too fast. He was very thorough and did not in any way indicate that surgery would be necessary. He recommended Glucose powder and gave me a prescription for Rimadyl. Told me to keep an eye on her and not play too rough or go on long walks for a bit. The Rimadyl was only for if she was limping. My breeder indicated that Rimadyl is not always good for a dog as there can be complications. My vet also suggested using Glucose capsules for humans as it is the same thing but cheaper. On a good note, after several months she stopped limping and has been fine ever since. This happened Jan 2002. She sometimes limps but I think that is her own clumsiness that hurts her! Hopefully, your baby is just having some growing pains and everything will right itself as she gets older.