Our dog is in pain, how can we help?

awanderer

Our dog, a 3 1/2 to 4 year old lab, was perfectly ok up to yesterday when he jumped, ran and swam as usual. I didn't see anything wrong today during his morning walk either but soon after, I noticed that he did a sharp yelp when doing his traditional celebratory dance as I was coming back down the stair after a prolonged absence (ie: more than 10 seconds). Since then it seems that it has been getting worse: he yelps when he sits or moves but my partner and I haven't been able to locate the site of his pain: he is not limping but clearly he gets some sort of stabbing pain when he moves and it is heartbreaking. It is also worrying as the yelps are becoming more and more frequent and our dog is starting to look very depressed. He wouldn't even get up for a treat which never happened before!

Is there anything we can do to help him until the vets open tomorrow? (we are not even sure that the vet could help as the only info we have is that our dog is in pain, we suspect he sprained something but don't even know what). Should we consider giving him human pain killers if so which ones are 100 % safe? (Our dog is 34 kg and has been very healthy since we adopted him 20 months ago). Should we let him rest or try to bring him for a gentle stroll later on?

Thank in advance for any advice.

Kristopherus

Just be aware, vets may not be working tomorrow, as its a Public Holiday. If you gave your vet's mobile no. it may be no harm to text him/her.

DerTierarzt

awanderer wrote: »

Our dog, a 3 1/2 to 4 year old lab, was perfectly ok up to yesterday when he jumped, ran and swam as usual. I didn't see anything wrong today during his morning walk either but soon after, I noticed that he did a sharp yelp when doing his traditional celebratory dance as I was coming back down the stair after a prolonged absence (ie: more than 10 seconds). Since then it seems that it has been getting worse: he yelps when he sits or moves but my partner and I haven't been able to locate the site of his pain: he is not limping but clearly he gets some sort of stabbing pain when he moves and it is heartbreaking. It is also worrying as the yelps are becoming more and more frequent and our dog is starting to look very depressed. He wouldn't even get up for a treat which never happened before!

Is there anything we can do to help him until the vets open tomorrow? (we are not even sure that the vet could help as the only info we have is that our dog is in pain, we suspect he sprained something but don't even know what). Should we consider giving him human pain killers if so which ones are 100 % safe? (Our dog is 34 kg and has been very healthy since we adopted him 20 months ago). Should we let him rest or try to bring him for a gentle stroll later on?

Thank in advance for any advice.

Poor fellow. One-hundred percent ring your veterinarian. Some are open tomorrow, and if (Heaven forbid) he gets worse they may be able to see him this evening. Unfortunately most human painkillers can have adverse reactions in dogs, up to and including gastric ulceration, kidney disease, respiratory/cardiac depression etc. so best not to use.

Ken.

Tell us your general area and people might know a vet in your area open tomorrow. I'd start by very very gently checking the dogs paws to make sure he didn't stand on something like a thorn or thumb tack that's still there. Do not give the dog any medication not prescribed for him.

DerTierarzt

Kristopherus wrote: »

Just be aware, vets may not be working tomorrow, as its a Public Holiday.

All veterinarians must provide an out-of-hours emergency service, they aren't ever really "not working" due to being on call.

awanderer

Kristopherus wrote: »

Just be aware, vets may not be working tomorrow, as its a Public Holiday. If you gave your vet's mobile no. it may be no harm to text him/her.

We never thought of that but I just checked and the vets seems to be opened tomorrow according to their facebook page. There is a local vet we could text to in case of emergency but we would only do it as a last resort as he is not specialised in pet care and we prefer to continue to use the same vets as the rescue did.

awanderer

ken wrote: »

Tell us your general area and people might know a vet in your area open tomorrow. I'd start by very very gently checking the dogs paws to make sure he didn't stand on something like a thorn or thumb tack that's still there. Do not give the dog any medication not prescribed for him.

We did try to check his paws and move his legs but we stopped as he started shaking and while we first believed that the pain might be in his left upper leg, as he almost snapped when my partner touch a spot there, we couldn't be sure as we couldn't find the "spot" again and the poor dog is so visibly stressed when we touch him, we prefer not to bother him more. It isn't something we could see with our naked eyes anyway.

Junglewoman

Where are you living? There is 24 hour service at UCD Veterinary Hospital if you are in reach of Dublin.

awanderer

Junglewoman wrote: »

Where are you living? There is 24 hour service at UCD Veterinary Hospital if you are in reach of Dublin.

We live about 50 min from Galway city (East). The dog's "usual" vet is in Galway city (as I said the dog had never really needed to see a vet since with us though apart for the yearly vaccination/check ups and an eye infection caught while in care).

alie

Our dog jumped off the sofa and landed weirdly, thankfully nothing broken, only a sprain, I rang out of hours vet <snip> Are you near the ark vets , they 24/7

Do not advise any medication via this forum.
Thanks,
DBB

DerTierarzt

Junglewoman wrote: »

There is 24 hour service at UCD Veterinary Hospital if you are in reach of Dublin.

This is actually a service extended only to registered clients of member practices, the Pet Emergency Hospital rents examination rooms from University College Dublin.

Ken.

Just throwing this out there. Today was a nice day around Kildare. Seen a few bees and wasps. Could your dog have gotten stung today?.

Junglewoman

DerTierarzt wrote: »

This is actually a service extended only to registered clients of member practices, the Pet Emergency Hospital rents examination rooms from University College Dublin.

Oops, I forgot about that. It's a long time since I had to use the service.

awanderer

alie wrote: »

Our dog jumped off the sofa and landed weirdly, thankfully nothing broken, only a sprain, I rang out of hours vet and was told to give her a small spoon of infant calpol. Are you near the ark vets , they 24/7

We are not near Ark Vets but it is a very helpful post as we certainly would be able to bring the dog there in case of emergency. I have taken their emergency number anyway. Your post also reminded me that at the end of our walk this morning a smallish dog ran towards my lab. I was worried as this dog looked very similar to another smallish black dog that bit my dog the first month we had him almost 2 years ago (and this dog was also following a cyclist) anyway the smallish dog crossed the road and ran towards my lab who went mad (which is not a usual behaviour for him even if sometimes he can be a bit reactive towards big dogs while on the lead) stupidly my reflex was to tightened my grip on the lead (while I know that if I had let him off the lead he would not have harmed the other dog) which not only made my dog look aggressive but also might have harmed him as he was on his back paws lunging towards the other dog and trying to escape his collar. I forgot about that incident as it was embarrassing but then 15 seconds later my dog was again his gentle self.

Now I wonder if it is not when he hurt himself

awanderer

ken wrote: »

Just throwing this out there. Today was a nice day around Kildare. Seen a few bees and wasps. Could your dog have gotten stung today?.

I had thought about that but he doesn't show any signs of pain when lying down. Wouldn't he be trying to lick where he would have been stung?

If only dogs could speak

Gremlinertia

Briarhill also provide out of hours and would be your side of the city.. Google out of hours vet Galway as I don't think I can post numbers. Failing that get a local vet to provide pain relief maybe? I know it won't be a small animal specialist but they usually have more than enough expertise to help out temporarily.

DerTierarzt

Junglewoman wrote: »

It's a long time since I had to use the service.

Well hopefully it was a positive outcome!

bb12

<snip>

Do not "prescribe" any medication for animals on this forum.
Thanks,
DBB

awanderer

Gremlinertia wrote: »

Briarhill also provide out of hours and would be your side of the city.. Google out of hours vet Galway as I don't think I can post numbers. Failing that get a local vet to provide pain relief maybe? I know it won't be a small animal specialist but they usually have more than enough expertise to help out temporarily.

I had no idea they had a 24 hour emergency service! The number is now pinned next to the "regular" vet number. At the moment it seems that as long as he doesn't move the dog is not in pain. If things don't evolve we will try to wait until tomorrow. He will have to share the living room with me tonight though as I don't want to leave him alone.

aonb

How did you get on - how is your dog today

awanderer

aonb wrote: »

How did you get on - how is your dog today

I apologise for not giving any update earlier. My dogs seems to be getting much better today.

Today seems to have been a very lucky day: at 6 am he seems to have thought that he would take advantage of the fact that I was sleeping in "his" room to have an early walk and put his wet nose in my face until I realised that I better get up seeing that I wouldn't be allowed to sleep any longer.

I drove to the sea, thinking that if he had some pain in the leg, it would be safer for him to walk on the sand, in the grass or in the water rather than on the road. He seemed much better than yesterday but still yelped a few times and I was trying again to find where the pain was when a man walking his big dog asked me if he was okay. I explained the problem and the man told me he was the local vet (I do not know anyone here but my dog has a much better social life than me, being walked twice by me and twice by my partner daily). Anyway the local vet seems to be part of the dog's social circle as he very happily let him examine him and that is when I learnt that the pain was coming from the dog's back (near his shoulder) and not his legs! Anyway the vet said that I shouldn't worry yet as it is very probably only a bruised muscle and there isn't much that could be done, only time would heal. He even went to his place and came back with some dogs painkillers that he advised to give only if the pain was making the dog miserable!

Anyway, the dog seemed much happier today and I didn't give him a painkiller until 7 pm. I decided not to drive him to the vets in Galway yet and to wait and see until tomorrow as I am much less worried today and the dog has eaten happily + even if the local vet is more of a farmers' vet (he marveled at how muscular my dog is and thought he would make a "great hunting dog" a change from the usual "what a cute doggy" ) he certainly knows more than me about dogs.

So my partner and I decided that I would see tomorrow during the morning walk if things still seem to be improving and if not, my partner will drive him to the vet. Just now, the dog seems like his normal labrador self: sleeping deeply in the living room yet still appearing miraculously in the kitchen if I go anywhere close to the fridge .

Gremlinertia

Delighted!

muddypaws

awanderer wrote: »

I drove to the sea, thinking that if he had some pain in the leg, it would be safer for him to walk on the sand, in the grass or in the water rather than on the road.

Great that the vet was so helpful, hopefully he will continue to heal. One thing that I would advise though, is not to walk him on sand, it can be quite hard work, even when it seems hard underfoot.

aonb

What a nice man your local vet was!

Its sad when ones dog has a better social life than oneself!!

Oh and your dog has probably planted a very high-tech sensor on your fridge so that he KNOWS when you are approaching the fridge. Dont try to look for the sensor though, because he will just move it when you are not looking :cool:

awanderer

aonb wrote: »

What a nice man your local vet was!

Its sad when ones dog has a better social life than oneself!!

Oh and your dog has probably planted a very high-tech sensor on your fridge so that he KNOWS when you are approaching the fridge. Dont try to look for the sensor though, because he will just move it when you are not looking :cool:

I hadn't read your answer before ! I suspect that the high-tech sensor must be linked to a teleporting device as when I throw a blanket on the dog and later on, during the evening, I go to the kitchen and accidentally open the fridge, the dog mysteriously appears next to me with his blanket still on him and really seems hypnotized by some mysterious invisible entity located in the fridge .

I just wanted to say that I obviously overreacted when I started this thread as today my dog was able to play with his best friend (a neighbour's collie) for 20 minutes non stop and both are rough playmates, running in and out of the sea, play fighting, falling over... and my dog didn't show the slightest sign of pain .

+ The best thing that came out of all that is that now I know that the local vet, despite not being a pet vet, really cares about dogs which is good to know.

Patty O Furniture

muddypaws wrote: »

Great that the vet was so helpful, hopefully he will continue to heal. One thing that I would advise though, is not to walk him on sand, it can be quite hard work, even when it seems hard underfoot.

I've heard also on various programs, that even on hot days, that it's worse for them, as they sweat through their paws afaik saw that on Supervet.

Just watching it on demand, just saw the 3rd ep it can sometimes be heart wrenching when i saw Dandi the dog with walking problems & owner being given a terrible dilemma over the dog's welfare.

nyoto

Are you sure your vet doesnt have an emergency number? Or is there another vet within driveable distance thay has an emergency number? Im vet nurse and our clinic has a veton call 24/7/365. He needs to be seen and given some relief.