Alice
Rear Leg Lameness
Alice, a 6-year-old Shetland Sheepdog, had been experiencing minor lameness in her hind legs for a couple years, but it began to get much worse and she was not able to bear much weight on her right hind leg. Her owner noticed that she appeared very painful and yelped when getting up from laying down and seemed to have difficulty positioning to urinate.
After examination, Dr. Hurley diagnosed Alice with a hip joint disease that resulted in an abnormal deformity of the ball of the hip joint, causing pain through bone on bone rubbing. To relieve the pain, Dr. Hurley performed surgery to remove the source of bone on bone rubbing and discomfort for Alice. Although recovery was extended slightly due to the need for a bone plate for stabilization, Alice recovered beautifully.
About eight months later Alice started limping on her other hind leg. Swimming increased her limping, she stopped putting weight on her leg, and started holding her urine for 36 hours or more, which made her owners feel it was painful for her to squat. However, Alice still initiated play and rested comfortably.
X-rays showed instability in her ankle causing instability, which led it to drop towards the ground when weight bearing and stretch the joint leading to discomfort and lameness. Dr. Hurley again performed surgery to increase joint function and relieve the pain in Alice’s left leg. Now recovered from both surgeries, Alice is happy to be back playing and being active - and so are her owners.