Re: lame GS

[Guest guest]

Christie:I'm afraid I can't be of much help here, except that I have seen a number of dogs with gracilis myopathy (also myopathy of the semimembranosis and tendinosis muscles) and the gait is very different.  The gait in those dogs shows limitation in the forward swing phase of the stride, with a pronounced paddling movement as the dog attempts to stride forward with the fibrotic muscles limiting the ability of the leg to fully swing forward.  On palpation, these muscle in question is hard, like a piece of petrified wood.

What I'm seeing on the video you've presented here is a hitch to the movement which reminds me much more of stringhalt in horses.  I can't help but wonder if there is a neurological component here as well.  As for the restriction of hip movement under sedation, could the RDVM say where the restriction was was occurring?  Would it be useful to repeat the pelvic radiographs?  Is the difficulty in reading them due to quality or positioning?

Sally Suttenfield, DVM, CCRP

 

Hello - I'd like some advise. This is a 2yr old GS SF that presented to me today for a lameness. She was run over by a school bus in October. No broken bones, but really bad road rash according to owner. A couple months later the owner noted that the dog was having trouble extending her RR leg. The RDVM actually anesthetized the dog and could not extend the right hip. I noted that when the dog trots she seems to have a catch in the swing phase of her stride. I believe I'm seeing fibrotic myopathy. Would you agree? If not, what do you think? The x-rays I got from the RDVM were difficult to read, but the hips don't look terrible. Thanks for any advise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2AkcRfBp3w-- Christie Carlo, DVM