My 3 year old male lab has a suddenly swollen foreleg. Yesterday the vet said it was arthritis and prescribed an oral steroid. Today the whole leg is swollen and now they say it is an infection. Can't find much info. Please help.
by 
hammie
ANSWERS: 5
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We used to raise White Alsatians. Check your dog's leg to see if you can see the source of infection....raised sore, reddish in colour. If there is a spot that you can identify as the source, this is what we used to do. This will sound odd, but it always worked for us. Soak a slice of white bread in milk and then apply the sopping bread to the dog's leg at the source of infection....Wrap it in gauze and make sure the dog can't tear it off. This is called a bread and milk poultice. It will actually draw the infection out into the bread. Change the dressing every 2 hours. Also, get some atibiotics for puppy as well. Hope this helps.
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3 yr old with arthritis? That's a little young for most dogs. It can be so many things. Does he have a temperature? Was he recently hurt? Can you see any cuts or entrance wounds (no matter how small) where bacteria could have entered? The most important thing to remember is if it is swelling quickly that he may need to be taken back to the vet immediately. Severe swelling can cause decreased blood flow to the area, which can result in necrosis. It would take severe swelling for this to happen but it can occur.
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Go to a DIFFERENT VET asap! While I suppose arthritis COULD develop in a young dog, I have never seen it in 30 years. ALSO...arthritis DOES NOT suddenly POP UP! It is a degenerative disease that worsens over time and generally we do not even SEE signs of it until the animal is lame, or moving stiffly, or unable to perform physical movements with the level of agility it evidenced prior to the disease reaching a more advanced state. I'm sorry to be rude, but this YAHOO is ENTIRELY TOO QUICK to hand out steroids...which do nothing but put a hold on the pain EVEN WITH actual arthritis...they do not cure. Most of the medications currently trotted out for canine arthritis and joint disease also can upset the dog's stomach...and have caused Kidney failing in most dogs. I believe there is infection of some sort. It could be a foxtail (if you have them where the dog typically goes) which WILL penetrate the skin between the pads, or sometimes even the pads themselves; and then can travel up the leg all the way to the heart. Please do speak to ANOTHER VET TODAY about this matter.
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Hello!! My lab (2 years) has the same problem!!! DO NOT GIVE HIM STEROIDS!!!!!!!!!!Its gonna kill him!!! My dog has an eating flesh bacterial infection! Take him running to the best vet hospital you find. We drove yesterday over 4 hours to the University of Pennsylvania Vet hospital and they operated him right away to get rid of necrotic tissue. Dont wait for the cultures results and DONT GIVE HIM STEROIDS!!! THAT WOULD KILL HIS IMMUNE SYSTEM! TRUST ME!! our dog is in intensive care unti fighting for his life. if you give him steroids the bacteria will spread through out his entire body. I am sending you a picture of how Ranger our lab) looked like of friday. the first picture was done on thursday, the next on friday. It sounds just like what its happening to Ranger. this is an article on the matter. We also read a lot of things and it was hard to know what it was. our vet wanted to give him steroids, but we didnt want to because we didnt know the cause. http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/full/41/2/104 I wish you the best of luk! Please, hurry!!!! Let us know how everything went!!!!!!
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I too have had the same concerns with my young yellow lab. When she was a puppy my Vet informed me that arthritis she was experiencing or would experience was due to her joints not being fully formed(overbreeding ) which resulted in calcification of joints. One of her back legs is much worse than the rest and several vets have suggested fusing the joint together as the only option to relieve pain.
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