This my first time posting to the forum. My question is in regards to my 7.5 year old white shepherd Thor. I had his teeth cleaned on Thursday and also asked my vet to remove a skin tag (cyst) which had formed on a callous on his left elbow. The dental went fine, however; the skin tag removal was a little more complicated because when the vet removed it she found another one growing under it so removed that as well. It required six sutures to close.

He recovered from the anesthesia quickly and was eating and behaving normally within a couple of hours of the surgery. He seemed a little stiff on Friday which I expected, but yesterday and today I have noticed his back left leg seems weak or as if it is having spasms. When he does a full body shake, it kicks out to the side and he ends up in a sit. When walking, he will suddenly scrape the nails of that paw because it doesn't seem to lift the way it should. Also while lying down the leg will jerk and then he jumps up, shakes, circles and lays back down. He does not appear to be in any pain. For that reason I am waiting until tomorrow to call my vet because I would rather see her than deal with the emergency service. My hope is that it is a minor muscle pull due to maybe being in an awkward position while they operated on the leg in front of it. If anyone has experience with a similar situation, I would love to hear your feedback, so that when I talk to my vet I cover all bases.

Thanks,
Sheila

Yes, he should see the vet. Rather than a muscle pull, I'd probably be suspecting nerve involvement during local anesthesia or cutting.

But I'm not a health professional.

The good news: there is no sign of neurological weakness. The not so good news, not really sure what is wrong. My boy has now been restricted to leash walks to the yard for "natures calling" for the week. After two days of following this regimen, I have noticed an improvement in his symptoms as well as a huge decrease in swelling of the elbow where the cysts were removed from.

Thor is a high energy dog and since he was eager to go, I followed his cue but think we may have overdone it after his surgery. I thought this enforced downtime would be hell, but he seems fine with it (albeit some whining) and is sleeping quite a bit. He is not eating as much but he has always been good about balancing how much he eats with the energy he expends. Eight more days until the sutures are removed and his activity is restricted. Hopefully, all symptoms will have resolved by then.

The vet didn't by any chance give any vaccinations or heartworm med when your dog went in for surgery?

No. But that is interesting you should ask. My vet would not schedule the dental and annual check up together. I figured it had something to do with her schedule and didn't think much of it. He is on a 3 year schedule with most of his vaccinations but I do have to board him this summer when I take my daughter to college, so he received the bordatella vaccine (nose spray) however; that was three weeks prior to his surgery. He was also treated with Frontline and Heartguard three weeks before the surgery. Those treatments are due next week though. Is there something I should be looking out for?