I took Nickie to the vet this morning to get a prescription for Hydroxyline for his itching. While I was there, I discussed the problem that Nickie has had since we got him at 8 weeks old. For no apparent reason, one or more of his 4 legs will "tremble" when he is standing still. It is not always the same leg and it doesn't seem to occur when he first gets up or necessarily after a long walk. The trembling seems to originate all the way up to his shoulder area.

He does not show any sign of lameness, and when he first gets up, doesn't appear to be stiff (actually comes bounding out of his crate). Another thing that I mentioned to the vet which I'm sure he could see was the fact that his rear feet seem to be "splayed" outward more than the normal straight forward like on the front feet.

He thinks the trembling is probably a genetic condition of the nerves in the legs and there is no treatment for it. He also said it was OK to walk him farther than one mile each day. Now that it has cooled off here I am more likely to walk farther with him.

He examined his legs and said that he has a new problem - a medial luxating patella (on the right side only). He asked me if I had noticed Nickie stopping while we are walking and trying to straighten out that right rear leg. I have not noticed anything like that. He said he would discuss this with another vet in the practice who will be there next week. He also said he has not seen this in large breed dogs - it is mainly the pomeranians, shiztus, etc. (Nickie is a pitbull/bullmastiff mix).

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Also, vet said I might want to consider xrays of his hips in the future because of the rear legs "splaying" outward.

Hi Diane,

Our old family Pomeranian had luxating pattellas when he was younger - it seemed to clear up on it's own as he aged though. For him, one back leg would just lock and he'd immediately cry and roll over onto his back. We would massage the knee and after a few minutes I guess it would pop back in place and he'd be fine. We never opted to do anything surgical about it and by about 4 years old he wasn't having episodes anymore.

I know it's very common in small breeds, and having watched our Pom suffer occassionally from it, I would think you would have noticed if Nickie were having an issue - I'm not sure if it's really truly painful, or if it's more like a charlie horse or something.... either way, when the knee cap pops out of place, there is some form of discomfort and the dog can't use the leg properly, if at all - I wonder if the reaction is the same in a large breed, like Nickie? Poor guy, sounds like his list of ailments just keeps growing! Hopefully, once he's full grown (he's only just over a year, correct?) he'll quit with all the growing pains and just be a nice healthy adult!

~Natalya

Hi Natalya,

You're right, the list just keeps growing! That's what happens when you get a mixed breed dog, I suppose. It seems strange to me that the patella problem would be more common in smaller dogs - seems like a large breed dog would put more stress on the joints, etc. than the little guys.

I'm wondering if he had stronger thigh muscles if that would help. I know that when my husband had knee surgery for a torn meniscus, he had to do exercises to strengthen the thigh muscles. Walking should be good for Nickie to build up the muscles, I would think. I have never encouraged any jumping activity with him - he has never been inclined to try and jump up on the bed or anything higher.

Yes, he just turned one year old the first part of this month.



Edited by Diane Joslin (09/22/2007 04:59 PM)
Edit reason: adding comment about his age.

 Quote: Diane Joslin

I'm wondering if he had stronger thigh muscles if that would help. I know that when my husband had knee surgery for a torn meniscus, he had to do exercises to strengthen the thigh muscles. Walking should be good for Nickie to build up the muscles, I would think. I have never encouraged any jumping activity with him - he has never been inclined to try and jump up on the bed or anything higher.

SWIMMING!!! Absolutely the best for big dogs' joints.

Jenni,
Swimming would be an option if Nickie weren't so leary of the water! We have a nice pool in our backyard - 14 ft by 32 ft (6 feet at the deepest and 4 feet at the shallow ends).

HOWEVER, Nickie seems to be pretty scared of going too close to the edge of the pool. The first week we had him (when he was just 8 weeks old, my husband had him outside and thought he was exploring in the side yard. Hubby was adding water to the jacuzzi (it is separate from the pool). Next thing he knows, here comes Nickie at a run (as fast as an 8 week old puppy can run), puts his little paws on the fiberglass edge of the jacuzzi, and tumbled head over paws into the water. This was in November when the water was not heated. Hubby snatched him out of the water in about one & one-half seconds. He dried him off quickly and put him back in the house. That was his only exposure to water.

Our other dog, Roxie, does not seem the least bit interested in going into the pool either. Even if we are both in the pool and try to coax either one of them, they will not come near it.

To tell you the truth, I'm kind of glad because the dog hair would not be too good on the filter. Too bad we don't live near some lakes or streams where they could explore. Our Lake Mead outside of Las Vegas is drying up fast!