Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon

I swear my little girl is just loving her vet so much that she wants us to be there every week. We are going to be broke in no time at this rate. We have been to the vet 8 times (7 if you dont count her cardiology appt) in the 10 weeks she has been with us.

This last one takes the cake. She was lifting up her rear left leg on occasion when out running around, but there was salt and ice on the ground, so we thought she was getting some between her pawpads since we would brush off her paws and she'd go running off again. About 2 weeks ago, I noticed that her ankle was swollen, so we went to the vet, but couldnt see our regular doctor because she wasn't in that day. The vet we saw looked at it and thought it was bursitis. She took an x-ray to be safe and make sure there wasnt a hair fracture or something going on with the bone and sent us off with Metacam (non steriod anti inflammatory).

On Tuesday when I got home from work, I could hear her ankle making a popping noise each time she put weight on it. Back to the vet we went on Wednesday morning and saw our regular doctor. She hauled back out last week's xrays and determined that there is a problem with Kaiya's superficial digital flexor tendon. She had an orthopedic colleague of hers check the xrays with an explanation of the symptoms and he would like to see her for either a MRI or ultra sound. (they have an ultra sound expert coming at the end of the month and can likley see what it is that is going on this way without doing an MRI. (ultrasounds are much less costly)

Have any of you experienced this issue with your dogs?

Would you wait until the end of March to get the diagnosis? Have you had experience with Ultrasound vs. MRI that you would defnitely recommend one over the other? Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Comments

  • I don't have any experience with it, but I'm sorry you're having to deal with it. I certainly know what it to have dogs at the vet constantly (right now I'm dealing with the aftermath of surgery for luxating patella and a shredded ACL).

    My understanding is the MRI is much more precise than the ultrasound, but also much more expensive. I've never been able to afford one for my dog (so I may be wrong about how precise they are, but I think that's right).

    anyway, I hope you're able to get it figured out!
  • Poor little thing. Poor you. She's just too young to have to go through all of this.
  • Ugggg. I'm sorry to hear about that. I wish I had some good advice for you.
  • Poor girl! I'm sorry to hear she is having such a difficult time. I hope she will soon be fit again and stop giving you grey hairs because of vet visits. It's not a cheap deal to have a weekly appointment with Doctor Animal!
  • Thanks for the support. I think we have decided that as long as it doesnt seem to bother her, we will hold off until the US tech is at the orthopedic I just cant fathom spending over $1,000 for a diagnosis and then possibly having to do surgery too. We are doing many more short walks a day and no long ones and trying to restrict jumping, which as you know with our Kai loving to perch is not easy.
  • Kaiya had her Ultrasound and saw the specialist today. Unfortunately, I was unable to go, but her daddy took her. She has a strain in the tendon. The good news is that its not ruptured and will not require surgery. The bad news is that she also has plantar fasciitis on the other foot. So....we had to order a custom made orthodic that will support BOTH of her legs until she is healed. (I will try to get details on this from the doctor when I talk to her later this week, but Im positive Kaiya will hate it) She will also be going to weekly rehab sessions until she is healed. No running, jumping, rough play, only leashed walks on straight aways until we hear otherwise. I dont know what else can go wrong with my poor little girl. We will be bulk ordering pizzles and hauling out the antlerz. I guess we will probably need a second Kong too so we always have one ready. Shes going to be so bored and just as the weather is getting really nice around here too...
  • wow! Poor pup! Reminds me of Ahi as a pup, everything went wrong with her.
  • Ugggg. That sucks, but I'm glad it isn't too serious. She'll be back up and running at fill speed before you know it!
  • Glad you know what it is, but damn that sucks. I know about having to keep a dog calm--it's SO hard. My girl who had surgery feels so much better now and she really wants to run around, but I really can't let her.
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