Broken Meek
07 Jan 2010
Meeker came up left rear limping as we were leaving class on Tuesday night. It was strange because I had warmed him up well before running and he didn't seem to have any problems on course. As I was putting his coat on him to leave he started limping slightly. Running my hands over him I couldn't find anything. When we got home he wouldn't put his leg down at all. Since it was the same leg he injured last year I was afraid he'd reinjured his gluteus; the last thing I'd want would be a chronic injury.Meeker is probably in the best condition he has ever been in. We’ve been doing exercise ball exercises 1-2 times a week and he has been swimming for 15-30 minutes once a week. It might just be my imagination but I think he is running faster and with more intensity in agility because of it. But with that intensity comes the possibility of him “doing himself a mischief”.
At home I tried to go over him from hip to toes slowly and carefully but I couldn’t find “the spot” that caused him pain. So he got a massage and a stretch, some Ascriptin and Traumeel before bed and in the morning. The kind folk at TOPS Veterinary Rehab in Grayslake, IL were able to squeeze him in yesterday and Dr. Christine Jurek was able to find the issue. It took a while but it turned out to be a quadriceps injury that was most noticeable at the end of his extension. So he got some massage, and a laser treatment. We’ll be going back twice a week for three more visits to get laser treatments to speed the healing. But no running around for a while…
I am fortunate that there aren’t any trials coming up that I wanted to attend. I’m hoping he is well enough to go to the UKI fun match in Wisconsin on Jan 23rd but if there is any doubt we’ll skip it.
The hard part of injuries with Meeker is it makes him nuts to see Milo and Petey, he loves charging around with them. So he has to be on leash or crated when the other two are around and playing. It is especially bad this weekend since we are getting another 5-7 inches of snow. All three pups love playing in the snow.
So we’ll see how Meeker’s recovery goes. This morning he is limping when he is in a hurry, but on a leash walk his gait is looking almost normal. So we’ll take it little by little; if I’ve learned anything, trying to hurry the healing only leads to reinjury and a longer overall recovery.
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