Dog Slipped and Swelling Not Going Down

by Leanne churchill
(Manchester, united kingdom)

Hi, I have an 8-year-old cross breed Rottweiler, Alsatian. A good month ago my dog was jumping at the tv and slipped on my wood flooring.

Since then we noticed it started to swell. We didn't take him to the Vet straight away as we thought it would go down. Once we noticed it wasn't getting better we went to RSPCA .

He had an X-ray which didn't show anything, given anti-inflammatory, antibiotics, and water tablets. It doesn't seem to be going down. He has been going to the Vet every week for a check up.

After reading this it sounds like he has type 2 sprain. She did say she wasn't ruling out cancer but she doesn't know.

Suggestion From Our Veterinarian

Hi Leanne,

You didn’t mention where on your dog’s body the swelling occurred after his fall. I’m going to assume it was somewhere on one of his legs.

A sprain could certainly be to blame, but in most cases, simple sprains will start to improve over the course of a few weeks with appropriate treatment. Other problems could certainly be involved as well, including more serious injuries to ligaments or other structures in and around joints, cancer, fractures (some of which can be hard to see on x-rays), and more.

It sounds as if your veterinarian is being very thorough, but if at any point you would feel better getting a second opinion from a veterinarian who specialized in orthopedic injuries, you shouldn’t hesitate to do so.

Best of luck,

Jennifer Coates, DVM