I saw your other post earlier, and immediately thought of Meg's shoulder issue, but was rushing out and didn't get a chance to respond then and there. I'm pleased you found this thread.

I am sorry your girl is having these problems and definitely agree that it is stressful when they don't have a spare. I'm obviously not a vet or anything but I did wonder when I read your post whether it could be that she'd sprained a muscle and then kept reaggravating it, because it does take some time to work back up to full strength again.

The vet who diagnosed Meg was her rehab vet, who we see regularly for core strength work, laser/acupuncture, hydro as necessary, and just general check ups. She is a fully qualified vet who specialises in rehabilitation, and what's great (and really quite remarkable to me) is the way she can tell so much just by touch. In this case she could feel the muscle behind Meg's shoulder blade was tense and knotted. There was also tenderness down her spine, especially at the bottom on the opposite side from her shoulder. This was presumably caused by her trying to compensate for her injured shoulder.

If you could take your girl (sorry, I don't know her name) to a rehab vet then I would very much encourage you to do so. For Meg, I have found it invaluable. To treat Meg's shoulder she did some laser and acupuncture, prescribed anti-inflammatories and strict rest – just five minute lead walks on flat surfaces with no sharp turns. We also stopped using the wobble cushion etc (which we normally use daily at home) until her shoulder was fully recovered. The restrictions continued for about a month, even though she appeared to be fully recovered, because she said it was best to just bite the bullet and make sure her shoulder recovered properly, rather than risk her re-injuring it by doing too much too soon (she is naturally an extremely active dog).. The good news is that this really paid off and Meg has been absolutely fine ever since with no recurrences.

It may well be that your vet will want to do X-rays and/or scans as well. Ideally, you want a situation where the different professionals work together, i.e. your regular vet, an orthopaedic specialist and a rehab vet. In my situation, because I had an ongoing relationship with the rehab vet, and was in a panic, I just took her straight there, but had she not been able to identify the issue, or felt that Meg needed a scan etc., then she would certainly have referred me back to an orthopaedic specialist and then liaised with them as to the best course of treatment.

Good luck with it all. As I said above, I do feel that the fact she's recovering in between points to an incompletely healed injury, but clearly that's just a hunch. Keep posting and please do let us know how you get on. If I think of anything else that I think could be useful, then I'll definitely let you know.

Warmest wishes to you and your girl,

Meg, Clare and Elsie Pie xxx

See what they say re restricting her. To be honest, I've never crated Meg, even through all her operations. I did get a crate and set it up, but she only ever went in it with me, which really was a bit ridiculous. Me and her sitting together in the crate, looking out through the bars. I mean why?  What I did was I never left her alone. I'm lucky in that I work largely from home, and when I had to go out, I got people to sit with her for me. I'm really talking post op, though. With the shoulder problem, this wasn't necessary. What I did do was   keep her (and me, lol) confined to one room and remove all the furniture from it. If Saysay (great name) does have a rotator injury, then you don't want her stepping up and down, e.g. on and off the sofa, bed etc. Meg has steps leading up to these anyway, but when she hurt her shoulder, we just did everything on the floor. 

Re going outside etc. if she's just pottering (and the ground is flat), I guess that may be okay, but definitely not if she's likely to tear around, do zoomies etc., in that case I think a lead would be a safer option.

Anyway, it's great that you're going to get her examined, then you'll know what you're dealing with. And ditto re talking to people with similar problems. It's been an absolute Godsend for me. So pleased you found this site. Keep posting, and let us know how you get on.

All best,

Meg, Clare and Elsie Pie xxx