Rear leg cramp - Page 1

About a year ago my male Ari pulled his 'ham string muscle' and it cramped up. He got some down time and lots of massage on the muscle and stretching when he was walking sound again.

The problem is that every once in a while it cramps up again. It is caused by any forward launch, either over a jump or into a run, when the foot is putting a lot of pressure down and back with the leg stretched, (think when they do an excape bite from the down). It does not happen every time he jumps or runs.  If he jumps into the van he is fine, but if he climbs in he cramps up. If he jumps more towards the vertical rather than stretching he is fine. Outside temperature does not seem to have any effect on frequency. The cramping does not occur more when his muscles are warmed up or cold.

If as soon as he cramps I can get the muscle rubbed out the pain is gone and he does't recramp. But if I am not right there when it happens then he can walk sore for days.

Ari is a 7 year old very fit, high drive male. He is very active. He is the dog in my avatar.

Any body have any ideas on cramped muscles? Low potasium? Over muscled?

You're certain it's cramping?  Have you checked the spine? Several vet visits for rear leg issues with my female...finally back xray revealed spondylitis.  Similar symptoms, launching on bites, sometimes into back of truck, etc.


Sue

I agree with justde, it does sound like it could be a spine issue.  I would have him checked out.  I would also warm him up before any strenuous activity.   Acupuncture may help, it really benefited a dog of mine with a similar condition. 

We recently had to retire a fantastic Belgian Malinois Police K-9 for a similar issue with similar symptoms.  The dog was only about 2 years old and I expected him to be one of our best K-9's.  He would suddenly cramp up after working.  We had lots of tests done and results sent to UC Davis.  It was found to have  a congenital dystrophy rarely ever seen in dogs.  The handler adopted the dog and the dog lives a great life, but unfortunately he is not able to work. 

Jim

Thank you for your kind replys.
You can definately feel the lump in the muscle when it cramps up. The lump is just above the tendon. As I rub the lump smooths out and disapears.

Potassium helps with human cramps, so I would assume it help in dog muscles, That is assuming they work on the same exchange of sodium and potassium to contract.  However remember if it is the same in dogs you have to be careful, too much potassium will cause heart issues.

Have the dog seen by a chiropractor...he most likely needs his Lumbar adjusted, especially L5 and possibly his pelvis/ilium or sacrum adjusted...I have seen this be the problem in many dogs. I have a dog that tends to get muscle cramps all over no matter what you do...I supplement his potassium with natural foods high in potassium such as sweet potatoes, kiwis and bananas...after a strenuous work out, he gets a banana before going back in his crate. Hope it helps.

I'm not going to get into the potassium chloride debate, because on a personal note, I've been known to say, eat a banana, as a cure-all, for people.  I will add, that a neighbor feeds her dog bananas on the advice of her breeder, (yogurt, too, daily). Her dog gobbles them up. So I thought I'd try it with mine. He wants nothing to do with bananas!

©Copyright 2008 by Robert Chuckrow

When asked what foods are very high in potassium, most people say, “bananas.” According to Composition of Foods (Agriculture Handbook No. 8),* for a 100 gram, edible portion:

Item 141 Raw banana: 370 mg of potassium.

Many other common foods have potassium content as high or higher than bananas. For example:

Item 368 Cooked hamburger: 558 mg of potassium.

(100 grams is about equal to 3-1/2 ounces, so 5-1/4 oz of banana has about the same amount of potassium as 3-1/2 oz of cooked hamburger.)

So why are bananas reputed to be extremely high in potassium? Here’s my guess:

Someone may have been looking up the potassium content of various foods and found that dehydrated bananas are very high in potassium. A 100-g portion of bananas contains 75 g of water, so when the water is removed, 25 g of solid matter remains. Now, a 100-g portion of dried bananas will have 100 g of solid matter—four times as much as raw bananas. Therefore, the quantities of all of the nutrients are multiplied by a factor of four (100/25). Thus a 100-g portion of dried bananas would be expected to contain about 4(370) = 1,480 mg of potassium. Actually, dehydrated bananas contain a small percentage of water, so a 100-g portion of dried bananas has slightly less potassium than 1480 mg. According to Agriculture Handbook No. 8:

Item 143 Dehydrated banana (banana powder): 1,477 mg of potassium.

Similarly, the potassium content of a 100-g portion of dried beef would have a correspondingly higher potassium content than non-dehydrated beef:

Item 380 Uncooked dried Beef: 4,300 mg of potassium.

When the nutrient content of two foods are compared, both should be in the same form—both as commonly eaten or both on a dry basis.

^*Published by Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, 1963.