Shar pei dog

Badly swollen leg and toes and he won't walk on it, but when I'm touching it hes not crying out or pulling away, the swelling goes down and he starts walking on it again and then few days later he curls his toes and starts limping again, I have touched and squeezed really hard to try and see where it hurts but he won't let me no he just sits here giving me the paw but won't walk on it! Im really confused and want his leg sorted but on my own with 5 children and hes been vets twice and RSPCA Have seen him and said he must be happy or he would let you know but shortly there's something going on and I cant afford £700 for a xray like the vets have said so what do I do please this is a strange 1 right? Xx

Hello and thank you for this interesting case.   In this situation I would suggest reurning to the RSPCA vet clinic regularly for rechecks because it sounds extremely likely from the history that your dog is in pain; as you suggested, it is the main reason for animals to refuse to put a foot to the floor or to put it to the floor but in an odd gait.  It sounds from the history that this is a recurring pattern.  Possibilities include a foreign body eg grass seed in the tissues, which would cause localised swelling but then eventually burst out, which frequently resolving the issue.  Paradoxically, giving anti-inflammatories can reduce the immune response and stop the seed from 'bursting out', which helps with the pain..... sometimes, surgically searching for a foreign body is helpful but so is knowing when not to, because legs can be lacerated this way to no gain...... this may leave your vet with an awkward decision on their hands.   However, there are various other possibilites such as ligament / muscle damage, bone cancer, infected bite wounds.... and your vet might want to rule them out.  They might be considering pain releif that doesnt affect the inflammatory system.  Obviously I haven't seen your dog much less examine them like your vet has and don't know where in the sea of diagnostic possibilities things stand.   It strikes me however that a good conversation with your vet may lead to further investigation or reassure you that things are on track.  My advice with vets is to ask lots of questions, including:  what do you expect to happen now?  ... and.... What will you do if this doesn't resolve?

Rewrite with edits Hello and thank you for this interesting case.   In this situation I would suggest reurning to the RSPCA vet clinic regularly for rechecks because it sounds extremely likely from the history that your dog is in pain.  As you suggested, pain is the main reason for animals to refuse to put a foot to the floor or to put it down but with an odd gait.  It sounds from the history that this is a recurring pattern.  Possibilities may include a foreign body eg a grass seed in the tissues, which would cause localised swelling and inflammation.  Such foreign bodies can eventually burst out, resolving the issue. Paradoxically, giving anti-inflammatories can reduce the immune response and stop the seed from 'bursting out', but helping with the pain..... sometimes vets therefore prefer to give a pain killer that doesn't affect the inflammatory response.   Sometimes, surgically searching for a foreign body is helpful but so is knowing when not to search, because it is hard to know where a foreign body is; legs can be lacerated this way to no gain. This may leave your vet with an awkward decision on their hands:  to carry out scans or to wair and see.   However, this is not the only possibility.  There are various others such as ligament / muscle damage, bone cancer, arthritis, infected bite wounds, ingrowing hairs in the shar pei.... and your vet might want to rule them out.  Obviously I haven't seen your dog much less examine them so I have much less information than your vet has.   I don't know where in the sea of diagnostic possibilities things stand.   It strikes me however that a good conversation with your vet may lead to further investigation or reassure you that things are on track.  My advice with vets is to ask lots of questions, including:  what do you expect to happen now?  ... and.... What will the next step be if this doesn't resolve? You will see that I have edites my last answer for clarity.  I hope that something here helps.