omg no.

[londontami]

hi everyone.

just looking for a bit of advice. Romeo is a 6 year old male shihtzu/bichon. For the past six months he has been doing some strange things.

for instance: for absolutely no reason he starts air humping. he is neutered. we have to hold him at the back to get him to stop. he is not getting any joy from this att all. its like he is spasming.....

once he was in the kitchen and his head was down and his front paw was up, like it was stuck and he couldnt or wouldnt step down on it, he acted lame. it took a few minutes of me holding him firm and he 'relaxed' and started running around again.

two nights ago he jumped down from the very low couch we have and i was letting him out to pee. he was slow, but i didnt notice anything... when he was outside he was like what appeared to be prancing around, he was acting like he couldnt put any weight on a few of his paws, his back was a bit arched and yet he continued to look for a place to pee. he came in and i held him firm and his spine was very tight, like he ws in a spasm

other than this, he is completely fine, no paralysis, eating fine, disposition as happy as ever.

of course i am on the internet and in 15 minutes i see IVDD and i freak out. which is why is have entitled this omg no. i am a very attentive mommy so i know something is wrong, but i also dont want to pin this disease on him if i am over reacting!

at this stage, should i worry and take him to the vet or wait and see what happens? i took him to the vet about the air humping and she said it was nothing, i even told her that he appears to be in a spasm when it happens and she siad it was nothing.

any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

[CarolC]

I think you need to get a second opinion right away, something is clearly going on. With IVDD you can sometimes treat it with rest and medication if you catch it before the disk gets too bad. If it were my dog, I would crate him 24/7 until you can get him checked by another vet (the sooner the better, in my nonmedical opinion). In the crate 24/7, only out to potty, and you carry him to potty and carry him back indoors. No stairs, no jumping off of furniture. Best to keep him on a leash while he is pottying to keep walking to a minimum. I think you'd want a harness, not a collar, just to be safe. If your vet does not think anything is going on, I would ask for a referral to a neurologist. If the answer is no, try another vet, I think you are right to be concerned. The symptoms do not sound exactly like anything I have heard, but they could possibly be IVDD as you say. Even if it is "just" back spasms, you want to find out what's causing them. I am sorry your vet kind of passed it off, but I think you need to trust your instincts. You have seen these episodes. If you see another episode and can possibly do a video, that might help when talking to the vet. You are right, shih tzus are one of the breeds that get IVDD.

[londontami]

thank you, appointment made.

the problem is that he is fine, now. crating him would create a lot of stress because he has never been crated. he would think he is being punished.

he completely shuts down when i leave for work, meaning he sleeps in his bed and does little to no activity. until i can get him in, i think he will be fine.

[CarolC]

It would be great if you could post what you find out. If it turns out to be something normal, that would be good to know, too. It may help someone else someday. I had a foster dog who acted like she'd broken her ankle or something and the vet said she was fine, she was just a drama queen. She certainly fooled me.