back legs control please help & advice shepperd
back legs control please help & advice shepperd
Hi, Sorry about my English but I will try my best. I have a German Shepperd 8 years old pure bread around 70# and he never had any back problem, hips etc. I live in 2 story home with hardwood all over. Last week in the evening we want out for his regular walk and suddenly he can't stand up, slides to the side, bends his toes, it was horrible and never show symptoms or anything. At home he always go up and down the stairs very fast, even now that he has trouble he steel try to run but we are controlling his speed because he can get hurt. Somehow he don't know what's going on. I went to the hospital and after spending so much, I didn't get a real answer and they didn't find anything on the x-rays. They told me that I can explore more with a MRI but the bottom line is no cure and they recommend acupunture, massages, therapy etc and it's part of old age. His vet say the same thing and I went for another opinion and the same thing. The hospital and my vet give me the same medication even that they mention arthritis. So 3 doctors have seen my dog and the only thing in common is that is very strange that this just happened without symptoms. They put him on tramadol 50mg 3 times a day 2 pills, he hate this medication, I don't find more tricks to give it to him and even if I force him, he vomits, he hated like a little child. Metacam I need to give him 70 measure liquid and he like this one. I don't see any progress in 10 days and he start on a massage test but I don't see any result. What worry me is that when he stands up his back legs start spreading until he is ready to colapse. Also to pee or pop it's a nightmare. So far we help him through the leash but I don't know what can I do if it gets worst. How come nobody have a real answer and I know my dog and it was perfect. I call so many vet and 1 told me to cage him 8 weeks, to minimize movement and maybe he gets better. I can't cage him 8 weeks or even 1 day. Any advice or anything can help, please tell me if anyone here knows of a treatment, vitamins or something. I know that Shepperds suffer from the back but my dog never show a symptom. It's like he don't have strenght, but trust me he still get's mad during he's walks and even that is 70# sometimes it's hard to control him. Please help me asap, thanks
Re: back legs control please help & advice shepperd
Your English is VERY easy to understand! Where are you? Members of HP live all over the world, and somebody might be able to help you with resources closer to you.Why can't you cage him? If you don't have cage, you can use a small space like a bathroom or a closet, or you can block off a small space with chairs or whatever. Tramadol is a pain med and is a good choice, but maybe the vets can find something he'll tolerate better. At least he'll take the Metacam!
You can learn to express his poop and pee down on the board called "incontinence." To help him pee, you squeeze his bladder through the wall of his belly. It's not as bad as it sounds, but it takes practice. You can help him poop with what we call "poop on demand," where you use a technique or 2 to get him to poop when and where YOU choose.
Re: back legs control please help & advice shepperd
Welcome to the forum. So sorry it had to be through troubles like this.
does your dog seem to be in any pain? When you said he bends his toes, do you mean he stands on the top of his feet, with them knuckled under.
I am no vet, but with a sudden onset, it does not seem like arthritis to me. If there is no pain it could be FCE, which is like a stroke, but occurs in the spinal cord. They will quite often make considerable improvement if this is the case.
If there is a lot of pain, disc problems are a consideration. If this is the case, then the cage rest, or as Carol pointed out, very restricted activity is so important. A small room with nothing to jump up or down on will work well, and they are usually happier than in a cage.
I know you said he cannot stand up in the house, but is he better outside where he can get better traction when it isn't so slippery?
sorry to ask so many questions.
Hugs Joan
does your dog seem to be in any pain? When you said he bends his toes, do you mean he stands on the top of his feet, with them knuckled under.
I am no vet, but with a sudden onset, it does not seem like arthritis to me. If there is no pain it could be FCE, which is like a stroke, but occurs in the spinal cord. They will quite often make considerable improvement if this is the case.
If there is a lot of pain, disc problems are a consideration. If this is the case, then the cage rest, or as Carol pointed out, very restricted activity is so important. A small room with nothing to jump up or down on will work well, and they are usually happier than in a cage.
I know you said he cannot stand up in the house, but is he better outside where he can get better traction when it isn't so slippery?
sorry to ask so many questions.
Hugs Joan
Re: back legs control please help & advice shepperd
Hi,
I'm brand new to this forum and would like to reply but I'll briefly introduce myself first.
I'm the mom of Ruby, a 7 year old Portuguese Podengo and Simon, a 12 year old mixed breed who resembles a red Siberian Husky. Both were special needs shelter dogs and we've had them for about 2 years. Ruby had suspected mammary cancer but fortunately her tumors were benign and she's a healthy (albeit chubby!) 7 year old. Simon had Lyme Disease which resulted in severe arthritis. His front legs are most affected; they're deformed - very bowed elbows - which makes walking difficult. The arthritis in his hind legs is mild to moderate but there's no deformity. Although it's very evident that he's handicapped by looking at him, Simon is an independent, stubborn old guy and he can sometimes walk a surprising distance before he decides that he's tired. Then, we put him in a Little Tykes wagon (which we always take on our walks) and wheel him home.
Three months ago, Simon woke up and his left rear leg appeared to be paralyzed. There was no "incident", no warning - He was fine when he went to sleep and woke up with a seemingly paralyzed leg. He didn't appear to be in pain but his back leg would knuckle and then give out completely. Given the limitations of his front legs, poor Simon could not walk at all. After seeing our regular vet and a couple of expensive "specialists", it was determined that Simon experienced an Ischemic Myelopethy (maybe the same as FCE that Joan mentioned below?).
http://www.vetstream.com/villagevets/ht ... 282902.pdf
http://vetspecialists.co.uk/Default.asp ... jectType=1
Fortunately, Simon started showing minor improvement in a couple of weeks and has since almost fully recovered.
Has there been any change in your guy's condition? If he isn't in pain, it possibly could be Ischemic Myelopethy or FCE (although I'm not a vet!) which often results in at least partial recovery.
On another subject, Greenie's Pill Pockets are good for hiding pills like Tramadol . Most dogs love them and are eager to take their pills:
http://www.greenies.com/en_US/Products/ ... ckets.aspx,
I hope is well and I'll pray for a speedy recovery.
I'm brand new to this forum and would like to reply but I'll briefly introduce myself first.
I'm the mom of Ruby, a 7 year old Portuguese Podengo and Simon, a 12 year old mixed breed who resembles a red Siberian Husky. Both were special needs shelter dogs and we've had them for about 2 years. Ruby had suspected mammary cancer but fortunately her tumors were benign and she's a healthy (albeit chubby!) 7 year old. Simon had Lyme Disease which resulted in severe arthritis. His front legs are most affected; they're deformed - very bowed elbows - which makes walking difficult. The arthritis in his hind legs is mild to moderate but there's no deformity. Although it's very evident that he's handicapped by looking at him, Simon is an independent, stubborn old guy and he can sometimes walk a surprising distance before he decides that he's tired. Then, we put him in a Little Tykes wagon (which we always take on our walks) and wheel him home.
Three months ago, Simon woke up and his left rear leg appeared to be paralyzed. There was no "incident", no warning - He was fine when he went to sleep and woke up with a seemingly paralyzed leg. He didn't appear to be in pain but his back leg would knuckle and then give out completely. Given the limitations of his front legs, poor Simon could not walk at all. After seeing our regular vet and a couple of expensive "specialists", it was determined that Simon experienced an Ischemic Myelopethy (maybe the same as FCE that Joan mentioned below?).
http://www.vetstream.com/villagevets/ht ... 282902.pdf
http://vetspecialists.co.uk/Default.asp ... jectType=1
Fortunately, Simon started showing minor improvement in a couple of weeks and has since almost fully recovered.
Has there been any change in your guy's condition? If he isn't in pain, it possibly could be Ischemic Myelopethy or FCE (although I'm not a vet!) which often results in at least partial recovery.
On another subject, Greenie's Pill Pockets are good for hiding pills like Tramadol . Most dogs love them and are eager to take their pills:
http://www.greenies.com/en_US/Products/ ... ckets.aspx,
I hope is well and I'll pray for a speedy recovery.
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Re: back legs control please help & advice shepperd
same happened to my rottie...tramadol made him sick, so I quickly stopped giving it to him. I found a couple things that helped:
1. Look for a dog therapy pool. Swimming once a week made a huge difference.
2. We see a holistic vet once a month for acupuncture and herbal arthritis meds. Much better than tramadol
3. The Chiropractor has helped my dog more than anything else. Check out http://www.animalchiropractic.org . You can look for a chiropractor world wide.
Most important thing to remember is if it's not his hips, it is most likely a spinal problem. The neurologist that we saw wanted to cut open my 13 year old boy, and do muscle biopsies. I absolutely refused and it was the best choice I have ever made!
1. Look for a dog therapy pool. Swimming once a week made a huge difference.
2. We see a holistic vet once a month for acupuncture and herbal arthritis meds. Much better than tramadol
3. The Chiropractor has helped my dog more than anything else. Check out http://www.animalchiropractic.org . You can look for a chiropractor world wide.
Most important thing to remember is if it's not his hips, it is most likely a spinal problem. The neurologist that we saw wanted to cut open my 13 year old boy, and do muscle biopsies. I absolutely refused and it was the best choice I have ever made!