I always get such great help here I thought I would post this question before seeing the vet tomorrow. I have a 10 month old GSD male, already OFA'ed prelim good. 2 wks ago he began having slight lameness in one rear leg. I assumed pano and have treated him w/ aspirin. It's persisted off and on but doesn't look like typical pano. Today it's much worse and in both rear legs. Symptoms are: weakness,stumbling gait, as if rear is not coordinated w/front, one rear leg or the other just 'gives out' unpredictably. No pain on palpitation, no unusual temp, appetite and all other systems seem normal. Any ideas, anyone? Thanks so much!
Kind of sounds like something in the back? - spinal? I had a dog that slipped on ice in the kennel and blew two discs in his back and the symptoms sound the same.
Thanks for your input, Lynn. Did you see your dog when he slipped on the ice? I haven't seen Rocky have any kind of an accident but it sure is possible. Was yours diagnosed by xray? Did he have surgery? Thanks.
Yeah, I was right there watching him - and still want to kick myself for not putting down sand or ashes or something, but we had had a freezing rain storm and the place was coated with ice. When Tanner fell, he was coming around a corner and twisted as he fell. After a while I noticed he was stumbling and knuckling on his back legs, which then progressed to dragging his rear end. He was diagnosed with X-ray and treated with steroids and made a good recovery. He was 11 when it happened and lived for another four years before arthritis caught up with him.
I just took my 10 year old shepherd to the vet monday for what sounds like the same symptoms. Best way I could describe it was he looked drunk in the back end. The vet took each back leg back and knuckled over the toes and my dog didn't put it back into place and the vet said it was a spinal injury. With xray he thought he slipped a disc. Was put on a high dose of steroids for inflamation, and hopefully after the swelling goes down everything is supposed to slip back into place. He's a very happy active boy that still acts like a puppy, trying to keep him laying still all day long is quite a chore. The vet said he could have simply twisted funny because I never seen him fall. I did read acupuncture can help spinal injuries but don't know anyone that has any first hand experience with it. Good luck at the vet.
Sue
Sue, I don't know about the pup, but what you described with your 10yr old sounds like a spinal degeneration, not uncommon in GSDs. Some years ago I had to have my GSDxDane put down because he progressed to the point he could no longer walk. One of the signs was walking on his knuckles and not realizing it. There was no pain, but it led to a total lack of control in his rear legs. You may want to discuss this with your vet. My dog was 9yrs old at the time. I'm sure someone here can put a name on what I'm talking about. It was 20+yrs ago that this happened.
Hi Bob-
I think you're thinking of myelopathy. I put down my almost 14 year old with that in December. We struggled with that a long time...it was a really difficult time. Good days, bad days, then there didn't seem to be anymore good days. Zilla, my 10 yr old, his symptoms came on quite suddenly. He isn't walking on his knuckles when he walks, only if you pull him back on his knuckles his reflexes aren't automaticly putting his foot back into place. His xray showed real bad arthritis in his back, and his vertebrae seemed slightly compressed in a spot on his xray that led him to believe it was a slipped disc. The pills seem to be helping, he doesn't appear quite as drunk today, legs seem pretty stiff, like he can't open them up to a full stride. The pour fella isn't getting enough warning for peeing though, they said he'd have to go more, but that's an understatement. Sue
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Help needed- lameness w/unknown cause
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