# weakness in back legs



## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Didn't find anything doing a search so was wondering if anyone here could give me some ideas to explore. Our farm dog is just 2 yo, 46lbs, a Aussie/lab ? mix adopted from the shelter as a pup. He was fine yesterday, saw no difference in behavior at all but this morning he didn't want to nor could without assistance get up, both sides seem affected - he'll hold one leg up and then shift to the other. Temp normal. I took him to the vets and $200 later all I know is the blood work is clear for poisons, usual flea/tick issues and heartworm. She sold me some 100mg doxycycline. No xray or physical exam of the back or hips but she may have done something when drawing blood. She told me to watch for sign of tetnus. He has gotten up & out by himself to urinate/deficate but othewise lays still. I had a bit of Metacam in the box so gave him a weight related dosage but I thinks that finishes it so will have to resort to aspirin tomorrow. We do have a new pup from the shelter that's been here just 2 weeks - she is active, don't see any issues there but these dogs are together 24/7. He did eat his breakfast after coming back from the vets. So what else should I be doing besides keeping him comfortable, besides wait?
Thanks,


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

During the $200 exam, did she check his anal glands?

Impacted anal glands can sometimes cause those symptoms, and you can treat it yourself

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=625


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

If I haven't ever seen him scooting or paying any attention to his anal area could they still be impacted? I couldn't get the demo to run on this 'puter system but I'll do some googling and see if I can find another one. Oh, and to answer your question- no, she seem'd most convinced this was neurological, not physical from the start. I think I made a mistake by calling him "our farm dog" - she seems to have jumped to many conclusions with out asking - such as "does he get heartworm or flea/tick prevention"?


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

My first thought was lymes until I saw you said he came back negative. I just lost my dog to his second bout with a tick disease.

Is it possible he got thumped by a car?


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Well, we live at the end of a dead end lane so almost no traffic, but he could have gotten thumped by one of the Jacob sheep wethers - they aren't afraid of dogs. That he is affected both sides tho' kinda throws me. Now it's been 2 hrs since his dose of Metacam, and 5 hrs since the doxy and he's actually rather lively for a guy who laid there looking up at me this am! Actually wants to play a bit with his new little girlfriend Phoebe. Seems from internet searching that I can pretty safely dose him with 240mg aspirin for his 50#'s. Anything else I should consider and do besides the anal gland cleanse?


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

My dog Blue would "scoot" if his got impacted, but also , he wouldnt lift or wag his tail, and would sometimes limp and not be as active

My understanding is the glands put pressure on the nerves and it's painful, and can also cause a temporary "paralysis"

Once I figured out what it was, I could treat it in a few minutes and he'd get full mobility back almost instantly.

Hopefully he just got a bruise or a sprain and will be back to normal soon

Good luck


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## GoldenMom (Jan 2, 2005)

It's not good to mix NSAIDs (metacam and aspirin). It would be ideal if you could call the vet back and ask for more metacam. Mixing the two can increase the likelihood of stomach ulcers.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Thanks for that info but I won't be mixing the aspirin & metacam because I'm now out of Met and won't dose him with anything for 24 hrs after the Met. dose. By that time I might be able to access whether he needs another dose of a NSAID at all. Right now he is sleeping but late this afternoon he even jumped up onto "his" sofa! Could be that Metacam is really suppressing the pain, not sure that's such a great thing since he will be doing stuff he shouldn't. And I'd like to try out the aspirin to see if it's as good as the $18/ 10ml Met in our situation.

Michael, I'm still going to bravely go ...after the glands! 

Fishead, I also wanted to express my condolances for the loss of your friend.


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## NightmareRanch (Dec 24, 2006)

A back injury can cause both hind legs to be affected. I have had two IGs that had a back injury and ended up being unable to walk or stand; she was put on steroids and the inflammation went down and mobility came back. Neither appeared to be in any kind of pain, just couldn't walk. The first one was due to jumping off the bed, never did figure the other one out.

Jess


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## Songbird (Apr 2, 2006)

My sheltie just had the same problem. A cortisone shot helped her immensely.


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## Rogo (Jan 1, 2006)

Has the dog been injured? Could arthritis have set in from the injury?


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

Thank you everyone for your suggestions, if he doesn't improve I will have another vet investigate those options. He accompanies me on my daily routine and the night before last I sure didn't see any signs of problems so we were pretty worried when he didn't get up yesterday morning. I haven't gotten him up yet, though he did raise his head to ask me why I was turning the light on at 4:30! The other thing I'm going to investigate is taking them off goat milk - they have been getting whey and/or milk in their food and Ursus always visits the pan put out for the chickens. On the goat forum someone posted that her dog had hip problems til she stopped feeding him milk. Again, thanks for all the thoughts.


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