Weakness In Hind Legs

[Guest betheab199]

Looking for advice: 12 year old Carol is having more difficulty getting around. Her back legs tremble quite a bit. When I let her in the fenced in yard, more often than not she lies down out there. And while our weather is pretty warm for Dec, it IS Michigan!

She has had 2 incidents of her legs sliding out from under her on hard floors.

 

She did race for 5 years, and I have seen mention of LS by others with greys who had a lengthy racing career. Guessing that stands for lumbar stenosis?? I read about trying aspirin, but other anti-inflammatories seem like much better options. Money is an issue, I wish it wasn't. I am worried that the first thing the vet will want to do is sedate her for X rays. I don't think that will be great for my pup or my bank account.

 

Big sigh. We lost our 9 year old grey 1 year ago and it is so hard to watch my other girl failing. I appreciate any advice anyone wants to share.

[TheFullHouse]

I've noticed, in my greyhounds, that once they reach around 12 that this is pretty normal. I have a girl that will turn 12 in April and her legs are starting to shake.

[Guest FreddyGirl]

I have 2 seniors, one soon to be 11 and another 12 1/4. Tom, the latter, can NOT handle "hard floors." So,I bought rubber backed runners and covered almost every bit of hard wood or tile floor in the house. I suggest you consider doing the same. I also put a ramp off the back porch, covers 2 steps.

 

Tom goes for accupuncture and chiropractic treatments from a Holistic Vet. It REALLY helps. I also HIGHLY recommend this for your pup.

 

It is devastating watching them strain to get up, I feel your pain.

[Guest Scouts_mom]

I also recommend trying accupunture. I used it on my old girl, Tia and it really helped.

 

I really recommend you look into accupunture. It helped my old girl, Tia, stay on her feet for a while longer. My vet did xrays but they didn't show anything. She then wanted to do an MRI, but I couldn't afford it and didn't see that it would do anygood as I wasn't going to do surgery on a 12 year old.

[kudzu]

How much exercise does she get? Sometimes just ensuring they get regular exercise, like a walk of 1 mile walk 1-2x/day can improve their strength. Our neighborhood was not a good place to walk due to loose dogs, however, I had access to an underwater treadmill at a bargain price so we started doing that for a while until he got sick. It really helped. Your idea of LS is a possibility. It is not at all uncommon in larger breeds. Other degenerative spinal conditions such as arthritis or disc disease tend to rear their heads as we age. This is what happened to my guy. Sometimes pain symptoms shows up as apparent weakness or can even mimic a neurological problem. Treat the pain & the "weakness" appears to improve. Various illnesses can also cause similar symptoms.

 

When was her last vet appt? Has she had blood work recently? I tend to be rather open & honest with my vet when money is an issue. (And with 6 pets including a horse it is always an issue.) We discuss the best course of action based on symptoms, diagnostics most likely to aid accurate diagnosis & most cost effective treatments. Xrays may or may not be suggested. Even if they are, unless it will change the treatment plan you have the right to refuse. My vet didn't suggest sedating my old guy for xrays. They tried doing a series of spinal rads. Got one done but the next position they tried was too painful for him so they stopped. The one rad showed some arthritis so we just tried treatment based on that & his symptoms. Treatment was gentle exercise, subq B-12 & Adequan injections administered at home & meloxicam. It was all quite cost effective & beneficial. No miracle cure for sure, but it kept him up & going until 13.5 yo.

[Guest betheab199]

I have 2 seniors, one soon to be 11 and another 12 1/4. Tom, the latter, can NOT handle "hard floors." So,I bought rubber backed runners and covered almost every bit of hard wood or tile floor in the house. I suggest you consider doing the same. I also put a ramp off the back porch, covers 2 steps.

 

Tom goes for accupuncture and chiropractic treatments from a Holistic Vet. It REALLY helps. I also HIGHLY recommend this for your pup.

 

It is devastating watching them strain to get up, I feel your pain.

Thanks for suggesting the runners. Watching her cross 2 feet of linoleum to get to the stairs made me come to that conclusion as well. She really hesitates.

 

How much exercise does she get? Sometimes just ensuring they get regular exercise, like a walk of 1 mile walk 1-2x/day can improve their strength. Our neighborhood was not a good place to walk due to loose dogs, however, I had access to an underwater treadmill at a bargain price so we started doing that for a while until he got sick. It really helped. Your idea of LS is a possibility. It is not at all uncommon in larger breeds. Other degenerative spinal conditions such as arthritis or disc disease tend to rear their heads as we age. This is what happened to my guy. Sometimes pain symptoms shows up as apparent weakness or can even mimic a neurological problem. Treat the pain & the "weakness" appears to improve. Various illnesses can also cause similar symptoms.

 

When was her last vet appt? Has she had blood work recently? I tend to be rather open & honest with my vet when money is an issue. (And with 6 pets including a horse it is always an issue.) We discuss the best course of action based on symptoms, diagnostics most likely to aid accurate diagnosis & most cost effective treatments. Xrays may or may not be suggested. Even if they are, unless it will change the treatment plan you have the right to refuse. My vet didn't suggest sedating my old guy for xrays. They tried doing a series of spinal rads. Got one done but the next position they tried was too painful for him so they stopped. The one rad showed some arthritis so we just tried treatment based on that & his symptoms. Treatment was gentle exercise, subq B-12 & Adequan injections administered at home & meloxicam. It was all quite cost effective & beneficial. No miracle cure for sure, but it kept him up & going until 13.5 yo.

Great suggestions, thanks. She does not get much exercise. She is a corn dog too, and walking is not easy. She still gets excited about walks though! Probably should pop on a Therapaw and let her explore the neighborhood a bit.

[GeorgeofNE]

FYI, there is no link between racing career length and LS. LS is NOT a "greyhound thing." All breeds of dogs, and even people, can suffer from LS.

 

Some routine bloodwork and an NSAID from the vet might go a long way toward making her comfortable.

[greyhead]

X-rays can be done without sedation on lots of greyhounds. Even when surgery isn't an option, just knowing what the situation is can really help with management decisions. Our 11-year-old has had LS for years, but has managed with acupuncture/chiropractic, no meds required. But that's expensive. Recently had more trouble, and x-rays showed a slipping disk in the middle of his spine, but no arthritis. So we taught him to walk up the stairs of the deck instead of jumping, which helps enormously. And we know that a firmer bed will help him in getting up, which he's having a hard time with. So if you can spring for x-rays without sedation, you might learn something you can work with inexpensively. (Maybe you can't get each and every view you'd get with sedation, but you can get most of them.)

 

ETA: A strong second to the exercise recommendation. That has been part of our treatment plan all along, but I tend to forget that because it's just what we do, not something unusual. We were told at the beginning that keeping the muscles supporting the spine strong would be key to his well-being, and it really has been probably the most important treatment factor.

Edited December 23, 2011 by greyhead