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Sudden Loss Of Appetite And Rear End Weakness


ivon

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Spud is 11, he has always been a very good eater, but suddenly on Monday he only had half his dinner, and he ate it slowly, he seemed listless and depressed. He also had loose stools, not normal for him at all, so I took him to the vet, they could not find anything obvious wrong, we ran a full blood panel. Nothing wrong there either, except slightly elevated bilirubin levels in blood and urine. Since yesterday, he has perked up a bit and is eating his full meals again, if slow, not the usual wolfing down he's always done. Today, I let him outside first thing this morning, he ate, and then wanted out again, I let him out, and he had tremendous trouble with the stairs (five steps) into the yard, he fell more than walked down, and could not get back up at all. His hind legs were shaking, I took a leash and walked him around the front, where there is only a small step.

He is restless, standing around panting much of the time, and even had difficulty laying down on his bed. I've seen the weakness and shakyness in older dogs, but never seen it come on this suddenly. Maybe this is just a result of his poor eating this last week? The panting concerns me, as that could indicate pain, but I don't want to give him Rimadyl, since the vet thought the bilirubin points to a minor liver event.

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Ivon, Spud, Karma & Sasha

Missing Darla (05-22-96 03-01-2010)

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I'm so sorry for you & Spud. I'll be very interested in any replies from the more knowledgeable folks here. Skeeter had a very similar episode back in August.

Inappetance, loose stool, weak, fell down steps........took him in, blookwork,xray, caridac workup.......nothing obvious. Slighly elevated liver values, slightly

enlarged heart (but not alarmingly so). He also seemed reluctant to lie down, just wandered around more confused than anything, I think.

 

Of the 3 vets I consulted with, none had any constructive plan of action, so I wound up with "wait & see." I was most worried about him not eating, so the next

3 days were spent tempting with all kinds of goodies, and trying to walk a fine line between getting him to eat and not upsetting his tummy more.

 

He finally just kind of "came out of it." He's eating again, and poop is fine, but he's still a bit weak, and looks (to me) like he's aged several years in just the

past few weeks. I even wondered if it could have been a small stroke.

 

My best wishes to Spud, and wishing strength for you with your worry.

Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog.

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Guest DebSzal

My first thought was a FCE (fibrocartilaginous embolization) of the spinal cord. Gracie exhibited the same symptoms although her appetite loss was immediate. She is 10 years old. She has some soft stool which is unusually for her and then one morning she wouldn't eat. She was also walking like she was drunk with distinct loss of strength in her back end. The vet sent us to a specialist that day and a MRI ruled out a tumor, so the presumed diagnosis was FCE. The plan of action was to keep her quiet, feed and water as usual and see what her progress would be. He said the more strength she recovered, the better it would be. Ultimately, she recovered about 95% of her back end strength. There is still some residual loss of strength, but otherwise she is doing fine. However, there was really nothing we could do to encourage quick recovery. Her body (specifically the spinal cord) had to develop alternate routes to bypass the embolius to resume the connection with her hind quarter.

 

This was my experience and I hope this might help you. It is so upsetting when our furkids are sick. Sending healing white light your way!

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FCE would explain the sudden onset of his hind leg weakness, but his appetite was down before that happened, and almost as soon as he wanted to eat again, this happened. I started him on double doses of Fresh Factor, hoping that might help, not even sure how to get him to the vet, he can't possibly get in and out of the car, in fact we had big problems with that last week already. I need to dig out the Webmaster Harness and see if it fits him...

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Ivon, Spud, Karma & Sasha

Missing Darla (05-22-96 03-01-2010)

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Maybe test for TBDs?

 

My first thought was FCE or something wrong with his back like a buldging/slipped disc.

 

Will he eat other stuff like treats or human food? Is it possible he's decided to get picky?

Colleen with Covey (Admirals Cove) and Rally (greyhound puppy)
Missing my beloved boy INU (CJ Whistlindixie) my sweetest princess SALEM (CJ Little Dixie) and my baby girl ZOE (LR's Tara)

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Colleen, he is eating again, since Friday morning, I was so happy, and all of a sudden from one turn-out to the next, the issue with his legs came up. They ran the gamut of tests of him just last week, because of the not eating thing, I told the vet run them all, because what if she guesses wrong as to what to test for? One issue may not have to do anything with the other, maybe it does, maybe not, but either way, he had just been tested for everything. He gets around, but it's almost like his hind legs are drunk, the rest is fine, and he is very unsure of what he can trust them to do. I put the Ruffwear harness on him now, that way I can pick him up if he can't get up, and hold on to him when we go outside. Also, this gets worse the more he lays around, once he moved around a bit he is a little better. Kind of like it would be with arthritis, but arthritis doesn't pop up from one hour to the next, right?

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Ivon, Spud, Karma & Sasha

Missing Darla (05-22-96 03-01-2010)

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I will take him in for x-rays tomorrow, I'm starting to suspect that whatever it is that ails him won't show up in blood tests...All my research points to hermangiosarcoma, which would truly be devastating, but I have to be realistic, mostly, I have to be fair to Spud.

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Ivon, Spud, Karma & Sasha

Missing Darla (05-22-96 03-01-2010)

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All fingers and paws crossed here for sweet Ivon -- I meant Spud! We'll be looking for your update. {{Hugs}} to you both.

 

Edited for idiocy.

Edited by greyhead
Mary with Jumper Jack (2/17/11) and angels Shane (PA's Busta Rime, 12/10/02 - 10/14/16) and Spencer (Dutch Laser, 11/25/00 - 3/29/13).

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Turns out the issues were not related, he is eating again, but has a disk problem, x-rays turned up nothing. So he is on Rimadyl and muscle relaxers and strict rest. No stairs, good thing I only have two tiny steps out front, not sure how I would do that otherwise. And, just in case, I had them test for TBD's, while we're there anyway.

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Ivon, Spud, Karma & Sasha

Missing Darla (05-22-96 03-01-2010)

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Hope he is feeling much better. Glad to hear he is eating again.

Star aka Starz Ovation (Ronco x Oneco Maggie*, litter #48538), Coco aka Low Key (Kiowa Mon Manny x Party Hardy, litter # 59881), and mom in Illinois
We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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So, turns out, he tested positive for Lyme Disease, thank you Colleen for the tip! I never expected this, since Spud raced in FL, and I couldn't recall if I ever had him vaccinated. The test can't tell if his anti-bodies come from a vaccine or the real thing...in any case, I picked up the antibiotics from the vet, it's Doxycycline, he has to take it for 3 weeks and we retest in 6 months. I wonder if he picked it up in 2010, when we went to GIG, and a few months later, to Pittsburgh to get Karma...either way, he is back to his old self, if not better...

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Ivon, Spud, Karma & Sasha

Missing Darla (05-22-96 03-01-2010)

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I'm glad Spud is eating again and you have a diagnosis. Good thoughts for your boy that he is back to himself in no time.

Kyle with Stewie ('Super C Ledoux, Super C Sampson x Sing It Blondie) and forever missing my three angels, Jack ('Roy Jack', Greys Flambeau x Miss Cobblepot) and Charlie ('CTR Midas Touch', Leo's Midas x Hallo Argentina) and Shelby ('Shari's Hooty', Flying Viper x Shari Carusi) running free across the bridge.

Gus an coinnich sinn a'rithist my boys and little girl.

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What we realized was that it's not just where the dog raced that puts it at risk for TBD's, it's also where it was farmed and trained. We didn't test a Kansas-raced dog and find its Babesia and Lyme until we learned he'd been raised in Oklahoma, and then the light bulb went on for us! TBD's can be picked up young and be dormant for years.

 

So glad you have answers and treatments for Spud.

Mary with Jumper Jack (2/17/11) and angels Shane (PA's Busta Rime, 12/10/02 - 10/14/16) and Spencer (Dutch Laser, 11/25/00 - 3/29/13).

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