Temporary Hind Leg Paralysis

[Guest SabrinaInDE]

Today my 10 year old greyhound Max was out running in the yard. He stopped running, starting walking, then his hind legs collapsed. He couldn't get up or move them at all. We rushed him to the e-vet. They took x-rays, which told us pretty much nothing. He has had a calcified disc for as long as I've had him (5+ years), but it looks the same as always. There are no inconsistent spaces between the vertebra. They hospitalized him overnight, but we went back to see him a bit later and he was (unsteadily) standing! Basically, the vet at the emergency clinic doesn't know what's going on. She put him on some steroids and pain meds for the time being, and another vet with more specialized experience is coming to look at him tomorrow morning.

 

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this?! If so, what was the diagnosis and what happened? Right now, the not knowing is the hardest part. I don't know what I can do for him, though I am so happy that he seems to be improving!

[Fiona3]

It can be a frightening thing to watch your greyhound suddenly collapse. With one of our greys, we had what the neurologist called "an unexplained neurological event". He lost use of the back legs for a time and the treatment was similar to what Max is receiving. Steroids played an important part as well as some secondary pain medication. He gradually recovered and was kept on a small dose of steroids for a period of time.

 

As Max is improving, it is a very good sign. Standing is the first positive sign to look for and he is already there. Perhaps the specialist will have more insight as to what happened. I'm glad your boy is doing so much better.

 

Please keep us posted on his progress.

[tbhounds]

FCE? I would check his urine for protein too (proteinuria in hounds is not uncommon and could be responsible for stokes).

[kudzu]

Was his blood work all normal?

[Guest SabrinaInDE]

Blood work was good. We're thinking it may be FCE - he has all of the signs. But the great news is that he's home and MUCH improved! He is walking (though a tad bit unsteadily), eating, and going to the bathroom. The vet wants to do an MRI tomorrow morning, but after the trauma of this weekend and how much he's already improved, I think we may hold off. I'm very wary of putting him under general anesthesia with his age and everything he's just recently been through.

[MaryJane]

It's not likely but, you might want keep in mind vestibular issues (inner ears & balance). It can cause symptoms of a dog being so dizzy that they don't want to get up and it can happen suddenly with little warning.

[kudzu]

Sounds like good news. Glad for that. MRIs bother me for my pets because of the anesthesia. In many circumstances I too would be inclined to skip it. It would depend on dog's progress & what vet was looking for.

 

Hoping for continued improvement.

[brindlehound]

Magic had something similar happen a couple of months ago. He had trouble getting up and holding his weight. He was better a few hours later. I didn't take him to the vet but I did talk to him and he thought it was Magic's arthritis due to the short duration of the "event".

[teri_d]

we had similar issues with bleu recently - has had 2 episodes after car rides (one in february and one in september) and similar symptoms this summer in june after her buddy, win, died of osteo. the doggie neurologist was awesome - talked with us about the mri, but told us as long as she kept improving on her own that one would not be done.....we don't have any firm answers, they have ruled out several things with testing and the known factor is that stress brings on the symptoms. would love to compare notes with you!!

[Guest SabrinaInDE]

would love to compare notes with you!!

 

absolutely!

 

Question for everyone - Max was on corticosteroids, a muscle relaxer, pain meds, and sucralfate (to protect his stomach). Has anyone ever known any of these things to cause an odor in their dogs? When I first brought him home, I thought maybe it was just the smell of the e-vet or something on him, but it's more than that. I can smell it on his breath and skin. It's kind of hard to explain what the smell is. It's not a horrible odor, but it's definitely noticeable to me.

[racindog]

Yes that is similar to what went on with my Cash. I don't know how to post links but if you go to remembrance forum and type in search for “Cash” Jnb Out Lawcash 4-8-1999 / 7-11-20114-8-1999 / 7-11-2011 it will come up some of what happenned. Basically she went zooming across the yard like she always does and then went down screamed the greyhound scream of death and was completely paralyzed in the hindlegs. In less than a half hour-before I got her to the vet-she could walk again. Vet initially thought it was a ruptured disk. Traeted with steroids-prednisone. She began to experience a lot of pain and was extremely tense-muscles hard as a rock. Put her on Robaxin to help with that- 1 tab bid. She went down paralyzed again. Vet said may have relaxed her muscles too much and let the disk slip out again. Reduced dosage to 1/2 tab. She got up and around again but before she got all better she went down for the final time. A 2nd vet who was treating her with accupuncture thought that the initial/first incident may have been a muscle spasm but since her condition continued to deteriorate she then thought that perhaps there had possibly been a fracture. At any rate she was treated with large doses of prednisone and also injections into the injured area etc. but her condition continued to deteriorate. Both vets and myself thought she might get better again though. Then one night while she was sleeping (I was with her) she suddenly let out that series of GSOD's and when I responded I could see the awful terrible new and even worse condition she was suffering in and so she went to the bridge shortly thereafter. From what I found out about this is that some dogs do recover! -some-like her-do not. I do know you have to be extremely careful that they never stress their back agian in any way. NO running! No jumping etc. Very limited exercise. So thats all the advice I can give you. Treat Max, hope for the best, totally limit his exercise to no more than an x-pen at first; and personally I would deliberate greatly before using the muscle relaxants if his muscles are all tight etc. The tight muscles-though problematic of themselves-might be keeping something worse from happenning. I will be praying Max is one of the ones that makes a complete recovery. BTW breath odor could indicate kidney issue-perhaps the meds are stressing his kidneys? Like you I am also wary of the general anesthesia for the older dogs especially when they have recently been so stressed by injury.

[Guest SabrinaInDE]

You know, Max didn't seem to have any pain. He didn't cry out when he went down (or at any other time), he just went. They only gave the muscle relaxer once, and that really had to do with his condition at the e-vet after he was treated and had to stay. He is a MESS at the vet. I mean, we're talking, hyperventilating, anal gland shooting mess (and that's just at a regular visit!). And he wouldn't calm down. He was in a state of extreme agitation, hyperventilating, heart racing, etc, because he was upset about being there. So they gave him a muscle relaxer, which did seem to help, but like I said it was just that one time on Saturday night.

 

I'm taking him to see his vet later this afternoon about the odor. It was worst when we picked him up on Sunday, and has slowly been fading away, but it's still there and it's slightly concerning to me. I just don't know what it is - I've done a lot of research and it doesn't seem to fit the descriptions of kidney problems, diabetes, etc. I don't want to take any chances and the vet agreed that it would be best to take a look at him.

[Fiona3]

When you take Max back to the vet, check to see if they did a full blood panel when he was admitted. Sometimes the vet can pick up a problem area developing when they review the results. Some kidney disfunction might show up there. Is Max continuing to show improvement? Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks to regain comfortable movement while standing and walking.

[Guest Kuro]

I'm a newbie so hope that posting my question/problem in this thread is not inappropriate. If so, I apologize.

My 15 yo Grey (Kuro) started having similar problems last Saturday. She has been having some rear leg weakness for quite some time, but has otherwise been fine. But last Saturday afternoon, she started to seem a bit wobbly and uncoordinated. Then, after lying down for a while, she could not (would not) stand up. My husband lifted her, but her rear legs seemed to collapse and she went down. He tried to lift her a couple more times. She could stand for a few seconds, but her legs seemed stiff and then she just fell over. We took her to the emergency vet. They did xrays but found nothing wrong in particular - no tumors, discs looked ok for the most part - no signs of bad arthritis. Vet said it was probably a neurological issue, but would need an MRI to further investigation. However, given Kuro's age, it wasn't recommended. So, she was given a shot of prednisone and a shot of Torbutrol (for pain) and sent home with additional prednisone for the week, along with the use of Tramadol (which she normally receives for ongoing pain in her lumbosacral area).

By the next day, Kuro seemed to be doing well. She was up and walking - though still a bit wobbly and having some leg issues. But her appetite was good and she seemed to keep improving each day. However, today I came home from work at lunchtime to check on her and found her laying flat on her stomach with her rear legs completely split out to each side. She was panting hard and I think she was in pain. (She has no voice box due to surgery for Laryngeal Paralysis done two years ago.) She could not get up, so I made a sling and lifted her back end and got her onto her feet. She could stand, but could not move, so I layed her down onto her cushion. Eventually she calmed down and seemed better, so once again, I tried to get her up. I was able to get her onto her feet and she did take a couple of small steps. But then she just went down on her cushion and will not get up.

Kuro had an episode of geriatric vestibular syndrome a couple of years ago, which was much, much worse than this. Yet this seems to have SOME similar traits. I'm wondering if it could be another, milder episode. Or is this something much worse. At age 15, I don't want to put her through anesthesia for an MRI. And even if they find something wrong, should I put her through the trauma at this stage of her life. I DO NOT want to give up on her, but I'm wondering if I am making her suffer. Since she cannot express pain by vocal sounds, it's hard to know how she is feeling. (She normally pants a lot - and always has her entire life...). She means the world to me and I am so very worried.

One other thing - bloodwork done in April was okay. She is scheduled for a checkup/bloodwork next week with my regular vet.

Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Kuro's Mom

[teri_d]

kuro's mom - i wish i could help, as you can see from my post a few up we have had similar issues with bleu - she is only 4 years old -- not a severe as what you are describing, and always hooked to stress. i can only tell you what tests the neurologist did on her and how they came out - a full tick panel was done - negative....also a test for addisons disease (which was the initial diagnosis and what we were told to expect -- the original test was a very strong positive - so they did further testing, which was negative. her bloodwork upon arrival at the e-vet was normal both episodes that she had that we took her to the e-vet. our neurologist talked with us about an mri both times, but when she kept improving in the hospital advised against it . she has had 3 episodes in all - beginning in february of this year (the most severe case by far) in june (the mildest case - not connected with car travel) and in september. there was mention of vestibular disease. she was completely lethargic and in september the internal med vet noticed visable bruising around her kidneys. she was put on doxycycline - no steroids. if i were you i would absolutely phone the vet and fill them in on what happening..... i'll be watching this with great interest.

Edited October 2, 2012 by teri_d

[brandimom]

I got Brandi, age 3 in 2004. 6 months later she was paralyzed. It was kind of gradual. We could tell her back legs were wobbly. She spent 10 days at the vet running various tests. We never had a diagnosis which was frustrating. High dosage of pred. Eventually she was able to walk again but had lost all muscle tone, 20 lbs lighter, on pred the rest of her life, did acu/chiro/ PT (swimming), massage. She lived 7 more years. But she was never the same in her physical body.