Back Leg Trouble And Urinating.

[greytluck]

Wally is going to be 12 in February. Since the summer he's really starting to slow down. Sometime in the fall he started to hesitate going down the stairs and urinate in the house. We also noticed he dragged his right back foot slightly when he walked and didn't pick it up high enough going up stairs. I brought him to the vets. Bloodwork was great, x-ray were good, urune culture was clean. Vet said the wasn't even much evidence of arthritis. We made more of an effort to get him out regularly ( we started getting him up to go outside every couple hours instead of him waiting to ask to go out). He was also put on meticam, which really didn't agree with his stomach. Mostly the peeing stopped with only the occasional accident. We also try to keep him on the main level of the house during the day so he doesn't have to do as many stairs.

 

Within the last couple weeks though it's almost as if he doesn't even know he's urinating. He'll get up and start to walk around and pee will just be streaming out. He makes trails of pee all over the place which takes so long to clean up. His legs also seem to slip out from under him when he's on the hardwood or tile.

I'm making a vet appointment today but anyone know what could be going on so I can ask the vet?

[o_rooly]

It sounds like lumbosacral stenosis (LS). Aston had it. His back toenails wore down funny because he was very slightly dragging his feet. He never became incontinent, but I believe it can be a symptom of LS.

LS would show up on an x-ray, though, I think (as vertebra/e collapsing in near the lumbosacral joint, causing pressure on the spinal column and nerves extending outward).

I think we had Aston on Deramaxx (deracoxib). Luckily, it didn't seem to irritate his stomach, though we also gave Pepcid or Prilosec to combat tummy issues (he was on other Rx meds, as well).
I was also supplementing with fish oil, turmeric, vitamin E, and spirulina powder to aid in reducing inflammation. His symptoms generally improved if inflammation around his spine was reduced.

One thing that did make a remarkable difference was acupuncture, believe it or not. He would walk more upright, and his feet wouldn't drag for a period of weeks following a session.

One thing to note, also, is that UTIs can even evade cultures. Aston was prone to UTIs, especially when he was on prednisone, and he got hit with a particularly nasty one caused by proteus mirabilis, which took a few tries to detect. Often, his only symptom would be peeing indoors -- no increased drinking, no whining to go out more often, he would just.... go.

Scritchies to Wally, and hugs to you. It's really, really hard when they can't tell you how they're feeling.

[Guest GoingGrey]

Sounds like LS to me, too. But just chiming in late here, since it sounded like your xrays didn't show that...

 

FWIW I thought my old guy had it. Same dragging back foot--even sliced it open on something during a walk and needed staples. Unsteady going down stairs. And when he'd lift his leg to pee, it didn't lift very high & his other back leg would shake and he'd stumble mid-pee. Also had what i thought was one of the tell-tale signs; when you press your thumbs on either side of his spine in that region, his back legs would crumple an almost collapse, altho he didn't yelp in pain.

 

Long story short, it wasn't LS but but scar tissue from his old dropped muscle racing injury. She cautioned me that LS could still happen later, tho.

Anyway, I'm lucky to know a vet with 10+ yrs grey knowledge (former vet at the track where he raced) who could spot this. Cuz no other vet thought this old injury affected him at all. I know the dropped muscle is one of the most common injuries and usually doesn't have long-term effects, so I thought mention it.

 

I hope Wally's hanging in there for number 12! Healing vibes your way!