Slip Sliding Away

[EllenEveBaz]

Jeter has slipped on the not-all-that-slippery kitchen floor 4 times in the last 4 weeks,  

It's not when he's running through.  It's when he's in full nutso mode at meal or treat time.  Dancing, pogo-ing, and full-throttle chopper tail.  When he falls, one rear leg (the right leg, I think) goes partially "splat."  He instantaneously gets back up and continues as before.  But I've never seen him fall before in his 6 years here, and he fell 3x in 2 weeks, then went 2 weeks without a witnessed fall, and then 1x more yesterday.  

He doesn't seem sore.  I've done range-of-motion on all his legs and they feel fine to me.  He doesn't seem sensitive along his spine.  He has had neck issues a few times in the distant past.  He's climbing up and down from furniture and car the same as always.  Toenails are not too long.  

But 4x in 4 weeks?  He's 11 years old.  Anybody's hound done anything similar?  

[cleptogrey]

ellen, sorry to hear this. LS? felix was on adequan injections for a while and they really turned him into a younger dog. a cheap fix for traction is a simple loose bootie made of vet wrap. it has to be changed every other day and the paw needs to air out. but it works. do look carefully at his nails and knuckles. is there a difference in the ware compared to the other paw? that's the sign of dragging/knuckling which is the beginning of neurological decline. felix knuckled for quite sometime. the vet wrap took care of that problem. old age in these large breed dogs stinks- again sorry to hear this, Jeter is such a sweetie.

[Remolacha]

Fletcher was a nutso who would jump and spin and fall from the time he came to me, and when he was younger he just bounced back up like it was nothing. When he got older I started putting down non skid rugs, since also barreled through the house like a run away horse  I think they just get more wobbly as they get older, and refuse to realize it. 

[kudzu]

Kira was like this. She just sort of hit a tipping point, lost just enough strength she couldn't prevent slipping on surfaces with less traction. Keeping nails as short as possible helps, of course. At a certain point though, we had to put down area rugs to help her. We're getting to that point with Su now.

Kira did have spinal issues that we knew about and I'm sure that was a main contributor to the slowly increasing weakness. Treating her for pain actually reduced the slip sliding for some reason. Happens to me also, actually. For some reason, the pain seems to make weakness worse. Not sure exactly why, it just does. Sounds like that isn't Jeter's problem, though.

[greysmom]

They do get less stable as they age.  Sometimes it bothers them and sometimes it doesn't, depending on their personality.  Adding in glucosamine or fish oil high in Omega 3s might help some, or talk with your vet about an nsaid.

You can also try the Paws Boots.  They are like rubber balloons and might give him some added traction on those more slippery floors if you don't want to put down a bunch of rugs or runners.

Edited January 27, 2021 by greysmom

[ramonaghan]

Sweep too, Ellen. We're seeing the same thing and she's 11. She slips more and sometimes her back legs give way. Doesn't seem to faze her, but it hurts my heart to see it. 

[GreyPoopon]

Ivy too. Although her slips--which started over a year ago, maybe two (she's 13 1/4)--have made her slightly more cautious. And I know she has an arthritic hip; she gets Metacam and laser treatments as well as supplements.

I agree completely with greysmom's first couple of sentences: they lose stability; some are bothered, some aren't.

 

[organistswife]

We've always had to keep rugs/ runners on the kitchen floor for our greyhounds.

[oldrunners]

My Sasha celebrated her 12th birthday last Friday.  She now wears a Help 'em Up harness during the day, mostly because she can no longer go down the 4 steps to get out of my house, and it really helps when she starts to go down in the house.  I have 2 black commercial runners from Lowe's (I hear they're trending now!), two huge cheapo carpet pieces, and a myriad of colorful rubber backed bathmats, just to brighten up the place a bit.

[EllenEveBaz]

Thanks for all the feedback.  It reassures me a little that it's not some rare neurological problem.  I don't think it's lumbar stenosis -- there's no muscle wasting or obvious weakness like dear Nutmeg showed. I've checked for uneven wear on feet and that seems ok.  Knock on wood, he looks to be in good shape, especially for an 11-yo.  I've alerted the dogwalker (2-3 miles a day!) to be vigilant about anything different.  

Trying some sort of boots might be the way to go.  Scatter rugs are contraindicated, as we say in the trade, because of the large size of my kitchen and my own mobility problems.  I know too many physical therapists who would read me the riot act if they spotted a small rug in my house, fastened or not.    Of course, with Covid, I don't have many visitors so maybe I could get away with it for a while ... 

I chose this particular flooring for good traction for dogs, but it has taken out exuberant hounds before.  When it was first installed, dear Romie would gallop in from outside, hit the kitchen floor, and go into a high-speed slide for 10 feet before slamming up against some kitchen cabinets.  After several of these events, he refused to step foot in the kitchen.  A problem since that is where dogs are fed.  We finally compromised by me putting his food stand right next to an open doorway, him standing in the doorway and stretching out that long, semi-giraffe greyhound neck to eat.

<< Doesn't seem to faze her, but it hurts my heart to see it.>>

This.   

[GreytTerp]

Same for us.  Marvin will be 12 in April, and he's had some bad stretches before lasting a few days, and he's having a bad spell again yesterday and today.  I'm hoping getting him back on his NSAID and pain meds, which have been generally just as-needed and not daily, will give us a bit more time.  

For those with weak back-ended seniors, how do you help them poop?  Will a sling to take some pressure off of his back legs help?  When it's a bad day, Marvin is very hesitant to go, and if we can't get him to go 2x outside a day, it's a given that we'll wake up to some poo.  Walking does help him, and the weakness is definitely worse when he's been more sedentary, such as during super cold or icy stretches of weather.  I can just see the shame in his face when he's poo-ed in the house.  He's peeing with no issues.  It's so hard to see them get old :(  Sending our love to all out there with senior houndies.

[Remolacha]

Val does have LS, she is still getting around ok, but my vet has said that keeping her walking as much as she can will be an enormous help to keep her going. She has had some hesitation in squatting (being a girl, she has to go down for both, poor thing) but so far she has managed. I will probably get her a harness to help out when she gets worse. It is so hard to watch them get old.