HELP! My 7 y/o girl can't use her back legs

[lynzy420]

Pink and husband please know that all of us here truly know your pain and feel for you, I truly know how exasperated you feel right now, I truly believe this will be resolved soon, I'm so sorry your all going through this, I will continue with thoughts and prayers...

[Susan78]

I am praying for your little Cali and I hope her tests turn out ok. Susan

[linz06]

Originally Posted by Pink Dog

I feel the same way...I'm a nurse and we do xrays on everyone. When I asked she seemed to think it would be pointless. I was going to wait to see how she responds to treatment (her muscles were more relaxed from the valium drip). And see what the muscle biopsies show next week. But I don't really understand why no xray. Another thing is her bladder & bowels. She hasn't gone peepee on her own since Monday (when she was slightly mobile Monday morning) and no BM since Saturday (she did have one today but it happened incidently when they were expressing her bladder). They couldn't tell me if she is having retention of bladder/bowels or if she is holding it because she is potty trained. I'm sooooo frustrated. My husband and I cry all throughout the day. I find all of you so wonderful and a good support. I'm tired of not knowing...it will be a full week tomorrow! UGGHHH!!!!

Even the bladder seems to point to a spinal issue to me. They can't pee when they can't feel their bladder anymore. It's paralysis. BMs can happen anytime, even with paralysis. It's a reflexive action, when the poop gets there, it will come out! But if a dog needs to pee, they will pee. Even a housetrained dog will pee inside if it NEEDS to go. On top of that, a dog with feeling who can control their bladder will not be comfortable enough to allow themselves to be expressed. I am worried for you and Cali. Please stay strong and keep asking questions! I know how lost you must feel and I know how it is to cry for days, weeks, even months

[lisaly]

I can only imagine how difficult it is to watch Cali and not knowing what is wrong with her. I keep checking on this thread daily hoping your baby is getting better. I am praying that the doctors are able to help her. I understand how much your little girl.

[deeda9999]

I have been reading your updates and can imagine how scared you must be waiting for answers. I really hope they have find answers for you.

I said this in my original post and I say again I have to agree with Lindsey. It sounds just like Skittles when he had the herniation of the disc on his spine. I am very surprised they have not done an X-ray or MRI to rule that out. Just wanting to put it out there to you. I would think that would always be the first thing they would do especially with the syyptoms she is showing.

My prayers are with you .

[Pink Dog]

Hi All,
The vet student just called and said Cali is responding to the Robaxin (muscle relaxer) in that she is more relaxed. However, her legs are still stiff behind her. I don't really find that to be good news because she is on a valium drip and now with a muscle relaxer so she should be more relaxed. She is being more social though too so that must mean she feels better. I appreciate everything the vets, students, residents, and techs are doing. I know they want to make her better for us.

After reading the responses I will ask again for an xray. Although I think they aren't going in that direction because of her stiff legs and muscle spasms do not indicate spinal problems...? I'm beginning to wonder if they see xrays as a bad thing due to the radiation. Otherwise, what would be the harm in doing it?

[ladyjane]

I don't know that I would mistrust these vets. You chose to go to a vet school and honestly, I believe that those places are among the best. They see so much more than many smaller practices. They are in the business of teaching. The vets are all board certified. A neuro exam tells a neurologist a lot more than the fact that a pup is unable to stand and/or void. That exam points to many different things.

I remember when my son was young and he had a lesion on his chest. It was a weird thing....and the doc was fairly certain that he knew what it was but wanted me to take him to Philadelphia Childrens' Hospital. He said to me that he could refer me to a local dermatologist but that the difference would be that the docs at CHOP see more things than local docs and he did not want a local doc to be messing around with it, doing biopsies and all. Said that the docs at CHOP would probably know what it was based on my description without even examining him. True enough...that is exactly what happened! They did not have to biopsy it or do any testing at all.

I know this is all so stressful, but I just have a feeling that they are on the right track. Maybe if you just ask them for a diagnosis so that you can look it up and understand it? I know they don't know for sure since the tests results are not in, but they could give you an idea of what they are thinking?

Just my thoughts. I could be wrong of course....we all could. But...you know we are not vets and we only know some symptoms. Veterinary medicine takes into consideration a whole lot more.

[ladyjane]

Oh...and as for the stiff legs, that does sound muscular!

[lillymae]

I just have to say that a spinal injury can def cause stiffness in the legs and muscle spasm as well. Also Chiari can cause both symptoms but I would guess they have considered both of these things.

[Pink Dog]

No update just yet...coming soon. But I did want to share this video b/c Cali's back legs looked very similiar to this dog in the video. She never had foaming of the mouth or change in facial expressions but her legs did exactly what this dog's did. Also, she couldn't move them but it really could be from the strong muscle rigiditiy..they are just 2 stiff pencils hanging off the back of her body. Then she would have spasms of them AND she had the hyperexcitability that he mentions in the video. Anyway, just wanted everyone to have a idea of what her legs are doing.

Tetanus In Dogs - YouTube

[ladyjane]

Hope things are going ok with Cali today...

[Pink Dog]

UPDATE: no changes through the night although she is definitely having less spasms in her legs. More blood work was done and I asked about an xray. The vet student assigned to her felt it would be OK to do but said without an MRI or CT there would be little they could tell from the xray. I told her just to ask the resident to please consider it for our peace of mind. I have a few pics of Cali & Mia from this trip:

[Pink Dog]

This was Cali this morning. The yellow/orange thing is the legboard to keep her leg from bending the IV.
More to come (I'm going to try and get her legs this afternoon so ya'll can see).

[gemy]

It is such a worry. I would ask to speak to the in charge vet about your Cali. Don't worry about being honest, but you might like to ask what direction they are going in, what do they think might be wrong? Hear what he/she says. So you might say something like"; "okay if I understand correctly, you think that her symptoms are more in line with condition a/b/c, and with those conditions, the rule outs do not include Xrays, or MRI's or CT or ultra sounds? At what point in the diagnostic process would you consider any of the forementioned?

I hope that your Cali's root problems are found soon. Hang in there we do know how tough it is when our pups are unwell.

[Ellie May]

Originally Posted by gemy

It is such a worry. I would ask to speak to the in charge vet about your Cali. Don't worry about being honest, but you might like to ask what direction they are going in, what do they think might be wrong? Hear what he/she says. So you might say something like"; "okay if I understand correctly, you think that her symptoms are more in line with condition a/b/c, and with those conditions, the rule outs do not include Xrays, or MRI's or CT or ultra sounds? At what point in the diagnostic process would you consider any of the forementioned?

I hope that your Cali's root problems are found soon. Hang in there we do know how tough it is when our pups are unwell.

I agree.

My assumption is that they are on the right track, because after all, they did the exam. My other assumption is that they haven't done it because they 1) don't want to take your money needlessly or 2) they believe that they would need a ct org MRI and that it's too early to do a test that isn't definitive.

It is ok to trust them. It's also ok to question them. Do what you are comfortable with. In this situation, I'd do it personally because it would be out of my comfort zone not to. But then I have a dog with extensive back problems and a general X-ray was enough to show it. Sometimes you don't get that lucky because discs don't show up well. But there are other things to look at besides discs...

I would talk to the vet, not the student, and just ask if they are absolutely certain that they are headed in the right direction as a start. If she was improving, that would be different. But that doesn't sound like the case.