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Old 03-05-2019, 05:15 PM   #1
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Default Issues walking and standing

Hello,

It's been a few years since I've posted and my guys are getting old (like the rest of us, only ~x7 )..

My boy Gatsby is having terrible issues standing and walking, especially on slippery surfaces like our hardwood floors. Sometimes he does better than others, but he always does better on carpet but even then he is having trouble at times.

Even on walks with a rough sidewalk, sometimes his legs don't want to work correctly, especially the front, and I have to hold him up by his harness. He's a little overweight, but that is not the issue. He often tries to walk on his front knees and not his front paws. Previously he put a lot of lateral strain on his pads, and they could bleed. But that hasn't been an issue in a while.

The vets haven't been too helpful with this issue, and pretty much all we've been able to do is to put rubbery yoga mats in strategic locations leading to his water and food and pee pads. He still often will be walking on his knees, which is an obvious problem. I keep using liquid bandage to keep his knees from bleeding. We do have pain meds for him and the vets said he should limit walking on slippery surfaces... Not very helpful but that's all we have got, and a surgeon looked at him. Spent a lot of money for very limited if any results.

Any advise?
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Old 03-05-2019, 07:11 PM   #2
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Try an orthopedic specialist maybe. Something is not right and definitely needs to be figured out. Poor guy.
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Old 03-08-2019, 12:17 PM   #3
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I hope that you are able to get to the bottom of his issue, and that you can help him gain relief! It is so hard to see our little ones in pain...
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Old 03-08-2019, 05:32 PM   #4
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We hurt so much when our little ones are in distress. Pray that you will soon find someone who can diagnose the problem and give some relief. Keep us posted.
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Old 03-09-2019, 05:00 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lilgidget View Post
We hurt so much when our little ones are in distress. Pray that you will soon find someone who can diagnose the problem and give some relief. Keep us posted.
Thanks for the kind thoughts. Very true. I’ll try an orthopedic expert, but we did have him walking in a pool treadmill for 75 dollars for a 10 minute walk. He did have much better form in the pool but it didn’t carry over into his normal walking.
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Old 03-09-2019, 08:15 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shawnzeppi View Post
Thanks for the kind thoughts. Very true. I’ll try an orthopedic expert, but we did have him walking in a pool treadmill for 75 dollars for a 10 minute walk. He did have much better form in the pool but it didn’t carry over into his normal walking.
This might be a great therapy exercise. Not sure if it will resolve the issue. I know when I was going for PT after surgery they had me do exercises in the pool. It helped a lot and was much easier to do than outside the pool.
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Old 03-09-2019, 09:19 PM   #7
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I am not saying any of this to alarm you too much but our previous dog had a lot of balance issues on smooth surfaces and an extremely odd gait. We (vet included) focused a lot on her knees as we thought it could be early arthritis (from LP surgery on both knees and CCL on one) or just a strange gait.

Until one day she started falling over constantly and developed a head tilt. It was then that our vet did a neurological exam and she failed. Our munchkin ended up having a brain tumor that was too far gone to do anything other than treat symptoms to keep her comfortable.

I'm not trying to worry too much but just throwing it out there that maybe a neurological exam could rule more things out for you guys.

I hope you can get some answers soon!
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Old 03-15-2019, 03:38 PM   #8
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I'm sad to read that Gatsby is having issues. If he is walking on his knees, that doesn't sound like an ortho problem with the knees. Hard to say without seeing him. Are his paws okay? Nails and pads and toes?

Has he had neck or back pain?

Your little guy is in my prayers.
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Old 03-16-2019, 06:33 AM   #9
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I noticed you live in Springfield Virginia. I live in Alexandria and I’ve taken my baby to this place which is in Springfield. They have a variety of specialties and they’re pretty good. You should go there and have your baby checked out

https://vetreferralcenter.com
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Old 03-30-2019, 06:25 PM   #10
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Default back from the vet

Thanks for the kind thoughts and suggestions. Yes, he has been to the Regional Veterinary Referral Center in Springfield, and I do like the care they provide in general. But they referred us to another place, as the surgeons looked at him and didn't have much to say other than to keep him off the hardwood as much as possible.

So we took him here as referred:
THE SPINE CENTER AT VOSM | NEUROLOGY*|*VOSM

This place is like the Cleveland or Mayo Clinic for dogs. They have a few very good vets who can consult and test/diagnose in one stop, which is good because its in the middle of nowhere for us northern VA folks.

He got a full set of X rays and they thought he might have a herniated spinal chord based on the look of the spine, and because his back legs worked better than his front. He did not react 100 percent as he should have to the testing the Dr. did by repositioning his legs. So they thought it was neurological. He went back for a very expensive MRI the next week (just last week from this post).

That didn't show anything unusual in his brain or upper spine, and they did take a spinal tap and we don't have the results of that yet. But they put him on steroids (prednisone) and he had pain meds already from the referral center.

In the week since he went back, he seems to be deteriorating further, with respect to his ability to walk. Its very sad to see and hard to deal with, but we have to carry him to the pee pad and water and food. He has not much quality of life it seems. Some days are better than others, but a dog HAS to be able to get around, and he is having more and more trouble doing that. We have yoga mats all around that do help him move around, but his mobility is really bad now. I tried to walk him today outside since it was so nice, and he was able to pee and poop but I carried him almost the whole time.
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Old 03-30-2019, 06:30 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by danniko View Post

...Until one day she started falling over constantly and developed a head tilt. It was then that our vet did a neurological exam and she failed. Our munchkin ended up having a brain tumor that was too far gone to do anything other than treat symptoms to keep her comfortable.

I'm not trying to worry too much but just throwing it out there that maybe a neurological exam could rule more things out for you guys.

I hope you can get some answers soon!

So sorry to read that post. It must have been so very hard. Our guy had a good MRI, but his condition is thought to be neurological. Steroids and pain meds are not a good answer. But they really didn't come up with a surgical solution. We were hoping that they could potentially enlarge his spinal cavity (leading root cause after the first vet visit) but the spine didn't look abnormal after an MRI.
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Old 03-31-2019, 09:42 AM   #12
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You are a great dad to Gatsby, doing everything possible for him. My heart goes out to you that all of the testing hasn’t pinpointed exactly what is ailing him. I can only begin to imagine how hard this is for you. Max, Teddy, and I send our love and prayers to your sweet little guy. Please keep us updated.
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Old 08-10-2019, 07:24 AM   #13
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Uhhh this post makes me so sad. It's been a few months since anyone posted (unless I'm missing the "next" button) - hope he's doing better. My Hugo is having back leg issues - both legs - due to arthritis and old age. I pray for all the little ones to miraculously feel better.
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