Why does she do this? Does it have anything to do with her having LP?
 

Lately Tatum has been doing something very weird and I cannot for the life of me figure out why she is doing it. She doesn't do it every single day, but lately she IS doing it more often than she used to, which was only once in a blue moon.

She will go down on her front two legs, and stick her little butt up in the air - then she will get up and walk (kind of fast) a few steps and either do it again (go down on her front two legs) or she will just totally lay down all together. This will process repeat over and over again for a while. Now don't get me wrong, she isn't falling down or anything like that - she CAN control it...she just does it on her own. And when she is doing this stuff, she doesn't want to be held or really touched even - which is very unlike her. She doesn't cry out in pain or anything - her breathing is fine and all that....but she just does this weird thing and I cannot figure out WHY she's doing it.

I know she isn't just being "silly" either, because she is doing it now and I tried to give her a treat and she didn't want it - and trust me, that is sooooo NOT Tatum AT ALL. Right now she is laying down (all the way down) and her head is down also and I can just tell that she doesn't feel good or that something is wrong.

Could this have anything at all to do with the fact that she has a grade 3 Luxating Patella in both back legs??? She does limp when she walks and when she runs she holds her back left leg up completely off the ground.

I just cannot figure out why she is doing this and every time she does it, it makes me so nervous and scared because I feel like something is wrong and I have no idea what to do to fix it :cry: Please help!! :cry:

Gosh Brooke, that sounds so sad :( I sure would have to guess she's doing it because she's in pain from the lp. :( I guess I would take her in and get her worked up again, and go from there. Maybe she's at the point where she needs surgery or pain management. Do you have her on any Cosequin or anything? Poor tiny tot!! Please give her PLENTY of hugs and kisses from me and my boys. Hugs to you too.

This is a guess....but my thinking is yes, it's related to her LP. I'm certain you realize with LP...the knee slips out and pops back in....when it gets bad it doesn't pop back in immediately. I suspect one of her knees is not popping back in...it hurts and the position she's doing...either elevates the pain or has gotten her knee to pop back into position. Dogs have a high pain tolerance which may be why she doesn't necessarily seem in pain.

OMG!! I was so afraid of this!!! :cry: Omg I am going to cry. I swear to God I cannot stand knowing that she is in pain....omg!! :cry: I would rather have someone set me of fire than her be in any type of pain what so ever :cry:

It's so weird because yesterday she was running through the house like a bolt of lightening chasing after Stedman and just being sooo playful....jumping up and barking and wagging her little tail...and then she has days like this :cry:

She is going to have her surgery in the next couple of months...I am soooo nervous about it...but knowing that it will help her not be in pain anymore will make it a little easier for me I think.

I am DEFINITELY going to talk to my vet about getting her some kind of pain management. I have no idea what they do for this - but I have got to find out. She CANNOT go on like this if she really is hurting...I cannot STAND knowing that she is hurting in any way shape or form :cry: I would rather just be shot :cry:

Also, she is on GlycoFlex chews....she has been on them for quite a while now. I am only giving her one chew every other day, but I am going to ask the vet if there is any way that I would be able to give her one chew per day instead.

Thank you so much and no, hers doesn't pop back in because the vet told me that :cry: I have GOT to get the vet to give me something for her for the pain...this is just crazy....I cannot stand knowing that she is in pain....I have to do something....this is just killing me now :cry:

Oh Brookey it's not your fault!!! Go ahead and call your vet right now and explain the situation. Most likely knowing her history and your history with the vet, they will probably prescribe you something that you can just go pick up without even having an appointment. Hopefully by this evening she'll be feeling much better. She's probably having such a bad day because of how playful she was yesterday. I know it's heartbreaking but you might need to restrict her activity to prevent over-use. I am not terribly familiar with LP so I don't know if it it's better to let them use it or if it's best to make them stay quiet.

Ask your vet about Cosequin also. BIG HUGS to you and Tatum!! It will be ok!

Update
 

Ok I just called and my vet is going to prescribe her Previcox for the pain. I am going to go and pick it up in just a few minutes. He said that after she is on it for a little while, he is going to want to see her to see how she is doing.

She is also on Hydroxyzine for her allergies, but they said that it will be ok to take both the Previcox and the Hydroxyzine together - I certainly hope so :confused:

God my poor baby :cry: I just HATE HATE HATE this :cry: There is always something going on with her and she is always on so many different meds :cry: My heart is just broken. I just wish I could take away all of her problems and all of her pain :cry:

This Previcox BETTER work!!!! :cry:

Thank you so much Amanda :hug: You are always such a sweetheart and are always so kind to me...I just love you girl :hug: I am going to leave in just a few minutes to go and pick up some Previcox for her. I was sort of thinking that maybe she was doing this because of the LP, but I wasn't for sure - and I figured that if it WAS because of the LP, that it was probably because she was in pain...and you guys kind of confirmed that for me :cry: So I called immediately and am going to go pick up some pain meds for her. I just hope and PRAY that it works :cry:

I am SO SO SO nervous about her having surgery...you just have NO idea...but at the same time, I just want her to be back to normal and totally free of pain :cry: Ugh...this just kills me to see her hurting in any way :cry: It makes me cry...

Tatum
 

Hello:
I read somewhere in a doggie book that when dogs have some bladder/kidney trouble they do what Tatum is doing. i.e. front legs down and butt in the air. Hope it isn't that, but perhaps Vet would know of this behavior and perhaps give tests for waterworks? How old is your little one?
Hope Tatum feels better soon.

OH GOD :eek: :cry: I cannot take anymore...I REALLY cannot....I will look into this but I swear she just CANNOT have anymore problems. I would just die. Seriously...I don't know what I'd do if it was something like this. She has been through so much already :cry: I am going to read up about this online. Thank you for the info sweetie.

P.S. - Tatum just turned 2 years old on November 28th.

Tatum
 

Hello again:
I am so sorry to worry you further, as I can see you have other problems to deal with at this time. It is very unlikely that the urinary thing is causing her behavior, but was just a way out thought. It is more likely to be her little knees that are doing it. Please do not worry about this or the surgery, the LP operation is very successful and dogs recover fully very quickly. One little one I know was running around the next day as if nothing had happened. So there is GOOD news!
Hang in there, your little Tatum will be fine! You are going through a bad time now, but all will be fine very soon.
Good Luck with the surgery and hope the pain meds work well.

Oh dear, I can see how worried you are about sweet Tate. :(

Well, I hate to throw another idea out there - but Marcel used to do this back when he used to have "ibs/ibd/colitis/unknown" -- when his tummy would bother him, or he was having digestive pain - he would get in this position to feel better or relieve something. I think it's a posturing that makes sense if there is pain in the torso (like a desire to stretch the area out). He would also lie flat if he was *really* feeling low/bad.

So, it could be related to the LP, but it could also be related to something else, possibly. She isn't having any poo problems, is she? Any tummy noises?

I hope she feels better, Brooke. HUGS to you and the babies. :)

Awwww you are so, so sweet! :) Thank you so much for your reassurance :hug: I gave her one of the pain pills earlier today and she seems to be doing much better already! After it kicked in she was up more and was being more active...and started whining for food again while hubby and I were having dinner :rolleyes: so I think she is ok, LOL :p I am so thrilled! :D Gosh was I WORRIED about her...... :cry:

Thank you so much Ann! :) I gave little miss Tate one of the pain pills earlier and she seemed to have perked up quite a bit after it kicked in...so I think that MAY have been the issue (her knees). I don't know - my vet only gave me 4 pills - however they are each broken up into 1/4's which makes 16 pills so to speak (she only get's a 1/4 a pill once a day for a few days - then once every 2 or 3 days or so...just as little as needed if possible) - so I will keep her on these for a little while and see if they seem to be helping her and if she continues to do the laying down/leg thing - if not, then we just may have fixed the problem. Gosh I hope so :( It breaks my heart to see her suffering in ANY way and yet it seems like every few months or so it's always something :cry:

It also breaks my heart thinking of poor little Marcel having such terrible tummy issues like that...my goodness, poor little angel!! Don't you just wish they could talk, and tell you EXACTLY what was bothering them? Sometimes I will talk to Tatum and geez I would give anything if she could just answer me back - lol :rolleyes: :(

Big hugs to you girl and thank you so so much for your help :hug: I will keep you updated and if anything changes and these pills stop helping her then I'm sure you will be getting a PM from me - LOL.

LOL, I talk to my boys ALL the time - like a nutball. I also ask them to tell me things in my dreams (:rolleyes:), but it hasn't worked so far. When Marcel has seasonal allergies or is paw licking all of a sudden, I ask him to please meet me in my dreams and tell me there what's bothering him. OMG! What a dork! :p