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[ 2007 ] elderly dog hind legs failing

S

Sandy

TUG Member
Joined
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Location
Charlotte, NC (really Fort Mill, SC)
My 15 year old mix (shepard and collie) has arthritis and great difficulty getting up on all fours. The last two days he has not been able to go up the seven steps several times, needing me to lift his back legs up.

When I took him for a short walk today, he collapsed a few times, regained his footing, but began to walk with a curve, favoring one leg in the back.

We are going to the vet later this week.

I just wanted to post here to see if anyone has experience with this. I know his time is limited, and I am really coming to grips with a humane way so he will not be in pain. I can't tell if he is in pain now, except he is panting a lot.

When I mentioned the panting to the vet, he said that all dogs he sees are panting! But Bingo's panting could me pain, I don't know.

Any advice or insight?
 
They make little wheelie things for dogs who have difficulty walking, almost like a doggie wheelchair, I think they have become pretty popular. If your vet feels he is not in any pain and is still enjoying life, you might want to ask about those. Good luck! :D
 
Is your dog on an arthritis medication? My older springer has very bad arthritis and she is on rimadyl. It does wonders for her.
 
We experienced the same with my 115 pound GSD when she was 12. We met with our vet and all agreed the most compassionate thing was to euthanize her, as she was in pain, and she had lived a full, happy life. It was by far one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make, but I did not want to prolong her suffering out of my own selfishness to keep my buddy around. There was no hope for "recovery." Believe me, it was no easy task or decision. I held her through the process, crying my eyes out, but I knew it was the right thing to do.
 
Our greyhound had to be put down in August, so I sympathize--it's awful but I took some comfort in knowing it was one last gift I gave her. BUT you might not be there yet.

Three years before Luna died, she was having some arthritis issues and fell down our stairs on Thanksgiving. Couldn't lie down or get up without crying and panted constantly (she wasn't a panter unless it was 90 degrees out or something was wrong). I called the vet the next day, prepared for the worst and she told me to give her one adult aspirin a day (she weighed about 65 lbs) and start her on the maximum adult dose of glucosamine from the drug store. Within a day or two, she was comfortable again (even running around in the yard) and like I said, lived another 3 years taking glucosamine (I reduced her to 1 pill every couple of days) and an aspirin if I noticed a limp. I don't want to give you false hope, but be optimistic (while remaining realistic) until you see the vet.
 
I have had similar experiences with both my rough collie (lassie) dogs.

The first dog (actually a bigger, stronger dog than the second) started limping around age 7 and by age 9-10 he was really bad in the back legs.
He also started putting on weight whereas he was always very slim.
He had a lot of visits to the vet and eventually the vet had to visit him instead. He had injections and tablets for some time. We felt that the medication seemed to be making the dog worse although we carried on in desperation hoping he would get better. My parents and I feel that the vet gave us false hope and we ended up keeping the poor dog alive longer than we should have. It was difficult because the dog's mind was still so active and it was obvious that he wanted to get up and walk but just couldn't.

With the second dog it was a different story. When he developed a small limp at a youngish age we decided to avoid veterinary medicines if at all possible. Money wasn't an issue as this time we had insured our dog.
I was told about a product called Dene's Greenleaf tablets by some dog owners in the local park who had two large Newfoundland dogs and swore by these tablets. We started giving them to our dog on a regular basis - just a small maintenance dose if he was ok and more if he became a bit 'limpy'.
He lived to nearly 17 years and although doddery in the last year or so of his life, he still managed a small walk every day including the evening before he died. I recommended the tablets to someone else and heard that they had done the trick. I don't know if these tablets will work for every dog and in fact don't even know if they are available in the USA but if they are, they are worth a try.

Good luck and a big hug for doggie.
 
PS - with the first dog in later life and the second all his life, they wore 'barbour' type jackets in wet weather so were never sitting around damp after a walk. I am sure this helped.

Also if I remember correctly as this was a few years ago, I think the first dog was inclined to pant once he was on the medication.
 
Definitely discuss Rimadyl with the Vet. Glucosamine dietary supplements are also very helpful with "Arthur" as my mother used to call hers.

Arthritis is a swelling in the joints caused by the deterioration of the "padding" between the moving bones. Glucosamine "lubricates" that padding and helps prevent further deterioration.

Rimadyl is an anti-inflamatory drug which stops white blood cells from "fighting" the joint area as the body thinks it is under attack and then swells up the joint making it more painful.

To generalize a bit, Glucosamine goes after the cause of the problem and Rimadyl the body's damaging reaction to the problem. An effective two pronged approach.

Good luck, with treatment things should improve. Rimadyl is fairly quick at helping, the posotive effects of Glucosamine will take several weeks to emerge.

PS. Human arthritis is treated pretty much identically...
 
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Unfortunately, everything living has a useful life time span...at 15 years old, your large breed has had a great life. If you can get an earlier appointment with the Vet, you should consider doing so. I think it might be a bit late for Rimadyl...although it has been a good drug for many years in treating this.

For immediate relief in the interim, you can give your dog an aspirin a day...a coated Bufferin (only). That will relieve it's pain and discomfort, and will reduce the inflation.
What ever you do, do not give the dog anything with Naproxisodium...like Advil. That is lethal for animals. But aspirin is fine.

One other thing to do first...check the dogs gums...make sure they are dark red...not pale. If they are pale...get to the Vet immediately!
 
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Be careful with Rimadyl. The non-steroidal anti-inflammatories can have disastrous consequences with the liver and kidneys for some dogs, but for others, they are a godsend. Booker was on Rimadyl for his arthritis for about 4 months when he had a seizure. It was his kidneys and liver. We had to take him off all NSAIDs, after which he could barely walk. We put him on Tramadol (a pain-killer) plus a half prednisolone tablet three days a week. That worked for about 2 months, and he was like a puppy again (though ravenously hungry). About four days ago, he slowed down and he is having problems. A bladder infection, which we are treating with antibiotics, and possibly some tumors on the bladder, which they don't know yet, and this could be it. He is 12 and a half, so ultimately we all have to come to grips with the fact that even the great dogs ultimately have a life span shorter than our own.

He has been on Glucosamine and Chondroitin since his arthritis manifested itself about 2 years ago, and fish oil is also an anti-inflammatory, though not as powerful as the pharmaceuticals.
 
Our Golden Lab had a similar problem at 13. We supported her backside to help her walk and carried this on for five months until the weather was cold and the ground icy. In the end, we were afraid she would slip and hurt herself and be in pain. Her hind leg had really withered away and there were neurological problems. The vet said that there was nothing he could do. We were able to get a vet to come to our home and put her to sleep. It was very peaceful. My heart and prayers are with you.
 
Almost all drugs can have liver and kidney implications. Getting periodic blood work is the only safeguard.

But being non-steroidal is one of the bigger selling points of Rimadyl over Prednisone. Steroids are more likely to cause behavior changes and decrease in efficiency over time.

A few years back, I fostered a Rottie puppy with HOD (Hypertropic Osteo Displacia) which is a rare syndrome in which bone mass gathers at the joints of leg bones and they individual bones can fuse together. Unfortuately, arthritis is always present in HOD cases.

"Gumby" was seen by about 6 vets in 4 weeks including the two bone specialists at Oradell Hospital (one of the country's most advanced). The common advice was that Rimadyl was much better long term and more quickly effective. The downside was the need for periodic blood work and that it is 3 times the price of prednizone.

The good news is that Gumby is now 3 1/2 and lives happily with a family in Central NJ. He is truly comical looking with his massive legs and steals everyone's hearts in sympathy. But he is the only one who will not recognize his severe medical handicap and acts like any other dog, a bundle of love.
 
We had a beagle mix a number of years ago. We were able to give him steroids which were miraculous. He got more than another year without any problems at all.

We also had success with Rimadyl and Glucosamine Chondroitin for another dog, who was a large breed.

Your vet can help you decide the best treatment, or course of action. Good luck to you and your pet.

Sue
 
We've also successfully used prednisone and deramaxx, when glucosamine has not done enough. Both of those (actually all 3) have been miracle drugs in certain cases for us. IMO at the age of 15 for a large breed, comfort of the dog is most important, so I would use whatever seems to reduce the pain. I personally wouldn't avoid something because of potential long term adverse side effect, at that advanced age.

We did have one dog who couldn't tolerate prednisone, it made him look crazed, and we saw this right away - we switched him to the deramaxx and got another reasonably good year.

By the way, the vet's comment that "all dogs he sees are panting" sounds flip to me, and not helpful. You know your dog and are tuned into unusual behavior, and wouldn't have mentioned it if the panting were the same as you have been seeing for the previous 15 years! I've definitely seen panting that seems to be a sign of distress - pain, discomfort, and possibly other things like breathing difficulty.
 
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As crazy as it sounds try bee pollen. Find some in tablet form, not encapsulated. Dogs like them as treats.

We were introduced to bee pollen in about 1982. At the time I had my college dog, inherited from the fraternity when it's owner went to Nam in '71.

Jason was the smartest dog ever, but developed hip displaysia (sp?) We started giving him bee pollen and he basically just snapped out of it. It gave him six more years.

These results are not typical and actual results may vary. ;)
 
I just had my sweet Wendy put to sleep last month and I can hardly write this, it still hurts so much. She had developed degenerative myelopathy and fortunately progressed slowly. Some dogs can become almost paralyzed in 6 months, but we fought it hard for 18-20 months. She was 14 and was a mixed breed shepard.

Like Steve said, be wary of the Rimadyl. It caused seisures in Wendy and I later read that is a common side effect. You might want to research that online. I gave her Glucosamine, and although I am not sure how much it helped, it did not hurt. She actually thought it was a treat and would go over and look at the bottle on the counter if I forgot to give it to her. We tried a series of shots that went 2 shots a week for 4-5 weeks?? Don't remember the name, not Cortizone. Seemed to help a little, but was several hundred dollars for the series so we stopped after the first series.

I found something called the Bottoms-up-Leash online. She really did not like it, but sometimes I had to use it to assist her in walking. And it was the only way I could handle her in the shower to give her a bath. Another idea is to fashion a cloth with handles so you can wrap it under the dogs belly near the rear legs and just give a little support. Wendy had also become incontinent, so using a towel to support her just made for more of a mess.

The last couple of months I simply walked behind her every time she walked up the steps, giving her a boost and support a the rear end and found a weird way of walking down the steps backwards while supporting her rear legs. She was not in any pain and seemed happy except when walking up/down the stairs, so I went as long as I could physically handle it. She finally got to be too much for me to handle, and I didn't realize till a week or two later how much a stress it had been on me physically.

Good luck and give your doggie my love.
 
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Our wonderful dachshund, Taco, has been having issues with a cervical neck injury. She has found great relief with steroids (very low dose) every morning, glucosamine twice daily and an occasional pain pill before retiring. The glucosamine product is "pain-free" pills that is sold at costco. It has taken some time - about three months - but she is returning to normal.

My heart goes out to you - our doggies are such a big part of our lives - watching them in pain is horrible.
 
Our dog is a 13 year old medium size mix, she looks like a small shepherd. We have laminate floors, which are really hard on her and lately she has been having her legs splay out, even when not on the laminate and not walking very far on walks. But she doesn't seem to be in pain, just old and sleeps a lot.
Timely thread,
Liz
 
This will sound a bit odd and our friends laugh at us but we have our golden wear outdoor booties inside and now she doesn't slip on the hardwood at all - she is also 13 and this has really been a big help to her.

Liz Wolf-Spada said:
she has been having her legs splay out
Click to expand...
 
Thank you all so much

Everyone took the time to offer insight and comfort. There are some very good ideas here, thanks.

We have an appt. for tomorrow (thursday) and I will let you know how things turn out. I will look for the bottom up leash and booties, they might help on the tile floors.
 
I guess I thought she would chew off any booties or anything like that, but it might be worth trying. Is there an online site you would recommend? sizing information?
thanks,
Liz
 
I just picked them up at the local pet store - they haven't bothered my golden at all and she doesn't chew on them. I take them off when she goes outside and overnight as well.
 
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