Can Not Jump Up

[laeral]

I am house sitting at my mothers house and moved in there last night. She has a rather high bed in her spare room. Mica is allowed to sleep on the bed with me when we are there, so she was invited up last night. Much to my distress my poor girl couldn't jump onto the bed. She paced around crying and sort of half crouched like she wanted to jump up but couldn't. I tried to get her to lift her front paws onto the bed and lift her back end, but she yelped when i went to lift her She ended up having to sleep on the floor near the bed.

I didn't sleep much last night as I am now majorly stressed that she has something really wrong with her

Mica is a 4 year old GSD. She unfortunately is a not from a registered breeder and I am worried that maybe its her hips.

For the last few weeks she has been holding her tail a bit funny sometimes as well, like she will carry it off to one side. Sometimes it hangs quite limp which is unlike her and will flop between her legs as she runs. She seems to have a slight aversion to sitting as well and it can take her a few seconds to get comfortable.

Other than that she seems fine. She is still extremely active and is running and walking fine, no limping, has no sore points when I touch her along her legs and back. Oh and she jumped into the back of my 4WD yesterday afternoon just fine which is way higher than the bed

Does anyone have any suggestions what symptoms like this could mean?

I am praying that it is not her hips and that she has tweaked her back or something.

Edited April 4, 2011 by laeral

[Rottifan]

From what you have said I believe your precious one has pinched nerves in her back. You have already identified that her composition ("look") is not normal as well as her behaviour (tail issues, crouching, yelping). With a night of rest perhaps some of the inflamation associated with this reduced and therefore some of her movement returned (to jump into your car on her own). Also the other thing is that when they are "off to go in the car", or "off for a walk" their adrenalin will kick in and allow them to push through the pain barrier, so this may have helped her jump into your car whereas she couldnt jump onto the bed.

A vet will normally suggest xrays - xrays will not show nerves. My dog had the same issues which fast turned into not being able to move pretty much at all. The vet xrayed, did blood tests and put him on 3 lots of pain killers/anti-inflams. This all did nothing to address the cause of the problem but just reconfirmed that my boy has elbow and hip displaysia, bad arthritis and terrible joints all round (he was 7 at that time). I then tried acupuncture and swimming, no good. I then stumbled across a good animal chiropractor. After a few visits and instant improvement I weaned him off the heavy drugs he was on and he just turned 10 and has walked perfectly since, no operation, no drugs. There is no doubt my boy has bad joints/hips/elbows however this was clearly not what was causing him to limp and become very lame, but it was pinched nerves. This was proven because once those nerves were released by the chiro and he was kept in alignment (I changed his home environment to make sure what caused the problems were eliminated eg. carpet runners down on tiles where he walks, ramp over stairs etc) the problem has not returned and he has built his once wasted away muscles back up again with swimming once in alignment.

The vet said operations and euthanasia were the only option, not the case so please think outside the square! I wouldnt bother in the future to get vet advice first but would get a chiropractor to ensure my dog is in alignment, nothing to lose and a cheaper option to eliminate - besides when in alignment the dogs immune system is up and running the best it can be. Good luck!

[laeral]

Thank you for your reply.

Would a pinched nerve cause pain at the site though? I can run my hands down her back, legs, hips etc with no obvious pain.

She couldnt get on the bed again last night. I think I need a chiro or a vet visit.

Anyone reccomend a good chiro in NE Vic or Northern Melbourne?

[Allerzeit]

If you are in NE Vic, then give David Jones in Chiltern a try. We lived in NE Vic until mid last year and took many dogs to David over the years, with much success.

PM me if Chiltern is doable for you and I will dig up his phone number

[laeral]

Thanks Allerzeit. I have sent you a PM

[ish]

If you are in NE Vic, then give David Jones in Chiltern a try. We lived in NE Vic until mid last year and took many dogs to David over the years, with much success.

PM me if Chiltern is doable for you and I will dig up his phone number

Yes, he is terrific - I used him for my dogs when I lived up that way too, he'll have Mica feeling better in no time

[laeral]

Thanks Ish

I have rung and left a message

[laeral]

Just a quick update.

I have taken Mica to see David Jones and as recommended he was terrific! At first he was concerned about her hips but had a close examination of all her joints and it turns out her left hip was out of place as was her spine at the base of her tail and it was pinching her sciatic nerve. He believes that it is an old injury as she has some muscle wastage around her left hip. He thinks she must have had a fall or something, which wouldn't surprise me as she does tend to run and jump pretty furiously.

He managed to get the bones back into alignment and with strict rest for the next two days she should be good to get back to normal life and rebuild her left hip.

The good news is that he couldn't feel any signs of HD.

It does make you wonder how I could miss this for so long though. I am now rethinking all the little signs that I thought were separate incidents that was probably part of this problem, like once playing with her tug she yelped in mid tug and limped for a few strides. She kept tugging though and seemed fine It was hard to tell though as she was still acting normal, running, playing etc until last week. But the good news is she should be on the mend.

Thanks Allerzeit and Ish for the recommendation, he was very good!

[poodlefan]

Just a quick update.

I have taken Mica to see David Jones and as recommended he was terrific! At first he was concerned about her hips but had a close examination of all her joints and it turns out her left hip was out of place as was her spine at the base of her tail and it was pinching her sciatic nerve. He believes that it is an old injury as she has some muscle wastage around her left hip. He thinks she must have had a fall or something, which wouldn't surprise me as she does tend to run and jump pretty furiously.

He managed to get the bones back into alignment and with strict rest for the next two days she should be good to get back to normal life and rebuild her left hip.

The good news is that he couldn't feel any signs of HD.

It does make you wonder how I could miss this for so long though. I am now rethinking all the little signs that I thought were separate incidents that was probably part of this problem, like once playing with her tug she yelped in mid tug and limped for a few strides. She kept tugging though and seemed fine It was hard to tell though as she was still acting normal, running, playing etc until last week. But the good news is she should be on the mend.

Thanks Allerzeit and Ish for the recommendation, he was very good!

Based on what you've said, I'd be programming regular chiro visits into her routine of care. Its a lot easier for a chiropractor to detect and fix issues if he/she sees a dog regularly and it means issues dont' become chronic.

[laeral]

Yes might be a good idea. Its easy not to notice things with her as not much slows her down.