11 Year Old Dog Suddenly Lost Balance And Can No Longer Walk

[4Kelpies]

How are things going? Have the vets come up with a diagnosis or are they still testing?

[Lady Flying Furball]

Good luck to the little guy!! Hoping improvement continues :)

[mita]

They're still unsure exactly what it is but the blood results are good and theyre now thinking a possible lesion on his spinal cord as he is responding to very high doses of cortisone. Yesterday he couldnt stand and today he was standing in the vets cage, still can't walk but standing is a progress. Hes a funny little guy and won't eat for other people but ate some ham and cheese (his fave foods from my brother) sp hoping that its a step forward in the right direction and no harsh decisions have to be made. Fingers crossed.

I've just remembered! One of the pet tibbies, only a young fellow, had an episode like this. Loss of ability to walk....taken into vet's clinic. Testing didn't find anything specific. Over a number of days, the ability gradually came back.

I've got a vague memory that the culprit was thought to be something transient occurring in his spinal cord (fluid?).

That was some time ago. He's fine. There's not been a repeat.

[Guest donatella]

Thank you everyone for the advice and well wishes.

Nelson came home last night, he's walking, barking and today running around. He's still a bit unsteady to pee (trying to lift his leg and balance on 3 legs) and may have to learn to pee like a girl from now on but he's regained mobility and we have the old Nelly back. My mum is so happy considering 2 nights ago she was thinking she'd have to put him down, we still have a few more years left in this guy :)

I think the final diagnosis was a lesion on his spinal cord but it reacted to the high doses of cortisone injections so i'm guessing he's been discharged on tablets for a while.

Happy happy smiles at the family house today.

Edited January 14, 2012 by donatella

[Fordogs]

:thumbsup: Good News, hope Nelson continues to improve.

[LizT]

Ah that's good to hear Donatella, hope he continues to improve and enjoys good health for his remaining years. :)

[boxagirl]

DON'T GIVE UP! I have been going through this with my 8 year old boxer Bondi since november- she was screaming in pain, and then couldnt walk at all. Her back legs were completely paralysed. We took her to vets thinking the worst, to have her PTS- and vet suggested it could be a FCE (fibrocatilagenous embolism / spinal stroke) We were refered to a specialist neurologist,who suspected an herniated disc. bondi after afew weeks being on drugs (painkillers, valium, steroids and various other anti-inflamatories) started to get better. However, she would get better and then worse again. I had previously decided not to do the myelogram (inject dye into spine and do xray/scans) due to the risk associated and the cost and the fact that she was improving with drugs, but after nearly 2 months of ups and downs, she went down hill again and I decided to do it just before xmas. Vet suggested a CT myelogram- but it turned out that they only had to do a regular CT scan to see what was wrong ($1600). She had a massive infection in her spine and also multiple lesions compressing on her spinal cord. She is now on antibiotics for a minimum of 12 weeks to kill the infection, also on strict crate rest, painkillers and we have taken her off the steroids so she can fight infection (and also because she was loosing too much condition on steroids- she was 30kg, got down to 22kg). Since she has been off the steroids she was regained condition and now weighs 25.5kg. She is improving everyday, and can actually walk and get up on her own now, although she is still quite wobbly on her feet. It is going to be a long recovery process- parts of her spine have been eaten away, so we need to wait for the infection to clear up before the bone can start to become fiberous again and regrow. She has spondylosis in her spine aswell, so her spine might re-calcify quicker than dogs without spondylosis. Then hopefully and compression on the spine will be relieved and she will be able to gain more function back. The nerves are the slowest part in the body to heal though- so it will be a long road ahead- 6months + and she will probably never walk the same again, but we are confident she will be able to get around on her own again and enjoy a normal life again :) She is so happy again now, but there have been many days through this horrible time when she wasn't and I have considered PTS- I'm sooo glad I didnt now!

If vet suggests a myelogram, don't delay like I did.

Goodluck and keep us posted.

[persephone]

Thanks for a happy update :)

[Malamum]

Glad to hear he is doing well.

[Lugeanjaam]

Great news:)

[Brennan's Mum]

I hope Nelson continues to improve :)

[Nic.B]

Nelson is a cutie, so happy he is feeling better.

We had a scare similar with our 10 year old kelpie who was very difficult to diagnose.

Turned out to be cyanide poisoning from eating plums that had fallen off our fruit trees, of all things.

Vet also though stroke, then possible tetanus before the final results came through and we put two and two together.

Thank goodness for fantastic vets :) they are worth their weight in gold!