Help, advice & prayers appreciated from any doggie-lovers out there. Story below. We are desperate for any leads or advice, as this has stumped 2 vets and both of us. Thanks!!

Two of my dogs had a very sudden onset paralysis of their hind legs. Our 14 yo Lab has been very healthy until about 5 months ago when she started having seizures. X-rays, bloodwork, urinalysis WNL. Thursday night, her hind legs suddenly stopped working. We assumed it was seizure/age related, and planned a trip to the vet Monday.

Then last night, the same thing happened to our 10 yo doberman (without the seizures). He became very lethargic a week ago Thursday, so I took him to the vet the next day. Bloodwork, x-rays, urinalysis WNL. They gave an injection and oral Rimadyl, and he was better for about 4-5 days. Then suddenly, last night, his hind legs stopped working.


We took them both to the vet this morning, and still have no answers. Bloodwork WNL for both. Neither one has left the house recently, except to go to the vet, no new food or medications, no new vaccinations. No new plants inside or outside. Both otherwise healthy. No respiratory, cardiac, or GI symptoms. No other CNS symptoms beside hind leg paralysis, and partial paralysis of the lab's front left leg.

Any thoughts or suggestions very much appreciated. They both go to the neurologist on Tuesday.

Any thoughts on local neurologists also appreciated.

TIA!

Hollie,
Put this on outdoors.

Maybe try to contact the A&M Vet. school to see if they have any ideas?

Best of luck. I'm sure that is hard.

Not sure about the lab, but in regards to the Dobe, has the vet ruled out wobbler's disease? That's what my dobe had several years ago when it seemed as though he couldn't stand or balance on his back legs. Evidently it's very common with purebred Dobermans.

Basically, the spinal cord begins to swell and becomes compressed by the spine. Eventually, this compression prevents signals from the brain from reaching the rear legs. It's not painful for the dog, but obviously quality of life goes way down if they can't move around.

This was confirmed by the neurologist and unfortunately, the only long-term treatment available was an expensive surgery, involving removing a plate or 2 from his spine to relieve the pressure on the spinal cord. We didn't have any kids at the time so we went ahead and sprang for it. We that was about 4 years ago and the fella is still running around, much to my chagrin at times!

I believe the place we went was the Center for Veterinary Specialty Care: centerforvetspecialtycare.com

Best of luck!

[This message has been edited by texagco2003 (edited 10/21/2012 10:08p).]

Thanks guys.
Vet #2 didn't rule out Wobbler's but didn't think it was that, either. Nothing on the x-rays showing compression/stenosis, and no neck pain/stiffness. Also, onset was extremely sudden, not gradual. NO familial history, can trace it back to grandparents.

I'll ask vet #1 and maybe vet #3 (if we get that far.) Neither vet #1 or #2 is real keen on sending us through expensive diagnostics given the dogs' age. They both basically tell us we are going to spend thousands of dollars to diagnose, and then may not even be able to treat, due to age. They both gave me the same place that you mentioned, but both didn't sound real hopeful. Lab is almost 14 and dobe is almost 11.

Vet #1 seems to think this is something like cancer invading the CNS, and the timing is just coincidental ("shi**y" was the word he used). I'm not sure if I'm buying that, given it is two dogs and they both got it within 3 days of each other.

Dog #3 is miraculously not showing any signs or symptoms of anything. Perfectly healthy, thank the Lord!!

Probably not any help, but here is what our dog passed away from very suddenly. One day he was cutting and running like no one's business, the next day he was paralyzed from the "waist" down.

http://animalhealthcare.com/handouts/dogs/disc.htm

my lab/rott mix had the same condition and my sister, who is an Aggie vet, was unable to figure out the cause. my parents came home one day to find him laying in the backyard, unable to stand up. my sister kept him at her clinic for about a month, running tests and trying drug treatments, to no avail. they had to wheel him outside on a cart every few hours to go to the bathroom.

we finally decide that was no way for him to live, so my sister put him down. it was really tough because he showed no other symptoms, and other than not being able to stand up or walk, he seemed completely fine.

good luck....t&p for your good puppy dogs.

No insight unfortunately, but wanted to let you know I have you all in my thoughts & prayers.

Scary having a sick pup, especially when you don't know exactly what the cause is.

Please keep us updated!

Having this happen to two pets at once seems to rule out my theory, but our cat developed diabetes, and ended up with diabetic neuropathy. Basically paralyzed in the back legs. Once we got her on insulin, the use of the legs slowly came back.

Doubt this is the case, but it's what I've got. Good luck!

I posted this on another thread where someone was looking for a vet and I highly recommend you giving him a call:

Fred Williams '67 is one of the best veterinarians in Dallas. He's a family friend and taken care of all of all of the pets in our family (grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, etc.).

Give them a call. You won't be disappointed:

http://midwayroadanimalclinic.com/

Thank you all for your help, advice and prayers. After several more days this week we noticed some stark differences between the two and it became clear that they shared the paralysis symptom, but had different causes. Annie, our 13 year old lab recovered and has been able to walk on her own for almost a week now. However, Jethro got much worse and he was obviously in a lot of pain. We gave him his favorite meal, took him on a trip to the park and said goodbye Friday.

Could possibly be a condition called Degenerative Myelopathy, I have seen it multiple times in my large breed sudden onset paralysis situations. The neurologist can diagnose it. I hope not, very poor prognosis. Let me know if I can help.

rvwuenschedvm@aol.com
Denton Veterinary Center

Hug your kids everyday!

Sorry to hear Hollie and Swede. I'm sure he had a great 10 years.

I am so sorry you two -- I was really hoping they would both pull through. I've been there before, I know it is rough.

Thanks for your support everyone! It was a rough weekend and we miss him everyday, but I am firm believer he is in a better place where there is no pain or suffering.

Annie is much better, and hopefully we still have plenty of time left with her!

Also, any advice on how to ease anxiety in our third pup? He has been kind of depressed and whining a lot this week, I think he misses our dobe (his partner in crime).

Put my beagle on Reconcile (puppy prozac) due to separation anxiety.

It worked for the anxiety, but almost too well. He became a zombie after a couple weeks so I took him off. Worked in the short term though.