How to help dog who is starting to struggle with back legs?

getthemax

What are the muscles like in her hind legs, have they started to waste (atrophy)? If so it could be CDM http://www.veterinary-neurologist.co.uk/degenerative_myelopathy.htm

I know you say she's a big dog, but is she overweight for her size? A good guide is if you can easily feel her ribs. If you can't then she's probably putting too much stress on her joints which won't be helping her mobility.

As others have advised it's best to see your Vet and get her problem properly diagnosed.

zaksmum

getthemax wrote: »

What are the muscles like in her hind legs, have they started to waste (atrophy)? If so it could be CDM http://www.veterinary-neurologist.co.uk/degenerative_myelopathy.htm

I know you say she's a big dog, but is she overweight for her size? A good guide is if you can easily feel her ribs. If you can't then she's probably putting too much stress on her joints which won't be helping her mobility.

As others have advised it's best to see your Vet and get her problem properly diagnosed.

Thanks for the link. I don't feel that's what the problem is, having read it. She's probably a little overweight if I'm honest. You can feel her ribs but not see them. She has what I can only describe as being in need of a tummy tuck - a flap of loose skin hanging down from her tummy area when she's standing. No fat in it, just the loose skin.

Sometimes if she tries to jump for a ball, she lands awkwardly and raises her back leg, but when I massage it she carefully starts to put her weight on it again, and her walking improves after about 100 metres.

I've made a vet appointment for Monday now.

SadBunny

If you can, I think you should avoid situations where she might jump - I am thinking about the wear and tear on her joints. She still wants fun... perhaps keep the ball low.

Those Cartrophen injections sound really good. I read that they were not particularly effective in a few rare cases - but even these found an alternative that works. Some said that they didn't see any improvement until two weeks after the last injection - but then things just got better and better. I think the general consensus is that they are brilliant.

Prevention is better than cure. I bet you're thinking "If I knew then what I know now..." ... been there... done that!
As our knowledge increases, I hope everyone will try to prevent this miserable disease by giving supplements sooner and a grain free diet etc.

zaksmum

I do try to avoid letting her jump but when I throw a ball for my other dog Jack she still wants to play and if the ball bounces anywhere near her, she thinks she can get it and will attempt to jump, which really hurts her.

I'm going to stop using the ball now, or only take it when I'm taking jack out on his own

SadBunny

Even a vet can have this condition sneak up on them - you'd think they'd have all the answers to avoiding this situation.
If you get the chance to get her in the water - she could play with a ball then. (Don't overdo it and make sure there's no risk of her swimming too far out). I wonder how it would be if you gently roll a ball to/for her? Jack would have to be somewhere else to avoid excitement and competitive play - only fair that Lucy should also get some alone time.
Hope the treatment starts showing good results very soon.
Does she have a nice supportive bed? I bought one like this and the poor old dog (a very sad rescue) loves it.

zaksmum

SadBunny wrote: »

Even a vet can have this condition sneak up on them - you'd think they'd have all the answers to avoiding this situation.
If you get the chance to get her in the water - she could play with a ball then. (Don't overdo it and make sure there's no risk of her swimming too far out). I wonder how it would be if you gently roll a ball to/for her? Jack would have to be somewhere else to avoid excitement and competitive play - only fair that Lucy should also get some alone time.
Hope the treatment starts showing good results very soon.
Does she have a nice supportive bed? I bought one like this and the poor old dog (a very sad rescue) loves it.

She does love the water but at this time of year it's so cold she suffers for days afterwards. I will look into the memory foam offcut though. that just might help her. Thanks for that.

zaksmum

SadBunny, thank you so much for that link about the memory foam offcut. I've looked at it and read the reviews and just ordered one for Lucy.

It seems perfect and will almost certainly be helpful for her joints.

Thank you for taking the time to be so helpful!

hmc

My collie started with arthritis at 7 yrs old
We swore by the bio flow collar and all my dogs wear them now
We started him with cold liver oil then mode to cortaflex( wonderful stuff) then the vet put him on rymadil on which he stayed till we lost him at 15 do to an infection��
He ne ver missed a walk but had to start travelling in the footwell of the car instead of jumping in the boot

clarabelle41

It might be helpful for the vet to see her after her walk when the stiffness has started to set in so maybe you could work the appt around that? A heated pad in her basket could help, it certainly does for me when my back is playing up. The idea of shortening and splitting her walks is a good one.

Missy_Spud

Hi, sorry to hear about your dog, have you looked into hydrotherapy for her? At around 4 months old my dog (lab x husky) started showing signs of problems with her hips/legs she would always cry after a short walk, often sit down whilst we were out, be generally quite uncomfortable especially when we had been for a walk, we took her to the vet who said it could be her hips and said if she needed them replacing it could be rather expensive, think they quoted around 6k a hip!

We bought her a memory foam bed to try and help with some of the pain and make her more comfy, and used to massage her legs/hips which she liked, always resulted in her rolling over to have her belly done too lol

We looked into hydrotherapy for her, and after about 6-8 weeks of hydro we saw a massive improvement in her, shes goes once a week for half an hour which costs us £10 a session which is really good value as its given our dog a pain free life, she has been going hydro a while as she is 3 1/2 years old now, she is no longer stiff or crying in pain, if she misses a week she starts with the stiffness again and gets a bit grumpy if my other dog goes near her legs/back end but when she goes consistently she is fine and seems in no pain, its very rare she doesn't go swimming every week though, so it may be worth looking into, many people think it will be really expensive including us before we first went, we were also very skeptical as to whether hydro actually did any good, but its done our dog the world of good, and she absolutely loves going! think there are different types though some iv'e seen are like treadmill looking things in water tanks, the one my dog goes to is an actual pool so she can have a good swim around and swim after toys etc you do normally need your vets permission to do hydrotherapy too.

HTH and Lucy feels better soon