Last Wednesday jake (crossbreed who has just recently turned one) had gone for a walk my other half. While off lead he was running around a field with another dog and every time he changed direction he collapsed. My other half got him home and when I got home from work he was walking strangely on one of his back legs. We took him to the vets even though we where hoping that he had only pulled/strained a muscle in his back leg. The vet gave us an anti-inflammatory and we where booked in to see him again this Wednesday. We have not taken Jake out for a walk since then and have tried to rest him as much as you can rest a one year old dog, but last night he started to drag one of his front paws along the floor as he was walking (the front paw is on the same side as the injured back leg). I have changed his appointment with the vet to tonight instead of Wednesday (other half has been called into work so cannot go earlier than this evening). The vet told me last week that if the drugs he had given me did not work it would probably be xrays/other tests to try and find out what could be wrong. As we will have to wait for any test results I was hoping to pick all your brains. The strange thing is that he seems OK in himself and does not appear to be in any pain, he is still trying to walk around and play, but when he collapses he looks at us as if to say "what am I doing down here?" He can also get back up again after he has collapsed and only stays on the floor for a couple of seconds.
I am going out of my mind with worry over this and any suggestions/similar experiences will be greatly received.
I think it is the not having an idea of what is wrong with him that is worst, at least if we know what is wrong he can start to be treated.

Hi Lins,
Hope Jake will be OK, but I don't think there is any point in speculating - it could be so many things, you're better just waiting to see what the Vet has to say. If people start suggesting things you've never even thought of, it'll just make you feel worse! You're doing all you can - it's the not being able to do anything else that's so difficult.
Let us know how he gets on.

Hi Lins,
I'd been wondering how to give a reassuring answer but Anwen has said it all. Your vet is the best one to consult as anything we might come up with could be totally wrong and just worry you.

Hope it all goes well. :)

Kath. xx

Thanks to both of you for your best wishes. It is just so frustrating that a big healthy dog could become so ill almost overnight, and until we find out what is wrong there is nothing that we can do to help him.
I must admit when no-one posted at first I did really panic because I was thinking the worst and that no-one wanted to tell me bad news. Hopefully I will know more tonight after seeing the vet, and I can stop bursting into tears while sat at my desk at work (since my office is mainly full of men and they all think that the few women working here are strange enough already and are probably muttering about pmt and other "womens problems"!!). It also doesnt help when I just get myself under control and try to fill my head with work so I am not worrying over this when the other half phones me up and tells me that he is feeling the same and bursts into tears down the phone setting me off again!
Hopefully it will be good news from the vets tonight, (or just any news would be good at the minute), and then every-one can have a laugh at the two softest dog owners around who worry over nothing.
Thanks again for your best wishes
Lins

I am not trying to scare you but make sure your vet does blood work to check everything (kidney, Liver, WBC count). I know it sounds crazy but my moms dog did the same thing. Two weeks ago my moms dog favored one leg. It was like that leg was numb, he didn't cry like he hurt it, he just couldn't use it. When he would walk it was like he would lose his balance and fall over. This went on for two weeks with the "VETS" telling us that he had a seizure while you weren't looking, so don't worry about it. About a week later we noticed that he developed a bad infection in his mouth. The vet put him on an IV for fluids and antibotics because he was starting not to eat or drink well. Well all along his liver was going bad. The infection from his liver was so bad it weakened his immune system causing infections in his stomach and mouth. Unfortunatly by the time it took us to fight with the vet to do bloodwork, it was to late. Bear died this past saturday. So PLEASE don't always go by what your vet tells you, if you feel there is something more that needs to be done make your vet listen to you. I don't know if your dog has the same problem but thats what bear did when he first got sick. If your dog doesn't get better soon I would ask the vet to do bloodwork. The bloodwork was not expensive. I hope your dog is o.k. I just wanted you to take ALL the precautions and to be aware of what happed to us. I will keep Jake in my prayers until you post that he is going to be o.k. If you have any questions you can e-mail me at dsmcgregor@earthlink.net

Sorry you've been through such a bad time too, Shonna. My heart goes out to both you and Lins. We're all dog lovers here so we understand what you're both going through. :)

Kath.

Just an update after visiting the vets last night, Jake is going in for a day of tests tomorrow so hopefully these will give us some more of an idea as to what is wrong with Jake, however the vet who saw him last night (different vet due to initial vet being on holiday) said that looking at him it apears to be something neurological instead of bone related (can't think of the term for this) as it looks like his brain cannot tell where his legs are and this is why he is dragging his paws and falling down. Hopefully we will know more tomorrow after the tests.
Thanks for your thoughts
Lins

Hello Lins I am wondering how Jake is any news?
Mari

Mari,
We picked Jake from the vets yesterday after his "full day of tests" only to find that the vet had (in her own words) walked him up and down a couple of times and prodded and pinched him in various places. I was so angry as when we saw this vet on the Tuesday night she did not even touch him, so surely she could have done thise things on the Tuesday night and come to the same conclusion?!? The vets prognosis is that it is still not orthapedic but something to do with his brain/brain stem, apparently as all four legs are now affected it is highly improbable that it is anything below this area i.e. his back. The vet was quite quick in getting in touch with a specialist (who luckily for us is only a 30 minute drive away) and we managed to get an appointment with him for today at 12,at which point I forgave the vet as she could not have got us a quicker appointment. Thank god for a very flexible boss who is letting me have more time off work, even though I don't have any holidays left (This is why I have been in work since six this morning so I can leave at 11). Hopefully once we have seen the neurological specialist today we might actually know something as the vet admitted that this was a problem out of her league and was very apologetic about not being able to put our minds at rest.
Unfortunatley I do not have internet access at home, so i will post again on Monday about how Jake gets on with the specialist.
Thanks for your concern, and could you all please keep your fingers crossed for a little bit longer
Thanks
Lins

I will cross everything for you Lins. Just a year ago our girl was under specialist care for a fractured spine and paralysis was a possibility but she has made a 100% recovery, hope all goes as well for Jake.Will be thinking of you
Sue

Hi Lins hope all goes well, everythings crossed for you,
take care Heidi

Fingers toes eyes n all Lins
love Mari

Everything crossed here Lins. Hope it all goes well.

Kath. xx

Thank you all for your support for Jake, the annoying thing is that we still do not know much more. Jake went to the specialist on Friday and he gave Jake a good looking over and said that it definately seems to be a problem involving the cerebellum (sp?) part of his brain. He also said that it looks as though it is only the right hand side of the cerebellum that is affected as after making Jake hop around in a circle on one leg he was a lot happier hopping on his left leg, but could not move when his weight was solely on his right.
He is going back to the specialist today and is having an MRI scan, so hopefully by tonight we might have some information.
The good thing is that this week Jake does not seem to have got any worse, although he is sleeping a lot more than usual, he is still wanting to play and keeps looking at his lead longingly so we are holding onto this with both hands as having to be a good sign.
Thank you again for all your support
Lins

Thanks for the update, Lins. I've been wondering how you were doing. I won't uncross just yet. :)

Kath xx

Following Jakes MRI scan there was some good news and some not so good news. The MRI scan of Jakes brain showed everything to be normal so the vet carried on with the scan down his back. He has found a problem involving his spinal chord, between the 4th and 5th vertibra (sp?) the spinal chord appears to be very constricted and this is causing the problem. Because this is the problem the specialist has told us that unless he performs an operation on Jake to relieve the pressure then Jake would only get worse, this was not an option as when my other half tried to get Jake into the car yesterday to take him to the vets he started screaming in pain and was crying in the car all the way to the vets, which as you can imagine upset Mark who thought that he had hurt Jake in some way getting him into the car and had caused him further damage. The vet decided that since Jake was in such pain he would be rested at the vets today, also he did not like to give a dog an anesthetic two days on the run, so the opration is scheduled for tomorrow, where the vet has said that he will try to relieve the pressure on Jakes spinal chord and will send samples off for analysis to try and find out what has caused this to happen. The slightly good news is that he thinks that from looking at the MRI scan that it does not appear to be a tumour causing hte problem, although he will know more on Wednesday when he can actually have a look at whatever is in there.
So it is back to waiting for a couple of days, although we do know a bit more information, and Jake at the minute is in the best hands.
Will let you know how Jake is after the op, thanks for your continued suppport
Lins

I'll keep my fingers crossed, Lins.
:)

Thinking of you & Jake
X

Ditto
Sue xxx

Poor Jake. :( Awful for you and Mark too.

Hope it all goes well and they can sort the problem. Sending (very gentle) hugs for Jake.

Kath.xx

Have everything crossed for you both, you are doing everything you can for him he is a lucky dog to have a wonderful owner.

Our one yr old dog was having problems standing.  We took her to 3 vets before she was diagnosed with tetanus. 
She is in intensive care.  I hope your doggie is getting better.  Ann

praying for you all, especially jake.
hope everything goes ok on wednesday.
will be waiting to hear how things go.
regards,
linda

lins, my heart goes out to you. My 10yr old dobe has developed the exact symptoms in her RHS back leg.I will follow your your progress with interest.

Good luck today Lins! Hope everything goes well for Jake. Let us know how he gets on.

Lesley

Big Hugs to Jake, really hope today goes well

Hayley x

Good Luck Jake and Lins. Hope it all goes well. Have my fingers crossed for you. Let us know when you can.
Rachel x

Oh no Bonniedobe, so sorry to hear that, :( Sending your Dobe hugs too.

Kath. xx

Bonniedobe,
I am so sorry to hear that your dobe has similar symptons, I would definately go and see your vet as soon as possible. I still cannot believe that it is only a fortnight today since Jakes back leg started collapsing and we all thought that he had just pulled a muscle on his walk. Now that I look back, I could not have asked for a better vet as when I took him back when we realised that the anti-inflammatories were not working and that he was getting worse as all his legs where showing signs of ataxia, they quickly got the specialist invloved. Please give your dobe a big hug from me and also one from Jake, I hope that she gets back to her normal self very soon.
Lins

Dear all,
Thank you all for your well wishes. I did not want to post anything yesterday, but when I telephoned yesterday morning to see how Jake had been through the night, the nurse told me that he had recovered so well from the anaesthetic that they had decided to go ahead with the operation that day. I did not know how the operation went until I got home which is why I didn't post yesterday as when I phoned at 4 o'clock he was still being operated on.
I actually spoke to the specialist last night and he told me that he had removed a lot of abnormal tissue from around Jakes spinal chord and there was now plently of room so there is no pressure on his spinal chord, which is very good news so at least he should not be in any more pain. I am due to phone the specialist late this morning to see how he is as the specialist told me that Jake would be out until at least 9 oclock last night and he wanted to check him over himself before letting me know today how he is. A sample of the tissue has been sent of to some labs so hopefully when the tests come back we might know what actually caused this.
Thank you again for all your support, it is really helping me get through the day in work as when I am feeling down I just think of all the people that are thinking of Jake and it helps another few minutes pass.
Thank you all again
Lins

Hi Lins

Its great to hear that Jake's op went well!! Hope that when you phone he's right as rain and ready to come home soon :) Keep us posted!!

Lesley

Oh Lins, that's great news. I bet your both relieved :) He should be a lot happier now. I hope the tests are OK.

Thinking of you.
Kath xx

Hi Lins,
hope everything goes well with the test results.
Will be waiting to hear.
Fingers crossed.
best wishes,
Linda

I am glad the Op went well and hope he makes a good recovery

lucy
xx

Lins,
many thanks for taking the time to show your concern. I was touched.
I hope Jake is on good form, and on the road to full recovery.
Regards
Tom

Dear all,
Just an update on Jake's progress after his operation. (sorry but it is a bit long)
After his operation on Tuesday Jake appeared to make a great recovery and was up walking in the gardens at the vets on Wednesday morning. However, they tried to get him out again on Wednesday evening and he collapsed did not attempt to get up again. After phoning on Thursday morning and being passed through to the specialist instead of one of the nurses I knew that something was wrong and was told that he had deteriorated through the night and they were trying to do all that they could. By the time that I got there on Thursday afternoon he had perked up a bit and the vets were pleased with this as they had thought that he had a condition that some dogs can get after an operation involving the spinal chord in which the spinal chord dies and consequently the dog dies within 24 hours. But they were certain that Jake could not have this as he was perking up again. (Needless to say I nearly hugged the vet when he said it could not have been this). Up until Sunday he was becoming brighter in himself but still not making any attempt to stand up so the vet decided to give his spine another MRI scan just to be sure that any further damage had been caused since the operation or that they had missed anything the first time. After visiting the vets last night and looking at the scans with the specialist we are much happier as the scans show that the operation was a complete success as the area of spinal chord that was being constricted is now back to its normal size and spinal fluid is flowing passed this point which it was not doing before the op. While Jake was anaethatised (sp?) they opened up his wound and removed a fat graft in case it was this that was irritating his back (this had been put in place to protect Jakes spine while it was all healing). After seeing Jake yesterday after the op the vet thinks that it is all up to him now but he thinks that with a bit of physiotherapy and hydrotherapy and obviously time that Jake will be back to his old self again. :) :) :)
Thank you all again for your support through this last couple of weeks

Lindsey and a much happier Jake

P.S. I don't know if this is being cheeky, but I would like to name and praise the vets that have been looking after him through all of this, the specialist is Mr Geoff Skerritt and I would also like to say a special thank you to all the vetinary nurses at Cranmore Vets in South Wirral who have spoiled Jake rotten, made a fuss of him and just been there for him through his rough times.

Hi Lindsey,

Thanks for the update. I will keep Jake in my thoughts and hope that he is on the way to his old self.

Stacey

Great news! Hope it all continues to go well!
:)

great news about Jake.
hope he's back to his old self soon.
regards,
linda

Thats very good news Lindsey :)

Christine, Spain.

That's great news Lins. So pleased to hear he's on the mend . Well done brave Jake. :)

Kath.

Great news, Lins, thanks for letting us know.

Such good news I am so pleased for you

Gina :)

Hi Lins
So glad Jake is recovering from the op.
I didn't dare post before, as I lost a 4 year old cavalier on November 8th last year, with exactly the same thing....she didn't come round after the op. Spinal surgery is very tricky, and it sounds like you had a really good specialist working for Jake.

Hope he continues to improve.

Sami

What a nightmare for you and Jake! Sending you both healing vibes and a speedy recovery.

Jo :)

Sorry I have not been on all last week, I had a couple of days holiday and then came down with this fluey type virus that is going around so I was not in work much last week.
The good news is that we were able to bring Jake home last Friday (21st) and his walking has got better during the week that he has been home, he has improved so much that when Mark took him to see the specialist for a checkup on Friday he said that he did not think that he needed any more physiotherapy and that he did not need to see him any more :) So Jake has been passed back to our own vets and is to have his stiches out this Friday, and the specialist has said that once the stitches are out we can start to take Jake out and build up his walks.
The results from the tissue samples taken from around Jakes spinal chord have also come back and the tissue was found to be inflammatory tissue and not cancerous so that was a huge relief aswell.
Thanks to all of you who have been thinking of us through this last few weeks it really did help while I was sat at work and time was dragging second by second.
The only thing to get sorted now is the insurance as I had to pay out the money to the vets (just over £4,000 ) and now i have to claim the money back, so I have told every-one that there is no Christmas in my house this year until I get at least some of the money back. Except of course for Jake who has been spoiled rotten for the last week and I am sure that a couple of months down the line I will be posting about an overweight dog who doesn't listen to a word I say ;)
Thanks again for all your help through this
Lins

Wonderful news Lins - who cares about Christmas!!!!! :D