The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Pets & Working Animals => Dogs => Topic started by: Penninehillbilly on July 15, 2018, 03:10:23 pm
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Hi, on Thursday night, had my back to the dog, (BC) heard a noise, thought she was just flopping down, next thing I heard a banging and crashing, turned round and she was flopping round like a fish out of water, somehow she ended up on her bed, but was dribbling, peed a bit, obviously panicking, talked her down, seemed OK on her front but couldnt pull herslf up, eased her on to her feet to a more open area, she wobbled and fell over. Arranged emergency visit to vets, got down there, vet carried her in, put her down and she walked round surgery! Flexed her backk legs, good movement, Took her thru to weigh her, she trotted thru!. Vet gave her an injection (painkiller?) and 5 days Loxicom.
While it's a relief shes OK it's also an expense I could do without. She's been fine since.
Don't know her age, supposed to be 6/7 in 2013, but always been convinced she's older. She is overweight at 28kg, so husband has finally agreed to cut evening biscuits out. (She gets chicken for breakfast and supper, complete meal and tinned meat at teatime, the biscuits after evening walk, so she now has 1). Never very active, prefers to lay under table.
Any thoughts and advice please? Obviously distressing, don't want to go through that again.
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I had it happen to a cat with an infection on his spine, once treated with antibiotics it went away and my Aunt had a dog loose sensation in his hind during a really hasty ear/neck infection. The dog is elderly and has made good progress but not a 100% recovery.
I think your dogs back must of gone into spasm or there was a trapped nerve and when you carried her into the vet its sorted itself out!
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Seen this in a number of breeds. No apparent reason. Almost seems like a seizure. It might be backstrain so you are correct to reduce food intake - try to encourage her to walk more in order to keep her muscles strong.
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Thanks, I did wonder if the trip to the vets had jiggled something back into place, she was on a couple of dogbeds,
Had her running for a ball today, just a couple of times and very short distance, will work up to more exercise. Trouble is she runs for the ball then either leaves it or waits for me to go and collect it ::)
You can't teach an o.d dog new tricks ;D
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Did the vet consider a stroke?
I would discuss her diet with the vet. You don't say how much she is getting of everything but I would say cutting out one biscuit aint going to make much difference.
Why are you feeding a complete feed and tinned meat?
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A stroke was one of my thoughts but the vet didn't mention it.
I had said she was overweight, vet agreed she could do with losing some, but that was all.
She was getting 6 or 7 'Shape' type biscuits, now only gets one when they come in from their walk, she's not happy ?.
She's getting about 3/4 of a tin mug of biscuits, about qtr of a standard tin of meat. Suppose we use to feed mixer biscuits, when we started feeding complete we just carried on with the meat, sort of giving a bit of flavour variety.
They don't get much chicken, about what would fit on a medium sized palm. (Before you think we spoil them, he get rejects from a chicken factory , fresh, so it's boiled up for dogs) :)
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She's getting about 3/4 of a tin mug of biscuits, about qtr of a standard tin of meat. Suppose we use to feed mixer biscuits, when we started feeding complete we just carried on with the meat, sort of giving a bit of flavour variety.
They don't get much chicken, about what would fit on a medium sized palm. (Before you think we spoil them, he get rejects from a chicken factory , fresh, so it's boiled up for dogs) :)
That does sound like quite a lot of food for an inactive older collie type.
Ours gets a quarter of the quantity of the cocker spaniel who weighs less.
Some dogs are just 'good do-ers' if she's overweight, feed less.
Hope she's OK :hug:
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Agree with Duke's mum. Discuss with your vet, they will help you work out a diet and quantities to get to target weight safely.
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Thanks, but she can make me feel so cruel for starving her to death ;) .
Will reduce a bit more, but I'd like her more active, realised since I hurt my knee a few years ago, their midday walk got shortened drastically, time we extended again. And because they are loose (our track), she just plods slowly, maybe on a lead we may get further.
Just received bill from vet. £78!
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Tell her you#ll have to reduce the feed to pay her vet's bill! She'll understand. :idea:
You have to be cruel to be kind I'm afraid.
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Tell her you#ll have to reduce the feed to pay her vet's bill! She'll understand. :idea:
You have to be cruel to be kind I'm afraid.
Tell her you#ll have to reduce the feed to pay her vet's bill! She'll understand.
LOL.
Cruel to be Kind - that's the bit she can't / won't understand :-)
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Tell her you#ll have to reduce the feed to pay her vet's bill! She'll understand. :idea:
You have to be cruel to be kind I'm afraid.
Tell her you#ll have to reduce the feed to pay her vet's bill! She'll understand.
LOL.
Cruel to be Kind - that's the bit she can't / won't understand :-)
Oh she will! Wait till she can run off and you can't catch her. :roflanim:
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Tell her you#ll have to reduce the feed to pay her vet's bill! She'll understand. :idea:
You have to be cruel to be kind I'm afraid.
Tell her you#ll have to reduce the feed to pay her vet's bill! She'll understand.
LOL.
Cruel to be Kind - that's the bit she can't / won't understand :-)
Oh she will! Wait till she can run off and you can't catch her. :roflanim:
:roflanim:
Put her lead on today to walk further, it's amazing how many interesting smells she was finding as I tried to drag her up the hill.
Of course, on the way home, nope, nothing interesting there ::)
Maybe I'm watching for problems, but she did seem to wobble a bit as she went in the grass for a pee.
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Thanks, but she can make me feel so cruel for starving her to death ;) .
Make chunky veg soup, add that to bulk out her kibble. Some real chicken stock wil help too. Chicken will only add to her weight if it's skins, as that's where most of the fat is, and they love cooked chicken..
Cut down on the amount of tinned food- you're only upetting the balance of the kibble - I know, I do it too but it does add protein and carbs.
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Thanks doganjo,
I don't think think they get skin, but I'll check with bossman - No they don't
They won't be getting chicken tonight, he brought a live one home, I'm not doing it. I wonder if she will survive and lay ?? He thinks it's a male. It just sits there, big fat white thing ?
.
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This sounds eerily similar to what happened to my BC a few years ago. She'd have been 6 ish? Maybe 7? No sudden crash, but just didn't have strength in her back end to walk. I can't honestly remember how it resolved in detail, only that the vet didn't find anything initially, next step would have been MRI but I didn't have the money and she seemed to be improving. I presume we ruled out anything like infection or some sort of bug bite reaction, or.....
My personal best guess is a minor stroke, only because of the loss of movement and some interesting personality changes afterwards.
Nothing similar has happened before or since, she's in fine health now, and I've not heard of anything similar in other dogs until now.
Always a good idea to check diet and exercise anyway. Hope she keeps getting better!
Out of interest, where in the country was she bred? Mine's from Wales. Highly unlikely to be a family thing but you never know!
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A neighbour had a similar thing with one of his young collies a while ago.
Had run in a trial one day and absolutely fine.
Next day couldn't get up to stand. Took to the vet but by then was improving. Improvement continued and vet couldn't find a problem. Neighbour thought that maybe the dog had a trapped nerve.
As far as I know it made a full recovery.
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Out of interest, where in the country was she bred? Mine's from Wales. Highly unlikely to be a family thing but you never know!
No idea, rescue dogs, brought up from a smallholding in Norfolk.
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A neighbour had a similar thing with one of his young collies a while ago.
Had run in a trial one day and absolutely fine.
Next day couldn't get up to stand. Took to the vet but by then was improving. Improvement continued and vet couldn't find a problem. Neighbour thought that maybe the dog had a trapped nerve.
As far as I know it made a full recovery.
More likely lack of blood sugars
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Thanks doganjo,
I don't think think they get skin, but I'll check with bossman - No they don't
They won't be getting chicken tonight, he brought a live one home, I'm not doing it. I wonder if she will survive and lay ?? He thinks it's a male. It just sits there, big fat white thing ?
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lol fat lazy cockerel somebody dumped maybe.
Cabbage is apparently good for weight loss if you can get the dog to eat it - maybe chopped up small and mixed well?