puppy hind leg weakness
Submitted by lilypearl on October 1, 2010 - 7:19pmWe have a new twelve month old bully, Rosie, along with a three year old, Lily, who was born deaf. We were concerned with how well they would get along, and so far it's been great. My worry now is that I am noticing weakness in Rosie's hind legs. We do live in the country with hilly terrain and she seemed to keep up well on our outdoor walks, but for the last several days she seems to drop to the ground when she releives herself and when she has a bowel movement she's dragging her back legs while she is going. I have a vet appointment scheduled for next week, but I am so afraid there is something serious going on with her. When I touch her legs, she doesn't seem to be in any pain. Is there anyone that experienced the same symptoms with their bulldog? Could it be something she will grow out of? We have also been trying to harden up her stool. From the first day I brought her home it's been loose, and I'm thinking maybe she's losing vitamins for proper bone and muscle growth. I would appreciate any feedback. Karen
Karen C
My first instinct says...
have the vet check for spina bifida, but it could be other things as well. In its milder forms, spina bifida causes weakness in the rear legs and soft stool. Don't panic, though. Many bullies live great lives with these inconveniences. Do a search on this board, and contact the folks who have dealt with these issues if the vet makes this diagnosis. They can really help you through this.
Cathy Hardegree
That was my first thought as well.
If you DO get a Spina Bifida diagnosis, please come let us know. I have had a SB baby, and lots of folks on the board currently have them. We can give you a wealth of information about SB and the prognosis. It isn't all grim:-)
Amy and Sophia
What about incontinence?
Thank you Cathy, that is very helpful. I know that spina bifida can also cause incontinence. Our Rosie, despite the soft stool, was able to become house broken normally, and she is still continent. Do you know if incontinence can show up later in this condition, or does it tend to be present from the beginning?
Karen C
Farley is an SB baby too!! :D He is living large though!!
nm
Heartbroken
I know it might sound like I'm jumping to conclusions before Rosie sees the vet, but I didn't sleep last night with worry. If it is sb, will she be unable to walk? Is she in pain? Will walking outdoors make it worse?
Karen C
Oh Karen, I can only imagine
how you must be feeling. We love our babies so much.
I don't know anything about sb, but I do know that some hear are dealing with that issue or have in the past.
If you do a search, you may find some information to comfort you.
Warm love coming your way.
Please let us know how Rosie does.
Karen, relax some. It is ok. SB is not a painful thing.
In fact, the reason they can have trouble with leg weakness is because the nerves don't finish growing out as far as they should and therefore they have less control of their hind legs and sometimes bowel/urine incontinence. It isn't painful, they cannot feel their hind quarters in the case of SB. Walking outside and getting those muscles stronger IS important, so what you are doing is very goo for her. And listen, she may have a pinched nerve rather than SB and all your worry is for naught. That can cause hind end weakness as well. She also could have some hip issues, as in dysplasia, or even luxating patellas, that can cause hind end weakness or odd walking. So I would seriously wait for a vet's diagnosis before you get more grey hairs worrying about SB:-) And make sure they do an actual X-Ray on her rather than just feeling the spine, they can't always get a correct diagnosis without an X-Ray. I strongly advise she have that done.
I had an SB girl. She was a severe case and was totally incontinent, but she could run like the wind and with all that exercise she got daily at my place, her back end was very stable. She wore diapers 24/7 but she adjusted SO well to that, she actually looked forward to her "butt bath" everyday. She was a sweetie girl. Sadly, she also had severe Rage Syndrome and I had to let her go at a young age, but I don't believe the two issues were connected at all.
Also, one more thing. I have a German Shepard that has bad hips, and when she first came to me she would drag her hind end and legs along after trying to potty. She would literally DRAG herself along...I thought she would never be ok. I started her on double doses of Glucosamine and in two months, all is fine. You can try putting your girl on Glucosamine, 1000 mg 2 x daily. I use the Glucosamine Sulfate that Spring Valley puts out and I buy it at Wal Mart. it comes in a capsule you can put right into the food, or you can break it apart to sprinkle on the food. I also give one tablespoon of plain, fat free yogurt per meal mixed into the food to act as a digestive aid, but the calcium does them good as well:-)
Best of luck to you. Please let us know what your diagnosis is with her.
Amy and Sophia
One other thing.
I found that Natural Balance Limited Ingredient was the only food Isabella had firm stool on. I gave her that plus the yogurt and she had solid poop all of her time with me.
Amy and Sophia
To me it sounds like something else,
I could be wrong, but it sounds like something else.
If she does have SB and is not incontinent now, she won't be. I have a boy with mild SB, when he was a pup he could not control his stool but could control his urine, and he is the same now, he has not gotten worse and he is 3 and a half years old.
To me her condition sounds more like something else, maybe hemi vertabrae, or a muscle condition. I don't think SB would show up so sudden and so late. Do a search on hemi vertabrae, and see if the symptoms sound like your girl. What about lime disease? Parvo? It could be many other things than SB, but if it is spina bifida, she can have a normal life.
Try giving her pure canned pumkin to firm the stool.
Keep calm and let us know what the vet says. I have 3 bullies with SB, and I will try to answer any questions you have.
i would be more worried
about hip dyplasia than sb... sb is pretty noticeable even on mild cases..their is an indent near the back toward the tail...sb does not show up at 12 months its from birth.....your doggie is showing to me signs of hd...i would do a hip x ray does not have to be prefect....did you just get this dog? have you checked the stools for worms....at 12 months she could of eaten anything that has given her the runs especially when walking in the woods...canned pumpkin is great...becasue i do have sb dogs...i give them a whole can at the first sign of loose stools becasue some times their so difficult to stop....
my first thing would be to do a hip x ray then go from their.....get the stool checked...go from their
Farley is a mild case of SB.
And we are probably not the best "case study" for SB in bulldogs. There are people on the board with SB bulldogs that have more issues than my boy. When we got him we knew he had it, our breeder did not hide anything and we knew what we were getting into. He can run, walk, jump and play just like any other dog. He never had issues holding his urine and stool but sometimes will have accidents and we just clean it up and go on, his are mostly stool and not urine. He has a large divet in his back where his spine and nerves are not fused properly, and we get him x-ray'd once a year to check his status. He was x-ray'd before we got him, after we got him, and twice since then and he will be 2 on December 15th. Right now he's doing great, he is going to have issues with his knees and hips we can already tell on the x-rays, but the neurologist that sees him says that she does not anticipate his life span being any shorter than any other bully and that he's just more "fragile" he is on supplements for his joints, grain free diet, yogurt and salmon oil daily. And he has nice firm stools. I have his latest radiology / neurology report and so far so good, they don't anticipate any issues in the future with him but we do laugh that this rough and tumble bulldog has a big FRAGILE across his medical chart at the specialist office. LOL
He feels no pain from his SB, he is a little slower to get up in the mornings, likes to be more spread out when he's sleeping so he has a very large crate but other than that we don't have to change much for him. We keep him off the couches because we don't want him jumping up and down and we also pick him up in and out of the vehicles.
Your kid could have something that is fixable like a pinched nerve, don't stress ( I know easier said than done) until you have x-rays done and read by a radiologist. If it ends up she does have SB, she can lead a pretty normal life if you let her.
Thank you to all for coming to my cry for help
I appreciated all your comments and concerns. I now know there is definitely a problem, but holding onto 'hope' that it is not sb, probably because it did not start at birth. And if it is sb, she can still live a good life. I will post updates on what the doctors come up with. Thanks everyone! Karen
Karen C
I sincerely doubt it is SB showing up after a year:-)
So hold onto that hope and then let us know what the vet says:-) Many prayers for your girl:-)
Amy and Sophia
Oh..I missed that it just showed up!!!
More than likely not SB usually they are born with that. (unless I am wrong....which has been known to happen ;p )
Rosie's diagnosis
Rosie has 'hemi-vertebrae' and I was told as she grows she will only get worse. She does not only have one, I guess there are several and an operation on as young a puppy would not have good results. My daughter in Philadelphia just called to tell me she wants a certified neurologist down there to check her out before we make a final decisions. The vet sent us home with a steroid for Rosie and wants to see her again on Monday. My daughter said her vet in Philly said that giving a puppy a steroid will only stunt her growth and that's not what you want. We are crushed and I don't know what to do. I called the breeder and they are notifying the owners of Rosie's brothers and are very concerned for us. Karen
Karen C