Any ideas?

[Pam Wolf]

A friend was telling me about this BC and his problem. He is a cattle dog, but there is no known injury. Here's the symptoms:

 

Six year old male working Border Collie with no previous history of

illness has gradual onset of not wanting to work. Tail is tucked and

reluctant to go out. Has progressed to bi-lateral hind limb atrophy. He

now moves with stifles touching. Deep pain reflexes are present and there

are no apparent cranial nerve defecits. He tests negative for Lymes and

Ehrlichiosis. Blood chemistries are within normal limits with the exception

of a slightly elevated globulin level. Spinal and pelvic x-rays are also

normal.

 

appreciate it if anyone has any ideas

 

Pam

[Sue R]

"Stifles touching" or hocks touching? I can't envision stifles touching but can see hocks touching although that would not be normal.

[Pam Wolf]

"Stifles touching" or hocks touching? I can't envision stifles touching but can see hocks touching although that would not be normal.

 

You read that right. Hence the concern over some possible neurological problem. Rear movement prior to the onset of this problem was normal.

 

Pam

[juliepoudrier]

Would a ruptured or damaged disc necessarily show up on X-ray? He may need to do some more specific diagnostic tests like an MRI (for his back). Also I'd probably do a round of doxycylcine no matter what the TBD tests say--there are plenty of incidences of false negatives. It's cheap, it won't hurt, and if he has a dramatic improvement, then the diagnosis would be TBD.

[denice]

Sounds like a nerve problem and MRI and more specific tests may help find the problem. Is the atrophy over long term or more sudden? I would consider massage or acupuncture to try to relieve pain. I hesitate to even mention this but you would be amazed at what you see in a vet clinic. Most likely not the issue but easy enough to check out - I would check the dogs anal glands. Infected or abscessed anal glands are super painful and would account for the tail tucking, pain, not wanting to work. Some times the simple things are not checked and part of the problem is right there. It is easy enough and can't hurt.

 

Denice

[Liz P]

Was it sudden onset or gradual? Is the dog weak or reluctant to move? Any pain response to touching a specific area? Is the owner willing to speak with a specialist?

[kelpiegirl]

Dog needs diagnostics asap. It sounds to me like a spinal injury, or degenerative disease. He sounds painful, at the minimum, pain management should commence.

[Pam Wolf]

I would just like to bump this up in case anyone has any suggestions. This was a gradual but fairly rapid onset. Owner probably unable to pay for MRI. Xrays didn't look abnormal. NSAIDS seem to help alleviate the pain somewhat. If anyone has any idea what might be going on, open to suggestions. The owner has been told about massage/accupuncture.

 

TIA

 

Pam

[grenzehund]

I'd suggest the owner come up with some fundraising ideas so that the dog can be properly diagnosed. Likely is nerve/disc damage as others suggested, and x-rays are insufficient. No surprise the painkillers are of some yet limited use.

 

Susan

[Shoofly]

I'd be thinking about something like lumbosacral stenosis

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2084&aid=456

[juliepoudrier]

I agree with Susan. I had not planned on paying for cancer treatments for one of my dogs, but applied for CareCredit so I could manage the cost of treatment. There are options for getting diagnoses done with payment plans, etc. I would be very concerned if the NSAIDs are helping only partially. That means the dog is still in pain, and that would bother me tremendously.

 

J.

[goodfellow]

Just had my 3 year old BC/ACD mix diagnosed with BOTH degenerative disc disease and an abscessed anal sac. Same symptoms you are talking about... x-rays showed nothing, but on MRI you could see just a TINY bulge in her disc that was pushing on the spinal cord. The vet said this would be enough to only barely affect her nerve function, but it was enough for her not to want to get up and move around, walk with a stiff gait, just seem generally weak. Who knows if the anal sacs had anything to do with anything. But they showed up on MRI too. Even though your pup is young, you could have a problem with the back that won't show up on x-ray. I'd also recommend seeing a specialist. When I first went to my regular vet, she said she was pretty sure there was nothing neurologic going on -- and that's exactly what it ended up being.