Lurcher - Any Ideas Or Advice On Crawling Dog

[FeeFee]

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Oldies recently took in Bob from a Welsh pound, he's now in a foster home in Cornwall. He was in poor condition and very thin and seemed generally like a wobbly old boy estimated to be about 12 yrs, but he is an earmarked Hancock and I've subsequently found out that he is only 9.

He has a weird problem with his front legs that has us - and the vet - baffled at the moment. He seems to find it very difficult to get up and will from choice crawl around rather than stand. When he does stand, or is helped up, he screams so is obviously in pain.

However once he is on his feet he's very mobile, and in fact quite lively, well able to manage a good walk and to run etc.

There's a video of him doing his crawling thing here, it also shows him once he's on his feet walking normally (but with a slightly strange gait?). He seems worse in the morning, and improves as the day goes on.

For the moment the vet has suggested a period of pain relief and gentle exercise and to try to get some weight on him and improve his general condition, then he'll go back to re-assess and do whatever tests or specialist referrals are necessary.

Has anyone come across anything like this or have any idea what his problem could be? He is a wonderful dog, loves, people, dogs, cats and has a nature to die for, so we're desperately hoping that this is something that can be improved or managed to give him a good quality of life.

 

[Brownmare]

I would have said his legs look like they are working very well. I would be looking more towards something like a trapped nerve in his back - probably between the shoulder blades somewhere but obviously hard to say accurately without examining the dog. I would get him to a chiropractor asap or I'd be happy to treat him FOC as a donation to the rescue but I can't get to Cornwall very easily!

 

[jinnyfizz]

As he is only in Cornwall, would it be possible for his foster carer to make the trip to Honiton in Devon and see Sandra Osborne, the sighthound vet, at Honiton Small Animal Clinic?

She is a truly marvellous vet and may well be able to diagnose the problem straight away with her vast experience of sighthounds :thumbsup:

01404 42062

Honiton Small Animal Clinic

14 Ottery Moor Lane

Honiton

Devon

EX14 1AW

 

[Debbie b]

watching the video he looks like he is doing a typical collie stalk, is he nervous ????

as when he is walking he looks absolutely fine, i hope what ever it is he gets his forever sofa :thumbsup:

 

[pepa]

before I saw the video I was wondering if he had, Had a stroke but then I saw the video I havent a clue he walks fine when hes up on all 4's.Might be a good idear to have him chequed by a bone person (carnt spell the other word).good luck with him hope he finds that for ever home :wub: :wub:

 

[FeeFee]

watching the video he looks like he is doing a typical collie stalk, is he nervous ????as when he is walking he looks absolutely fine, i hope what ever it is he gets his forever sofa :thumbsup:

I thought that about the 'collie stalk' when I first saw it, but he definitely cries out during the process of standing up so it is hurting him. Also first thing in the morning he sometimes stands then his front legs collapse and he falls and struggles to stand again. Once he's been up and about for a bit he gets much more mobile.

Thanks so much for the suggestions above, I'll pass these onto his foster carer to discuss with his vet when he goes back in a few days and we'll take things from there :thumbsup:

Fingers crossed we can help him, he's a lovely dog. Such a shame he ended up as an unclaimed stray - I'd guess probably dumped because of his problems

 

[Rae]

I totally agree with Jinnyfizz that Sandra may be able to put her finger on the problem, she is an amazing Vet.

I do think he has a strange gait too.

Very much hope that he can be fixed as he looks adorable and deserves a good home. :luck:

 

[jinnyfizz]

I've just heard from a friend of mine who looked at this thread earlier (as a guest) that he has seen exactly the same thing with a collie lurcher when it had knocked it's back out.

If it is a trapped nerve, as he suspects, then giving any exercise other than letting out in the garden to "empty" will aggravate the injury. It needs to be seen by a specialist canine chiropractor who will manipulate the vertabrae back into place :thumbsup:

I will investigate potential practitioners in the Cornwall area tomorrow ....... what area of Cornwall is Bob being fostered in, Fiona?

 

[FeeFee]

Thanks Jane I'd appreciate it, the fosterer is near Gunnislake, so Plymouth would be the nearest large town.

They are completely snowed in at the moment, but hopefully not for too long!

 

[jinnyfizz]

Thanks Jane I'd appreciate it, the fosterer is near Gunnislake, so Plymouth would be the nearest large town.
They are completely snowed in at the moment, but hopefully not for too long!

They're only about 10 miles from me! Hopefully they shouldn't need to go as far as Plymouth - I'll check it out and let you know :thumbsup:

 

[wild whippies]

I definately wouldn't have any manipulation performed until the dog's spine has been thoroughly investigated.

I see the vet prescribed pain meds, are anti-inflammatories being used e.g. prednisalone?

I'd be inclined to go along with the vet's opinion and if no resolution occurs with medication consider an orthopaedic referral.

I'm not for a moment thinking manipulation won't work, just more concerned someone may do more harm than good. Seeing as though no-one knows the circumstances or history of the dog, it could well be the dog has a major injury.

I wouldn't rule out a psychological problem but it does seem that pain is a symptom. Unless the issue has been going on for a long time and the dog 'thinks' it will have pain if it does stand up.

Bob is absolutely gorgeous by the way and he looks to have a lovely nature. I hope he finds a lovely home :luck:

 

[FeeFee]

At the moment Bob is on Metacam. The chief vet in the practice is an orthopaedic specialist but is on holiday until next week so hasn't seen him yet, we won't arrange any referral or other treatment until we have discussed it with him.

It is difficult not having any history or any idea how long this has been going on, but he has some hardening of the skin on his front legs which suggests he has been doing the crawling thing for a while. He also has quite a lot of general muscle wastage (as well as being very thin) which suggest he hasn't exercised much recently

He definitely is a wimp, he will act as though he "can't" stand up, but can be distracted into making the effort if something interesting is on offer. Once he's up he's raring to go.

The good news is that his fosterer has reported that he seems a bit better today, he got up quite quickly this morning and hasn't done much crawling at all

 

[wild whippies]

Glad to read he's improving. :thumbsup: and don't think you can go wrong with an orthopaedic specialist, even if it's just to rule out a spinal problem.

Tony asked if he's walked up any stairs and if so how was he?

Bloody shame that he's been like this for so long

 

[FeeFee]

He doesn't 'do' stairs, it's not clear if that's because he can't manage them or possibly he's never lived in a house and hasn't come across them before. He's been clean in the house but wants to sleep in the hall leading out to the garden, so he may have been kennelled?

 

[eve]

It is lovely to see the forum working as it should with the genuine k9'ers offering advice and support.

I cannot offer any advice but do send my best wishes and hope that a suitable treatment can be found for this boy. :luck:

 

[Rog]

In the video clip, he was walking OK outside with the other dogs!

Does he do the "crawl" only inside the house as he might have been

kept in a kennel at one time with a low roof. Or he might just be a bit

nervous of being in a new environment.

The female we are fostering at the moment walks perfectly everywhere

we take her except in the house :blink: she tries to walk on her claws which

makes things very slippy for her.

It might be worth talking to a dog behaviour expert to get their take on his problem.

 

[pat cope]

I was told of a dog that was kept in a small space for most of its life. Took ages to learn to walk again when rescued.

Muscles wasted too. Hope you find the answer and the poor boy makes a good recovery. xx

 

[~Sarah~]

It is lovely to see the forum working as it should with the genuine k9'ers offering advice and support.I cannot offer any advice but do send my best wishes and hope that a suitable treatment can be found for this boy. :luck:

I too cannot offer any advice, although I did wonder if there was a behavioural element to it.

Also agree it is great to see k9ers being helpful and offering good advice. :thumbsup: I do hope things improve for Bob - he looks a gorgeous fellow. :wub: :wub:

 

[wild whippies]

I think outside he's not massively lame but he does look to falter after his head shake and a little tentative therafter but there's always the issue of looking for something combined with the fact none of us know the dogs own natural gait anyway.

I'm really smitten with him. I spent last night trawling hunting life forum to see if anyone had lost him. Tony's said nooo we can't have another. :-

 

[FeeFee]

I'm really smitten with him. I spent last night trawling hunting life forum to see if anyone had lost him. Tony's said nooo we can't have another. :-

David Hancock's records show that he was sold as a pup to a 'Mr Jones in Wales'. Unfortunately that doesn't narrow it down much

I know what you mean about being taken with him, he's got something quite special about him. Everybody who has met him has fallen for him :wub:

Thanks so much to everybody who has taken the trouble to reply on here or to PM me, it's very much appreciated and has given us some positive things to look into :thumbsup: