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Yesterday morning, our 10-yr old Maltese Lily seemed fine. By evening, she could not stand up or walk at all.
Took her to her regular vet this morning (several blood tests came back normal), and that vet felt baffled and unable to diagnose, so she sent us to a neuro specialist. We went directly to that specialist. Without a lot of expensive tests ($2000 MRI, not even available today bevause it's Saturday, and a $ ?? spinal tap) the specialist could only guess at what might be going on. Her possible explanations:
Slipped disc, would need neck surgery, about $5000, then physical therapy ($ ??) with 70% chance Lily would walk again.
Auto-immune meningitis (one not caused by virus or bacteria). Would need the MRI & spinal tap before treating, with strong immuno-suppressants that, IF they worked could give Lily another 6-12 months.
Fibrocartilaginous embolism, could possibly clear and heal on its own, but she said this is typically seen in large dogs, so kinda iffy that this is what's going on.
Some other vague, unknown neurological issue.
For now, we went with a low dose of Prednisone (as an anti-inflammatory) to see if Lily improves. Was the least invasive, reasonable cost option to try.
Thought I'd ask if anyone here has ever had a dog that experienced such sudden and severe symptoms, and if you have any suggestions beyond what the vets said. I know it's a long shot, but I had to ask.
She still could have slipped or fell ..... Heck I rolled over in my sleep & woke up unable to walk or fell from the waist down for over a year! ALL the Drs in the area including several Drs out of the area had No clue. A friend told me to see a Chriopractor.
I wouldn't discount a visit to a chiropractor or a vet that incorporates things like laser therapy.
We do have ticks in Utah, and in fact I searched her thoroughly today for ticks. How I wish it was as simple as removing a tick and she'd get better, but I didn't find any (didn't really think I would, as I'd just given her a bath and short hair cut three days ago.)
Just a few minutes ago I was googling acupuncture for dogs (never tried it myself, not particularly a believer, but I'm desperate enough to consider anything). Anyway, on one vet's website that talked about acupuncture, I saw something about laser therapy. I didn't even click on that, but I will go back and read more since you mentioned it.
And I'll also try to learn more about chiropractic treatment for dogs. Again, never tried it myself, but I don't want to leave any (reasonable) stone unturned for my girl.
Ask the vet to treat her anyway... Some time you don't find the tick as they eat then fall off. But also try the other things. Spending money for the WHY is Not as important as just Treating the system
When Chaos was 3 she stopped sitting on command and was barely even able to walk and each day it got worse. It was obvious she was in a ton of pain. Vets did X-rays and other tests but found nothing. She developed some other issues so had more tests once again nothing and the vets were stumped and thinking she may spend her life on pain meds and steroids.
I did not want a young dog to live a life full of pain or to always be so doped up so that she had no real quality of life so was considering putting her down. Last ditch effort I talked to an animal communicator and she told me Chaos had a back injury and how she got it and told me to see go see a chiropractor. I found a human chiropractor that worked on dogs on the side . Despite the X-ray at the vets showing no spinal injury when the chiropractor did his exam and felt her spine he found the area right away.
I think she had a total of 4 adjustments and she screamed like he was killing her during them which would have me wondering Am I doing the right thing? The day after each one she seemed a little better. When he did the last one he told me he felt he had her about 80% but did not think he could get her 100% but then said perhaps now that she was more active again that maybe she could get back to 100% from the movement of her spine as she ran and played. She is 7 now and you would never know she had gone through that as yeah she did get back to 100% and returned to being a active dog that loves to run, jump and play.
I myself have a new respect for Chiropractors as he not only helped save my dogs life but got her back to being an active fun dog. Months later when I took her into the vets and she was her normal self the vet was shocked and when I told him about what I had done he did not poo poo it like some vets would as he said he has seen them do some amazing things with dogs he had been unable to help.
When Chaos was 3 she stopped sitting on command and was barely even able to walk and each day it got worse. It was obvious she was in a ton of pain. Vets did X-rays and other tests but found nothing. She developed some other issues so had more tests once again nothing and the vets were stumped and thinking she may spend her life on pain meds and steroids.
I did not want a young dog to live a life full of pain or to always be so doped up so that she had no real quality of life so was considering putting her down. Last ditch effort I talked to an animal communicator and she told me Chaos had a back injury and how she got it and told me to see go see a chiropractor. I found a human chiropractor that worked on dogs on the side . Despite the X-ray at the vets showing no spinal injury when the chiropractor did his exam and felt her spine he found the area right away.
I think she had a total of 4 adjustments and she screamed like he was killing her during them which would have me wondering Am I doing the right thing? The day after each one she seemed a little better. When he did the last one he told me he felt he had her about 80% but did not think he could get her 100% but then said perhaps now that she was more active again that maybe she could get back to 100% from the movement of her spine as she ran and played. She is 7 now and you would never know she had gone through that as yeah she did get back to 100% and returned to being a active dog that loves to run, jump and play.
I myself have a new respect for Chiropractors as he not only helped save my dogs life but got her back to being an active fun dog. Months later when I took her into the vets and she was her normal self the vet was shocked and when I told him about what I had done he did not poo poo it like some vets would as he said he has seen them do some amazing things with dogs he had been unable to help.
Thank you for sharing your story! It brought tears to my eyes, and encouragement to my soul. I am now thinking that a chiropractor will be the next step for us to try.
I think acupuncture is a good idea for this situation. My best friend was a vet. She trained in how to do canine/feline acupuncture. She's very scientific in her approach to things, and she researched it like crazy before getting certified. After she started practicing, she was distraught because she wasn't seeing results and she thought she'd spent all this money learning junk science/voodoo. I told her to give it more time. Sure enough, she started seeing the pets she was treating experience improvements. She was able to keep a lot of animals comfortable and functioning for longer than expected.
She's moved into another career but still does some "Chinese medicine" with the acupuncture and herbs, but only the stuff that she has found scientific backing for.
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