Hi, I have come across something very disturbing this morning, basically our 18 month old Lab was fine on walk last night and when he went to bed however on waking he was unable to get up, after lifting him he went out for a wee but very uneasy on back legs, he wasn't whining or showing signs of pain but not himself. He then ate his food but sat back down and couldn't get up. This looks very worrying, had anyone experienced this? Thanks for any help received
Re: Weak on legs I would call the vet promptly. I hope he's ok and they can get to the bottom of the problem.
Re: Weak on legs I haven't been around to see your post until now,very worrying ...what did the vet say? X
Re: Weak on legs How awful, I don't know where you live but could it be a Tick, I understand certain Ticks can cause paralysis? I would go straight to the Vet as suggested there is clearly something wrong. Please let us know how you get on. Sending warm wishes to you. x
Re: Weak on legs Ok thanks, a tick could be possible as he goes running in some farmland but maybe a bit late in year, I'm hoping it's just a sprain as it seems unusual to running around before bed then unable to walk in morning, he's in vets for 4pm
Re: Weak on legs Please let us know how you get on. When I looked after my friends lab for a week he had the same problem - it was a trapped nerve. With meds and physio he was up and about in a week
Re: Weak on legs Thanks for the messages and advice, To update:- Vet has given some anti inflammatory tablets as they suspect a muscle strain and asked us to bring him back next week. He does actually seem a lot better and is at least walking around just a little sore when sitting. If not better next week then they will investigate Hip Dysplasia but with him being just 18 months and parents having very low hip scores I'm not too sure. Vet didn't check him for ticks which I thought they should have done, however he isn't feeling down or moody and is eating well just a little concerned on the Hip Dysplacia though :-\
Re: Weak on legs Hoping that its a simple muscle sprain , rest and meds will soon sort it out . Re the hip scores of parents , whilst this is a good indication that they are both free of risk , and that it is a better outlook for litters, it is not set in stone that any pups from good hip scored parents will not suffer from dysplacia . Yes, you would be very unlucky indeed and I truly hope that it isn't this , as it came on more suddenly, it does seem far more likely to be muscular , the way they crash around like tanks its a wonder that they don't have more pulled muscles , get well soon
Re: Weak on legs Thank you very much yes they do bash around a lot!! Just wondering what is the best way to get a Lab HIP scored? catching anything early would I suspect greatly improve his quality of life should it get worse
Re: Weak on legs Unless you want to breed from him, you could just have a simple x-ray if you felt the need.
Re: Weak on legs Glad the vet doesn't think it's too serious at the minute fingers crossed the anti inflammatories help
Re: Weak on legs Hope he's old. My first Lab tore a muscle in the inner part of the thigh and he just didn't want to walk afterwards. He could sit but it was like he couldn't get up beyond that. So, a damaged muscle can certainly look pretty dramatic... We did have to be careful for a few weeks that he did not do anything further to tear it (basically it had started to detach from the bone a bit). All fine once healed. Hopefully a soft tissue injury is all it is and he will be good as new soon
Re: Weak on legs Hope it's just soft tissue and resolves quickly X-rays for hip dysplasia diagnosis. Your vet might diagnose(or recommend someone who will) without submitting X-rays to actually be scored. You only really need the scores if you're breeding and getting the scores done costs extra over and above the X-rays I think.
