Familiar symptoms in the old dog - front legs failure?

[Morgank]

Hi all dog friends!
Just a guestion, has anyone had any familiar dog symptoms? Please do not reply if you have no idea.
We have 11 y. old jack russel type male dog. Dog with tremor syndrome- years ago, the dog was traumatized by a thunderstorm. Tonight he began to walk past the room, head down. Back and forth. The head was down all morning, his movement is strange. As if there were imbalances. I took him in my arms and she screamed in pain. There seemed pain in the chest.
I had to go to town and I was away for 3 hours. When I came back, the dog was waiting for me as always, happy. I saw his first legs twist in and his head falls to the floor few times. For the rest of the day, my dog is on the couch next to me and inside my sweater. He seems to have a fever and hes shaking. I gave water through the straw and he has eaten a little today. Tomorrow is the holidays and then the weekend. At the moment, we can't even go to the vet.
The dog does not cough, does not hard breathe - there is nothing with the heart. The Durasell dog has been like a puppy all along. Sleeping at night in my bed, fell at night? My english is terrible. But if you have good thoughts about the dog, let me know.

 

[sourland]

It sounds as if the dog may have a disc problem in it's neck. Progression to paralysis is a possibility. Steroids and limited exercise MAY alleviate the problem. If at all possible the dog should be seen by a vet. Good luck.

 

[LaFleche]

We have 11 y. old jack russel type male dog. Dog with tremor syndrome- years ago, the dog was traumatized by a thunderstorm.

Did you have your dog's thyroid gland checked? Tremor is often related to thyroid issues.

Tonight he began to walk past the room, head down. Back and forth. The head was down all morning, his movement is strange. As if there were imbalances. I took him in my arms and she screamed in pain. There seemed pain in the chest.

This sounds as if he might have a dislocated vertebrae or slipped disc.

 

[Morgank]

Thank you, I understand possible spinal cord injury. Does it really cause nerve damage in the first legs? Will it improve over time? Or do dogs with spinal cord injuries need different treatments, like humans?

 

[LaFleche]

The nerves get compressed and can recover if the compression is not too severe or lasts for too long.
Administering cortisone will help to reduce the swelling and inflammation and Vitamin B complex helps the nerves to recover.

It would be important to know how this happened: Did he jump down from a height or did he play too rough with your other dog?
Might also be caused by osteoporosis.

Feel very carefully his spine from head to hip to find out where exactly the damage is located. I suppose it will be in the neck area.

 

[Morgank]

Like i said, something happened in the middle of the night. Our dogs don't play at night. But Jack is sleeping in my bed at my feet, maybe he fell out of bed. I woke up at 4 in the morning because he was walking back and forth in the room like crazy. He's Jack Russell and nails like a bear, wakes up. I'm trying to give vitamins, but it's going to be hard.
Oh my god, thank you! There was already a grave in my mind.

 

[LaFleche]

But Jack is sleeping in my bed at my feet, maybe he fell out of bed.

Yes, that might just be the cause.
But without having him x-rayed you will not know if this can be relocated or will do so on its own after the swelling went down, or if there might be a bone splinter torturing him.

Best wishes.

 

[Morgank]

Yes, that might just be the cause.
But without having him x-rayed you will not know if this can be relocated or will do so on its own after the swelling went down, of if there might be a bone splinter torturing him.

Best wishes.

Thank you! The dog moves around when the pee needs to go outside, which is a good indicator. But for the most part, I keep him on the couch and not move. The holidays are coming, we´ll see tomorrow. We also have an emergency ambulance for pets, I hope its not neccessary. We live in the countryside in a remote place.

 

[Morgank]

I forgot to put a photo! Our Jack today.

 

[cassie]

Aspirin is safe for dogs and it helps with pain fever and inflammation. For his size I would give a baby aspirin. It is a stop gap measure until you can get to the vet. Whatever the problem, good nursing can do wonders.

I will tell you about my little dog Sammy. You may, or may not, find it helpful even though what was wrong with Sammy is not what is wrong with your dog. One evening he was sitting on my lap and he began crying. I thought maybe his ear hurt. That wasn't it. Next I checked his harness to see if it was too tight. About then he had a sort of seizure and lost consciousness. When he came to a few seconds later he was paralyzed from the neck down. He had control of his head and that was about it. This was a Friday night. The vet clinic was closed and would not open until Monday morning. Getting him to a vet before then was not an option and I didn't know what they could do for him anyway. The nearest emergency clinic was over an hour away, it was dark, and I cannot drive at night.

Sammy sleeps with me. I had some waterproof pads and I put one on my bed and put a folded towel on top. I put Sammy on the towel and we both went to sleep. when I woke up Sammy was alert but he still could not move. I removed the wet towel and replaced it with a clean dry one. I had some baby food so I put some on my finger and put it in his mouth. He would not take food on his own but when I put the baby food in his mouth he would swallow. The rest of the day went like this. So did the next. Every few hours I would feed him. I changed the towels as they got wet and turned him from side to side. Giving him water was a problem. I started putting water in his mouth with a syringe but he was not a fan.

Finally Monday came around. By this time he could raise his head and he would lick food off my finger. I bundled him up and took him to the vet. Once there he was examined and X rayed. During the exam he would periodically cry, not so much from pain but because he could not get up and that scared him. The xrays showed he had fluid around the heart and there seemed to be some inflammation in his back. I was given a bottle of IV fluids, a fistfull of syringes loaded with a combination of steroids and antibiotics, and a pile of needles. Twice a day I was to run 100 cc's of fluids under his skin and give him a shot of the steroid/ antibiotics. I am afraid poor Sammy felt like a pincushion.

Every day he made some improvement. I had some really high quality canned food on hand and he got so he would eat on his own. By the time he went back to the vet, although he was very weak and wobbly he could stand with help so I could carry him out so he could piddle. This visit the xrays showed the fluid around his heart was gone. I was given some oral antibiotics and some pills for his heart. Since he had limited control of his bladder I found some male wraps to catch the pee. They go around the middle of the dog and are secured with velcro. I found some washable ones. A sanitary napkin fits inside. I also found some disposable ones. They are made of the same material as baby diapers. They both worked well but I had to remember to take them off when I put him outside.

It took many weeks but Sammy recovered. He still has a little residual weakness in his hind legs so he can no longer jump on the bed by himself. Other than that you would never know there had been anything wrong with him. He can now control his bladder so he no longer needs the wraps and he must take the heart medicine for the rest of his life. As near as we can figure, he had a stroke.

Getting sick just before a long weekend or a holiday is about par for the course in my experience. I don't think I have ever had any animal of any species get seriously injured or ill during office hours. The point of this long tale is to simply tell you not to give up. Keep the dog warm and dry, and in this case it might be a good idea to limit movement as much as possible. I would give baby aspirin for pain and inflammation, and do whatever is necessary to get it to eat.