Anyone have a dog with back problems?

So this is REALLY off topic but... I have a feeling my dog has a back problem. His back legs are kind of unstable and lately he's had this sort of wobbly look in the rear when he moves around. From what I can gather, often this is the sign of a herniated disc or some kind of spinal problem. I'm taking him to the vet this weekend.

Has anyone dealt with this before? Do anti-inflamatories and rest work to rid the problem? Surgery? I'm kinda worried.

Is he a large breed dog? If so it is possibly Hip Dysplasia

http://www.thepetcenter.com/xra/hd.html

an excerpt:


It is a fairly common problem in large dogs, much more common than back problems.


Jessica

Nope.. small. Yeah hip displaysia is so prevalent now in large breeds.

Inbreeding for the perfect show dog look.

For instance. the show quality german sheperds barely look like old world untampered german sheperd lines.

These days mix breed mutts are the healthiest dogs you can get in the states.

This may be tangential, but my cat has diabetes. One of the side effects is neuropathy, which manifests itself as weakness in the hind legs. It does get better with treatment. I'm not sure if dogs are affected the same way.

I don't know if you let your dog on the furniture, but my dog's vet told me that if you let your dogs up on furniture, especially with small dogs, the jumping up & down can hurt their back over time. There are companies that make little doggie ramps so your dog doesn't have to jump.

Neuropathy can look a lot like back problems as Pol says.

A frequent cause of neuropathy in S. Florida are ticks. Ticks can actually paralyze your dog, so make sure you have gone over him very carefully to make sure that there are none on him. If you find any, let the vet take them off.

You didn't say how old he was, but my cocker spaniel developed arthritis in her spine at about 12 years old. They gave her pretty much exactly the same type of drugs they would give a human and they seemed to work pretty good because she live to be 22 years old.

I wish you and your fur child the best of luck.

Wow, our dog is in about the same situation, only I think a year or two younger than 12.

But 22 years???
Go dog go!

My Grandmother was a Vet. We gave my German Shepard, Tylenol for his back and hip pain.

Make sure they do blood work, my last doggie had a failed liver...the first signs were what looked like a neurological disorder (unsteady pace, pain while walking), instead it was just weakness from the poisons in his blood...I doubt this is the case, but it's worth the tests.

Yes - I lost the poor old girl to kidney failure two thranksgivings ago but she had a long and happy life. Her brother lived to be 18 years old. The three of us had a lot of adventures together.

I have two cats now but I really haven't had the heart to get another puppy yet. I figure that just like every other non-human that I have ever shared habitat with, one will come along when the time is right.

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Thanks for the info guys.

Ingrid - how is he doing? Have you gotten any word from the vet yet?

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