Elderly dog's hind legs failing

[Mellifera]

I don't know if I should describe her as elderly, she is 11.5 and a Cairn.

During the summer she was at the dogsitters for 3 weeks, she was ill during that time (diarrhea and vomiting) and we got her back still a bit ill and on special food.

This is 2 weeks ago. She has not really recovered fully, I took her to the vet last week because I wasn't happy with her behaviour. There she was just as normal, so nothing was done.

At home she is very tired, she eats and goes for short walks, but that's it.

Yesterday we took her for a longer walk, maybe 45 mins, she was very tired afterwards but still fine mobility wise, eating dinner etc.

For the short walk before bedtime she wouldn't get up, and when DH lifted her out of her bed and stood her on all 4s her back legs collapsed. She could not stand at all.

He took her to her favourite tree and she did a wee. I gave her Metacam which we still had from our rabbit's illness earlier this year, carried her to her upstairs bed and she slept.
This morning she was getting up ok and moving reasonably fine, not jumping about but mobile and not limping.
We didn't let her try the stairs.

I'll take her to our vet tomorrow, I just want to get opinions on what this might be? I googled the symptoms and it seems it can be anything from a slipped disc (would she be up and down on medication though? I thought they wouldn't be able to move at all) to tick paralysis (she had a tick just before we went on holiday, I only remembered when I read tick. It is about 8 weeks ago though), to heart condition etc.

Can dogs be on painkillers for years?

If the symptoms return tonight, she'll get another dose of Metacam, I have one more. I am hoping it was caused by the exertion of the longish walk (still about a third of what we normally do) and she will be fine now.

Sorry for this novel, hopefully someone has had experience with this and can reassure us.

PS I now wish I'd filmed her on my phone last night, to show the vet, but it was the last thing on my mind.

Perhaps the walk was just too much for her? I don't want to worry you but the first major decline we noticed in our old dog was that he just couldn't cope with long walks any longer (although he was quite a bit Older than your dog at 15). I would regularly walk 3-4 miles with him then, one day out of the blue, he could hardly move after one of those walks. After that a mile was about his maximum, then very quickly only 1/2 mile.

Hm, that was my first thought, it was too much for her, and she is still recovering from this weird virus.

When I took her out at lunchtime she was almost normal, only on the way back uphill she slowed to almost standstill. This was our short walk through the park, maybe 3/4 mile

I'm in two minds about the vet now. If it's old age, what can they do? I don't want her having to endure invasive tests unnecessary.
We will probably wait if the weak legs reoccur, otherwise just take her for short walks, maybe 4 instead of 3 times a day.
We'll see what happens when the Metacam is out of her system tonight.

No, 11 is not really old age is it? The lady who trims her fur has 2 elderly Cairn, the 13 year old is still bouncing like a puppy, and the 15 yo still jumps on chairs. But then they are a pack (6 altogether) and maybe that keeps them young.

Hope she's ok x

I would definitely take her to your vet and discuss the symptoms. A vet cannot do any tests without your consent, and a good vet will explain why/how they are doing them. In any case, lots of tests are not invasive - e.g. blood tests are very quick and would probably be able to rule in/out lots of things. We have four older dogs and our vet is someone I absolutely trust to discuss any niggles, worries etc.

One of our oldies has been on Previcox (a NSAID) for several years and is flourishing on it. He is bouncing round like a puppy and still chasing squirrels, running off with things etc. Again, your vet will be able to advise on the right drug/treatment once they find out what's wrong.

I hope she is OK, definitely would go for a vet visit.

My old girl had hip dysplasia and was on Metacam every day from the time she was three until she died at 12. She had blood tests to test for liver function every 6 months but we never had any issues at all.

My old girl was on tramadol and metacam for bad joints for a few years before we lost her, and I also gave her Yumove supplements, made a huge difference.

Thanks all. I will take her to the vet, I think at least the mentioned blood test should be done to rule out some things. Unfortunately we don't have a trusted vet, MDog has never really been ill so from once a year vaccinations I don't know who out of the 4 vets there is good.
I'll ring to find out who she saw when we were on holiday.

Will google yumove. You're right, I cannot just accept she won't do anything but short walks without further tests.
She was ok this morning, on the short walk. Will update after the blood test.

Update: went to the vet, he checked her over completely, said she is very muscly, flexible, she let him stretch her joints completely, and the verdict on that was she doesn't look like she's got arthritis, seems to be quite fit for her age.

Her heart sounds ok. Her tummy is still a bit upset, lots of noises. Vet thinks she might have developed an intolerance to her normal food, so we'll try to find something a bit cheaper than the Royal Canin Sensitivity Chicken and Rice, but probably only a food with purely C&R, nothing added at all. If I can't find it, I'll batch cook &freeze it.

Lastly he checked her eyes, and found she is blind. About 5% vision left, in both eyes . He did a few tests and it was obvious she couldn't follow his hands with the treat.

We hadn't considered this at all, but a lot of her "symptoms" now make sense. The avoidance of stairs, the slow walking in the park, etc.

It doesn't explain the legs failing on Saturday though, so when her tummy has settled down properly, she'll have a 2 weeks NSAID trial to see if it makes any difference.

My poor Furball, of course she's not belting around the place if she can't see.
Vet told me cataract operations are about £2k per eye. No, we don't have insurance.

Awww poor thing; they adjust quite well to vision issues usually, just need keep floor clear of clutter and not move furniture around or such, then can learn way around..

We got a dog buggy for my old girl so she could still come out hit long walks in woods etc with young one, and not only see same short bit from house to local park; she enjoyed it once used to it