Old dog… back legs going 🤦‍♀️

[MyFairLady22]

Golden retriever aged 10 yrs 8 months. Full happy life. Long walks, swims, hills chasing balls (and squirrels! Recently, weak in the hind legs. She’s a big boned girl (most people mistake her for a “he”).

Shes struggling to get in to the boot so I lift her by placing her front lets on the bumper then hoiking her back end in. I cannot lift her out. She’s getting nervous to attempt jumping out because her rear goes and she’s spread eagled on the drive 🤦‍♀️

She can’t get on the bed. Her legs “go” just walking about, even in the house. The vet has said they can do tests such as scan, MRI etc but honestly, the results may mean it’d not be appropriate to “act” anyway, at her age.

But… it’s causing me huge stress and sadness watching her struggle. And although she doesn’t appear to be “in pain” she’s struggling.

Any advice?

She has salmon oil on her food, cod liver oil, YuMove extra, hemp joint chews, paracetamol 500mg tds.

I would definitely get her checked out so you know what you are dealing with. You can also get ramps for her getting in and out of the car. It must be terrifying for jumping out knowing she can’t land safely.

My granddad had 4 goldens throughout his life, they all lived to be 14-15. I wouldn’t rule her out just yet unless you know there is no way of improving her quality of life.

Thank you for the quick response.

I have a ramp but she won’t use it. I’ve just ordered steps in the hope she’ll find it easier. I took her to the vet in November. As I say, I was told to consider the actual steps that could be taken depending on scans/X-ray results due to her age. Perhaps another vet?

Did you do the scan/x-ray? If not, I would start with that. I couldn’t bring myself putting my dog down not knowing if what’s bothering them is something easily treatable. It could be inflammation or a trapped nerve. It could be something that needs healing but every time she jumps down from the boot she is making it worse for example.

Have you done any training with the ramp to get her used to it? I started mine off by lying it flat on the floor and getting her to walk along it. I put treats along the length of it, so she'd walk along hoovering them up. Then gradually increased the gradient by shoving books under one end.

I'd have the tests done, so you can try to find out what the problem is. It may be something that is treatable.

It might also be worth seeing a physiotherapist.

Big boned? Is that fat/slightly overweight?

It is tough but a slim dog has a better chance, I've been through this with one of mine, she is now marginally underweight and her hips are much better.

I'm a vet nurse , there are other types of pain relief she could have ,'tweaking' her meds could make a positive difference .
Don't rule out trying Librela , i'm sure you have read negative things about it but at my practice we have been using it for years and negative reactions are very rare, from what i see daily the positives far out way the negatives, i am about to start one of my dogs on it.
Could she do with weight reduction ? if you need guidance most practices have a nurse who runs a weight loss clinic also specialised swimming therapy may be helpful for her.
I don't think i would be putting her in the car for now ,what you describe sounds hard work and stressful for her and for you and lifting her in and out could be adding to her discomfort.
I hope your vet can help her .

Ours had this and we’ve just had him PTS
a couple of days ago. He was 16 though. As well as back legs going he was incontinent and couldn’t make it outside in time. His legs started going a few years ago and could no longer jump in and out of the boot. More recently in the last 6 months or so is when they really started to go and he was unable to stand up and the incontinence started.

Yes, have been training with the ramp since the summer. I’m also aware that it’s now winter and aching bones in elderly humans get worse, in cold damp weather. She has a heated throw on her bed (at the side of my bed, upstairs).

No, have not had an MRI scan. Her insurance won’t cover it. I’m a pensioner and have to weigh up the cost when the vet has already told me that major surgery is basically out. They know the limits of my insurance - earlier this year she ate something (in true lab/retriever fashion!) which caused her to need a four day stay and a blood transfusion. It cost me £2000.

What type of ramp have you got @MyFairLady22
You need a long, wide, grippy one. Solvit is good. Not cheap but I got my on ebay. I've got foam steps too which are good too.
Have you got carpets or rugs in the house? Hard floors can be a nightmare for dogs.
As pp said, there's lots more painkillers you can try.
And if big boned is overweight then you need to slim her down.
Hope you find a solution.

First off, ask the vet for some more painkillers - she can have Metacam, liberela or something stronger alongside the paracetamol.

Secondly as PP have said if “big boned” means she’s overweight then do what you can to get it off her - at her age and with her struggles I would cut her food and replace with veggies rather than do anything exercise-wise.

I also agree that I wouldn’t be lifting her in and out of the car or forcing the use of ramps anymore, just walk her from the house.

AHH, your poor dog...
I'll tell you what really helped my old girl in the last year of her life. She died 3 weeks off 16 but her last year was a difficult one with collapsing hind legs and we had to make all kinds of adjustments to enable her to cope. We tried Librella, only one dose as we didn't see a result and time was short due to her age.
We managed her on simple cortisone pills given twice a day in her food. Cheap as chips and we bought them over the counter...a human drug, but recommended by our vet. This kept her going in her last year and alleviated the pain so she could walk.

I lived this nightmare with my lovely lab. I was lucky DH could lift him in and out of the car.
No slippery floors, limit steps, decrease walk times, lift if you can/ramps/steps for car or limit to the garden. Remember pavements are hard on joints.
Orthopaedic dog bed.
cucumber treats but he loved them
Hydrotherapy
Mine had Galliprant from petdrugsonline, 3 human paracetamol a day, salmon oil, eventually progressed to Cartrophen (had ibs so chronic diarrhoea) switched to Librela but you could try metocam, I couldn’t due to ibs.
It was a long, hard road but he was a beautiful dog, not depressed according to vet, we had a big garden. Obviously the time came to set him free eventually. He was 14.

@bluestripeymug what pills if you don’t mind me asking, where do you get them please?

My little dog has arthritis that’s weakened his back legs. We managed with occasional loxicom for pain relief for a year but started librella a couple of months ago and it’s really
helped. Some days he even does zoomies round the garden again which is lovely. It’s also given me a lot of peace of mind that he’s not in pain now, whereas before I’d have to look for signs in order to then administer the loxicom and I’d always be second guessing myself.

At 12kg he’s quite portable fortunately though so can lift him where he needs to get to if it’s too much for him.

Ummm, easier said than done! She won’t do a pavement walk. Don’t laugh. Please don’t judge. She is stubborn to the point of exasperation! I’ve had dogs all my life and her trainer (after I failed miserably) said “ she may be “neurodivergent”, I kid you not! So, all her life she’s gone in the car to hills/fields/lakes etc to be walked. A local “to the park” walk she used to do is no longer possible.

The ramp is just a wide grippy one - which is why I’ve ordered steps which should arrive on Monday.

She is overweight but also, big bones. I have had others who’ve been finer, smaller head/chest. She’s big. Huge feet etc!!

I do pad out her two meals a day with veg. She’s had that all her life.

I’ll go back to the vet.

Here she is…

Our 13-year old golden retriever started having a lot of trouble with wobbly hind legs. He started having hydrotherapy once a week, which had very good results after only a few weeks. I would recommend giving that a try.

My 12 year old springer spaniel was having these issues. Metacam has transformed things.

I second Librela my 9 year old Ridgeback has been on it together with max strength youmove tabs and has so much energy. I also put him on a diet which definitely helped. The extra weight on their joints is not good at all. Leave putting her in car for now just more short walks rather than long ones. Hopefully things may improve

Afaik when dogs’ back legs “go” it’s actually their lower back that’s the problem. It’s manageable for as long as the dog is contented. We put rugs down on all of our slippery floors and lifted our old dog up from his basket when he wanted to get up. Walks became a totter up and down our lane.

He was content for about 6 months like that.

She needs more than just paracetamol for pain relief- your vet can advise. My dog in on multimodal pain relief which is a combination of 3 different tablets.

@Glitchymn1
The drug was prednisolone 5mg. It was very effective in reducing inflammation and enabling my old girl to walk. It was originally provided by the vet and then we continued to buy it over the counter at pharmacies (in the EU). We had to increase her dosage to 5mg morning and evening, and this kept her going until the end of her life. In a younger dog it may not be advisable for long-term use.

Our older greyhound started having similar trouble getting in and out of the car, if she’s likely not able to hold her weight when she jumps down please stop trying to make her, she could break a bone or really hurt herself.

If you need to take her in the car might the footwell in the back be easier with less of a drop?

We had a dog box for our dog in the back of the car and when he wasnt able to jump anymore we had to put him in the box first and then the two of us lifted the box in the car and back out again. Very heavy

Ultimately thats why we had him put down in the end because his legs and back got progressively worse.

It’s possibly worth seeing a physiotherapist ( make sure they are qualified, not someone who can only offer swimming)

My lab’s physio - we were referred by the vet- did a full examination, including infra red photography, to show the pain spots ( they were hotter)
She offered treadmill, swimming, laser, heat therapies, and a lot of kindness. Made a huge difference

Our vet added acupuncture into the mix as he got older. He was also on Librela.

In his case it was neurological rather than arthritis, but a lot of treatments were similar.

She is beautiful but quite overweight from those photos - can you work on cutting her food further and easing the pressure on her joints?

If she won’t walk on pavements and you can’t get her in and out of the car then you really need to do all you can via diet to get that weight off her.