Does your dog look listless and weak?Unfortunately, the loss of strength of the hind legs is a situation that is not always a consequence of age and indicates that something is wrong with your dog.
If you’ve seen any of these episodes, you should consult your veterinarian for additional tests to diagnose the problem and help your dog. While you’re waiting for the appointment, Animal Expert explains what can cause a dog’s hind legs weakness and what other signs may be associated with it.
- It is very common to associate a dog with difficulty walking on its hind legs with an elderly dog and think that it is a natural thing for its age.
- Error.
- The causes of a dog with weakness of the hind legs can be very varied and can affect any age or breed.
A dog with impaired gait or coordination should be evaluated immediately by a veterinarian.Through the gait, we can evaluate various types of systems, including nervous and musculoskeletal systems, so we must perform a very thorough orthopedic and neurological examination, since these two systems are often difficult to separate in differential diagnoses..
The walk should be evaluated at different speeds, floors and conditions (after exercise and rest), followed by the evaluation of neurological reflexes, for example, the patellar reflex, the painful reflex and the propioceptive reflex.
In many cases, it is common to see the dog with weak and shaky hind legs, which is associated with muscle weakness. Muscle weakness (loss of strength to make a certain movement) is a common symptom that causes changes in the movement of the animal and in itself can justify an unstable passage and a huge dog of the hind legs.You can also see:
Dogs with shaky, weak or even paralyzed limbs may have a cause of muscle, neurological, neuromuscular, musculoskeletal or symptomatic origin.
Age and breed are two very important factors, because in young dogs we can think of something more congenital or diseases that affect young people and adult or elderly dogs we can think of a hernia or tumors.
Here are the most common causes of this problem
Whether in the affected area or elsewhere, the pain can be very uncomfortable and cause the dog to stop walking or move, or it can do it more slowly and at great cost, and can even move the legs.It is very important to discover the source of the pain so that it can be eliminated and the dog feels better.
In addition to the obvious pain resulting from injuries such as a fall, crush or bite of another animal, these situations can cause serious musculoskeletal and/or neurological symptoms.Depending on the severity and extent of the injury, the animal may tremble with fear.or be more serious because certain structures such as muscles, nerves and parts of the cervical spine have been affected. If one or more fractures have occurred and the spinal cord has been affected, it can be reversible and resolved by surgery and medical treatment or it may be irreversible and endanger the life of the animal.
Many animals appear weak and disoriented after a sedation or anesthesia operation, do not worry, this situation is usually temporary and in a few hours or in a day the animal has fully recovered, if you notice these and other symptoms as vomiting, diarrhoea and very dilated pupils persist (in midriasis), inform your veterinarian immediately.
In addition to sedation, some medications can cause muscle or limb tremors, such as continued corticosteroid administration that can cause atrophy and muscle weakness and poor hair and skin condition.
Some chemicals, plants, and foods are so toxic to your puppy that his life may be in danger. Chocolate, caffeine, and amphetamines are highly toxic to cats and dogs.
In addition to known hemoparsites transmitted by tick bites, which cause diseases such as ehrlichiosis (bacteria) or babesiosis (protozoa) with severe anemia and other severe symptoms, the tick (female) may contain in its saliva a toxin that causes tick paralysis, which gradually affects the nervous system, starting with vomiting, difficulty and feeding, excessive saliva, progressing to , tachycardia (increased respiratory rate) up to partial or total loss of movement and reflexes.
The best way to combat this disease is to eliminate all ticks from the animal’s body and undergo a symptomatic treatment to eliminate the toxin.At home, you can take tick baths and eliminate them, but be careful, ticks cannot be eliminated from the dog of anyway. If your mouth pierces the dog’s skin, it must be completely removed to avoid causing a serious infection in the future. For this there are special pliers that are very effective and easy to use.
Meningitis (bacterial), rabies and Carré disease (viral) are very dangerous diseases that affect the mental state, behavior and locomotion of the animal, which can cause paralysis of the hind legs, viral diseases that can be prevented if the vaccination plan is adequate.Followed.
Problems such as hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, knee ligament rupture, osteoarthritis, osteoarthritis, disc-answering or hernias are often associated with limping, walking slip and plenty of discomfort.
Even in orthopedic diseases a degenerative intervetebral disc disease appears, there are two types of herniated discs: type I and type II and may have local pain (grade 1), difficulty walking (grades 2 and 3), up to paralysis of the limbs (grades 4 and 5).Very common in dogs, but rare in cats.
Hernia diagnosis is made through the animal’s history, physical examination, and subsequent examinations (radiography, tomography and/or MRI).In the case of hernias, medical treatment is based on the administration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).or corticosteroids, and muscle relaxants (diazepam or metocarbamol), physical therapy or surgery (in more severe cases) may also be prescribed.
Certain metabolic imbalances such as hypocalcaemia (decreased blood calcium level), hypercalcemia (increased calcium), hyponatremia (sodium decrease) and hypernatremia (increased sodium), blood sugar and acid imbalances: basic metabolic abnormalities are the most common that cause muscle tremors and weakness.
Hypoglycemia (hypoglycemia) is a very serious disease that causes generalized weakness, tremors, seizures and even animal death.Tremors are not as common as previous symptoms, but should always be included in differential diagnoses.
Hypoadenocorricalism, or Addison’s disease, refers to the inability of the dog’s brain to release certain hormones, such as adrenocotrophic hormone (ACTH), which stimulates the production of cortisol. The lack of this hormone causes generalized weakness, which often begins in the hind limbs. among other symptoms.
Increased cortisol production is called hyperatenorticism or cushing syndrome, and can also cause muscle weakness and tremors in the extremities.
Canine degenerative myelopathy, very common in German shepherds and other large dogs over 5 years, is characterized by a progressive chronic disease affecting the spinal cord, has generalized weakness and intolerance to exercise, which can be sporadic or persistent, rigid or walking, significant propioceptive deficits, ataxia of the hind legs and mild paresis.
The hind limbs are usually the first to be affected and are more severe than the previous ones.
During the physical examination at the time of the consultation, the animal may present atrophy or muscle hypertrophy associated or not with tremors and / or twitching, in addition to a severe myasthenia that is rare and very severe and that can affect the hind legs.
All of these causes are diagnosed through an extensive animal history, a physical examination and a more detailed examination.Diagnosis is not always easy and immediate, but the perseverance and collaboration of the veterinarian will help to discover the cause and choose the best treatment.
Never forget that you should never take care of your pet yourself, regardless of your symptoms and history.
This article is for informational purposes only, in Animal Expert.com.br we cannot prescribe veterinary treatments or make any kind of diagnosis.We suggest that you take your pet to the vet in case of any ailment or discomfort.
If you want to read more articles similar to Dog with weak hind legs: Causes, we recommend that you visit our Other Health Problems section.