Arthritis? Or something else?

~Jessie~

Chihuahua Power!
Joined
Oct 3, 2006
Messages
19,665
Likes
0
Points
36
Location
Central Florida
#1
Rylie has low grade luxating patella and has had it since she was 2 or 3 years old. It's never been bad enough for surgery.

Right now she's on Glycoflex III, and has been on it for maybe 2 years?

She's 8.5 years old.

Anyway, she's been acting strange lately. I have a vet appointment for her tomorrow morning, but I wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts on what could be going on. We're going to run a full blood panel as well.

This started a few weeks ago. She will have mornings where she doesn't want to come down for breakfast. She'll hide under the bed and shake. It looks (to me) as if she is in pain. Her legs will shake and she'll hold her ears back. At first I was assuming her knees were bothering her, but after reading about arthritis in dogs it seems it could be that as well.

If I do happen to get her to come and eat, once we get outside she's ready to bolt back in the door. Normally she's the dog that never wants to come back inside... so it's just odd behavior for her.

It has happened maybe 1-2 times a week. She's back to normal within a couple of hours... acting playful and like her normal self.
 

JacksonsMom

Active Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Messages
8,694
Likes
0
Points
36
Location
Maryland
#2
Odd you say this, my dads dog Lilly has been acting the same for the last year or so. I keep telling my dad at this point she really needs to see a vet. He's a procrastinator. :\

BUT, she is almost 7 years old, I believe, a JRT/shihtzu mix with short legs and she looovess to run around in the backyard. The problem is even if she runs for like 10-15 minutes, later that night she can't hardly walk at ALL. She limps a lot. Hardly can stand to even eat her dinner. But if the cats start meowing, she will be the first to leap off the couch and take off running again. Then the next day she's usually fine again and will run again out in the yard. Then the cycle continues lol.

She also does the thing where you let her outside and she turns right back around and wants to come in.

I'm sorry I have no real advice, but we can relate. From what I've read, it sounds like it could be arthritis. I'd be curious to see what your vet says and I need to convince my dad to call theirs.
 

SpringerLover

Active Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Messages
3,415
Likes
0
Points
36
Location
B-ville
#3
While arthritis can (and does) flare at times, that wouldn't be my first guess. I'd be more inclined to think something stomach/GI related?

Good luck! I hope you can figure out what it is.
 
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Messages
9
Likes
0
Points
0
Location
Amity Island
#4
Patella luxation seems unlikely to be the problem here. No reason that it would suddenly progress to lameness now. LIkely something else.
 

Brattina88

Active Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2004
Messages
12,958
Likes
6
Points
38
Location
OH
#5
When I read your post, my first thought is both the luxating patella and arthritis. With the low grades, the knee caps pop out but can pop back in pretty easily. When they develop arthritus it can be a lot more painful to pop in and out, but also can be painful in other areas from guarding the knee joint. One of my fosters got a lot more arthritus in her hips and 'wrist' joints from trying to guard the knees. She acted similar to your descriptions, legs trembling, hiding or just acting a little "off". She actually was estimated to be about the same age Rylie is now. :eek:

Also, my former roommates dog Mia had to have surgery for a higher grade LP - and before surgery that's very similar to how she acted as well. My vet always teases me that Cockers and chihuahuas are "shakers"'because they shiver a lot. :p for my foster, he could tell by feeling,doing range of motion tests. He thought x-rays would be wasting the rescues money. For Mia, they did x-rays, but he pretty much already knew (just wanted to see how severe).

If that's what it is, in my experience they'll probably recommend NSAID's for pain. Swimming was recommended to us for low-impact exercise, srengthening the muscles to support the joints and helping with the arthritis. But... Yeah now, I'm rambling and I'm sure you already now all of this, but I hope that helps! :) and I hope it's nothing serious!
 

~Jessie~

Chihuahua Power!
Joined
Oct 3, 2006
Messages
19,665
Likes
0
Points
36
Location
Central Florida
#6
Thanks so much for the responses :)

The vet thought it was her anal glands... he internally emptied them, and they had pudding-like anal fluid in them. It was very thick, but not infected.

Her luxating patella in her left knee has gotten worse- it's a grade 3 now, and her right knee is a grade 2. She's going to need to have surgery in the next 6 months on her left knee.

He didn't think it was arthritis at all.

I also had a full blood panel run on her, and results came back 100% normal. I was worried that something would be off, but everything is at a completely normal range.

So... hopefully she'll be back to herself soon.
 

Sparrow

New Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2012
Messages
234
Likes
0
Points
0
Location
Alaska
#7
When Zoe has a joint acting up, she'll want walks to end early when that is not the norm for her. Especially with everything else checking out, it definitely sounds like it could be joint pain, whether it's from the luxation or arthritis. Hopefully surgery helps, and don't be afraid of meds as needed! They can make a world of difference.
 

Members online

No members online now.
Top