Hugo's hind legs

Holly

Hi all. So our Shikoku, Hugo, has been to the vet twice in the past few days. His hind legs are noticeably weak and stiff. He had x- rays that didn't show anything strange and he went in today for blood work. I am really worried about him and will post an update as soon as i hear back from the vet. He is really grumpy right now and is obviously experiencing some discomfort.
Has anyone else experienced any hind leg or back problems with their dogs?

tjbart17

Did they check for Lyme disease? I'm sorry. My Kai tore his ACL last year. It was horrible. Hopefully this is just a minor strain/muscle cramping.

Calia

I would definitely have him tested for tick born diseases, some of them can cause joint discomfort.

What kind of x-rays did you have done? Have you had his hip x-rayed in similar fashion to the way breeders test for?

Here is Miyu's hip x-ray so you can see what I mean: Miyu's Hip X-ray

sunyata

You might also want to have him tested for neurological deficiencies.

Hopefully it is nothing serious and he feels better soon!

PoetikDragon

Check for spondylosis (sp?) there is an Akita on this forum who had back leg weakness and that's what he was initially diagnosed with...

Holly

Thanks everyone. I took Hugo in for blood tests and everything came back normal. He got his hip x-rays like the one posted above. I'm glad his hips are ok, that was one of my biggest worries.
He is on anti-inflammatory medicine for a week and hopefully he gets better. So far there has not been any changes except after he takes his medicine he just spaces out for a few hours (poor guy).

BradA1878

Did they try to luxate his knees? This sounds like a knee issue to me... like LP.

tjbart17

I'm with Brad. It unfortunately sounds like a knee issue. Did they take X-rays of the knees to check for cloudiness aka arthritis?

Holly

He's had X-rays on his back and entire hind legs. The vet has ruled out lp. Looks like he needs to get an MRI to see if it is something neurological. I really just want to know what is wrong with him. Hopefully it's nothing too serious.

Holly

Just a quick update on Hugo. Unfortunately it has been confirmed he has a super rare neuromuscular disease. This is definitely not the norm for this breed and just happens to be some really unfortunate bad luck. He has tried a bunch of medications to no avail, currently he has been prescribed prednisone as a last resort. The drug isn't helping his conditions and I am taking him off of it tomorrow so he gets to live out his last few months drug free. I don't think he has much longer, he can no longer go down stairs and it is starting to affect his front legs. I'm obviously pretty torn up about this and I just wanted to thank everyone for their support and previous suggestions on what it could be.

Sangmort

@Holly - I am so sorry. My shikoku Fate has neurological issues too. It's something he's had since a small pup that has progressively gotten worse as he's aged. We're at a loss as to what it is as well. [ symptoms are ataxia, back leg weakness / shaking, & more recently after starting prednisone & trying to wean him off of it, seizures ]

Wish I had answers for you. ~

Sangmort

I just realized...I think you have my boy's brother!!! ~

Holly

@sangmort I can't believe Fate has these problems too. They are brothers, That's really concerning. I'm really not liking the prednisone, it is making him really grumpy. Sadly, I don't think there are any more answers.

Sangmort

@Holly Yes, Fate was the small red one in the picture with all 4 boys. Aiko x Kimi, September 14

Fate is on 2.5mg Prednisone a day, Clyndamycin 150mg, & SMZ-TMP SS.

The prednisone doesn't seem to make a difference. We have noticed a difference with the Clundamycin & SMZ...but not in his "issues" it just makes him less...depressed, would be the word I guess.

He has horrible balance...can't walk straight for the life of him, & constantly walks into things. He also has the weird eye movements...forget the vetrinary term for it.

It's heartbreaking. I thought it was just us, I'm so sorry you're going through it too. We were hoping a liver shunt...but the bile acids test proved that wrong. Bloodwork came back great...etc. etc.
~

shibamistress

I'm so sorry to hear this, about both Fate and Hugo. Sounds like it is a genetic problem then. Make sure your breeder knows, because while it might be a bit late now, the dogs that produced it should not be bred again (but you both probably already know that).

What is the condition? Just wondering, because it's good to have this info. out there in case anyone goes through something like this.

It's really heartbreaking. We're probably going to lose my Akita in the next year or so--it's always hard anyway, but when it is a young dog, it's just really awful. (I'm hoping we might have longer with Oskar, but it's almost every two months that he has a really bad episode, and my vet just doesn't feel optimistic that he has more than a couple of years).

Again, I'm so sorry.

Sangmort

@shibamistress - We have no idea what the condition is. That's most of the problem. I don't know if @Holly knows or has any ideas.

I plan on taking a video of Fate & sending it to his breeder in the next few days... ~

Zinja

This is absolutely heartbreaking. I wish the best for both of you.

Have you spoken to Katja?

Holly

@sangmort I'm so sorry about Fate. That makes me so much sadder that both these beautiful dogs are having these problems. It seems Hugo has gotten a lot worse in the last few months. I hope none of the other pups are affected by this.

Sangmort

@Holly - Fate's has gotten worse in the past few months as well...I'd say he took a nosedive around September...that's when he went from "always being slightly off" to "something is definitely wrong" ~

Holly

I've emailed katja last June and Hugo's neurologist has been in contact with her as well. I will send her an update though soon.

Holly

We've had multiple X-rays and multiple blood work done but its all come back normal. Our neurologist has taken video too and sent it to his counterparts in Japan and throughout Canada. Nobody can tell us for sure what it is. He's too young for a lot of the problems associated with the weakness, shaking, and poor balance. I wish I could give more answers but we don't know what it is. It is a neuromuscular disease of some sort and looks like it is not curable.

Calia

@Holly - How was Hugo's reaction to anesthesia or sedation? Did he have any issues waking up from it?

Sangmort

@Holly - That sucks.

I was hoping there was still something out there that we missed.

I'm not liking this at all.... I was thinking that it was just Fate but the fact that Hugo has the exact same issues is really scaring me...I guess all my "hoping" is going out the window. ugh. ~

ttddinh

im really sorry to hear this!

tjbart17

Oh I am so sorry for both of you. This is horrible to hear.

Losech

Ugh, this is really cruddy for you guys and Fate and Hugo. I really hope you figure something good out.

TheWalrus

I think I've seen these symptoms here in Japan a couple times in the Shikoku. It's a mystery here as well, the dogs seem to deteriorate fairly quickly with a pretty poor quality of life afterward. X-rays have been taken that show nothing wrong with joints etc. It does seem to be something in the nervous system, and maybe ties in with the 'mystery nerve pain' in the breed?

Hinata23

This is so scary/sad. I'm so sorry you guys!! I seriously don't know how I'd deal with it if ChoCho started going down hill like that... I hope breeders have catch it early on and stop breeding the dam and sire!

sukoshi_mom

So sad to hear about this.

I seem to recall a similar neurological disease in Corgis. I found this info that might be useful: http://www.caninegeneticdiseases.net/DM/mainDM.htm

redcattoo

OMG my heart breaks reading this chain Good luck finding peace and knowledge for both of you traveling a tough journey with the health of your pups.

Calia

@TheWalrus - Do you know if there are any videos of shikoku in Japan suffering from this 'mystery nerve pain'?