Marnie
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
My old girl dog (Westie cross, heading towards 17 years old) has become increasingly 'wobbly' over the last 6 months or so. For example, when she is eating her tea her back legs start to slide out from under her until she is almost doing the splits, she loses her back legs when walking on gravel, if she shakes herself, she staggers and she can quite easily be knocked off balance if you bump into her. However, she can still go up and down stairs, get on to the settee using a step and run and skip pretty well. She seems happy, eats well, lets me know when she wants to go out and mooches around the farmyard although I think she is slightly senile - and she is on aktivait for this.
She has been to the vet who can't see anything significantly wrong other than age, her nerve reflexes seem ok (if you knuckle her back feet over, she corrects quickly) and bloods were pretty clear.
I am managing this by feeding her on a rug rather than the flagstone floor where she can seem to grip and doesn't lose her legs. The vet also gave us metacam last week to see if that made any difference. I watched her on the gravel in my garden last night and she seemed to walk over it with no problem where as last week she kept losing her backend and it was horrible to watch - therefore I think the metacam may be making a difference.
I just wondered if there was any alternative to metacam that may be better for her - I have no problems with paying for it for her and would much rather that she was comfortable but didn't know if it was the best thing or if there was anything else that I could do to help. I am keeping a close eye on this as I don't want her to suffer and if her back legs go completely, she becomes incontinent etc, then that becomes a different situation.
Any thoughts welcomed!
My old girl dog (Westie cross, heading towards 17 years old) has become increasingly 'wobbly' over the last 6 months or so. For example, when she is eating her tea her back legs start to slide out from under her until she is almost doing the splits, she loses her back legs when walking on gravel, if she shakes herself, she staggers and she can quite easily be knocked off balance if you bump into her. However, she can still go up and down stairs, get on to the settee using a step and run and skip pretty well. She seems happy, eats well, lets me know when she wants to go out and mooches around the farmyard although I think she is slightly senile - and she is on aktivait for this.
She has been to the vet who can't see anything significantly wrong other than age, her nerve reflexes seem ok (if you knuckle her back feet over, she corrects quickly) and bloods were pretty clear.
I am managing this by feeding her on a rug rather than the flagstone floor where she can seem to grip and doesn't lose her legs. The vet also gave us metacam last week to see if that made any difference. I watched her on the gravel in my garden last night and she seemed to walk over it with no problem where as last week she kept losing her backend and it was horrible to watch - therefore I think the metacam may be making a difference.
I just wondered if there was any alternative to metacam that may be better for her - I have no problems with paying for it for her and would much rather that she was comfortable but didn't know if it was the best thing or if there was anything else that I could do to help. I am keeping a close eye on this as I don't want her to suffer and if her back legs go completely, she becomes incontinent etc, then that becomes a different situation.
Any thoughts welcomed!
