Back Legs Stiff, Looking Depressed.. Vet says Anemia.

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    • Bronze

    Back Legs Stiff, Looking Depressed.. Vet says Anemia.

    Hello,

    Our 2 year old Labrador has gone through a radical change both emotionally and physically. We took the dog to the vet after about a month of the condition not subsiding. Got a new puppy about a week before the conditions started so figured that was the cause, and the dog would return to normal... However, the condition did not go away so we took the Labrador into the vet.. They had no idea what it was and then  made the claim of anemia (although the gums look healthy, and they even stated that as well).

    Though we haven't ruled out the possibility that the Vet was right about anemia, we now feed the dog vitamins, liver and make sure shes well hydrated. in hopes the dog will become her old self again.

    The dog limps, has lost a lot of weight (probably around 20lbs), and just doesn't seem to be interested in anything anymore.. We've barely seen her poop, but with 2 dogs now it's kinda hard to seperate whos is whos, and this new puppy doesn't make it easy for our older dog to do her thing. (often having to hold the puppy back while the older dog goes to her designated spot).

    Can anyone think of what may be the cause of this? or any insight what so ever.

    thanks.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Did the vet run any tests at all ?   Bloodwork at least ?
    • Gold Top Dog
    I'd be investigating tick disease -- and TESTS. 
    • Bronze
    Ask to have your dog checked for addison's disease.  Many of the symptoms you described are typical of a dog with addison's. In suseptable dogs, it's often brought on by a stressful event (like a new puppy).  It's often overlooked in standard testing..talk with your vet...and google "canine addison's disease"...see what you think.  Take care.
    • Bronze
    @JoAnnDe, yea the vet did blood work, and about 3 hours before they did they called us up to pick up the dog, they said they had no idea what the cause was until we showed up at the vet and they said anemia.

    @calliecritturs, hmm looks relatively broad in symptoms, though some do match.

    @jbv, looks very interesting. and most of the symptoms match what i've seen in the dog in the past 2 months. (depression, lack of appetite, tremors or shaking, muscle weakness, pain in hind quarters.)
    http://www.addisondogs.com/addisons/whatis.html

    thx for the feedback guys. [:)]
    • Gold Top Dog
    Sometimes you just have to force the vet to look outside the box -- "anemia" -- there aren't that many causes of it.  But it can be a huge disease process to evaluate. 
    • Bronze
    Any news? I'm hoping you've found out what's going on with your dog ...and how to help her get back to her old self.   Take care.
    • Silver
    It does sound a lot like Addison's Disease.
    If you need info there is a message board for owners of Addisonian Dogs
    [linkhttp://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/k9Addisons/?yguid=209659157]http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/k9Addisons/?yguid=209659157[/link]
    • Bronze
    sorry haven't been here to update the status, but more days have passed without the dog eating much. Brought up Addisons disease to my parents but don't think they gave it a second look.

    couple days ago my mom found "lyme disease" and we gave the dog a bath the following afternoon.. looked through the tub and i spotted a tick which i picked up with tweezers and put in a bag.

    The vet was closed weekends so had to wait to today to take the dog in.. after about an hour they called us back and said her red blood cell count was pretty much non-existent. They don't know what the cause is, and a tick disease test would take about a week, so the dog would need a blood transfusion.. and probably another in a couple weeks.

    well.. they decided to want to charge an arm and a leg for each one of the blood transfusions, so we have no choice but to put the dog down.

    lots of good memories with that dog.


    • Silver
    Call Labrador rescue and see if they will take him. I volunteer for a breed rescue who have recieved dogs with Liver issues, and immune mediated anemia. Every rescue is different but it's worth a try.
    [linkhttp://thelabradorclub.com/rescue/searchrescue.php]http://thelabradorclub.com/rescue/searchrescue.php[/link]