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Old May 29th, 2011, 08:44 AM
cajmartinez cajmartinez is offline
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Location: Sussex co., NJ
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14yr old diabetic with back leg problems

Hi, my dog Rachel is a beautiful 60-63lbs, mixed breed, looks like a Black Coat retriever & has been diabetic for the last 4 1/2 yrs. She gets 21 units of insulin twice daily. In the year she has had 2 siezures, both thought by the vet due an insulin inbalance. Also, her back legs started to go out on her from time to time where she looked like she was skating, and she started defecating in the house, often while sleeping. She still would urinate outside, but was having problems with stairs and getting up. I took her to the vets , her sugar was ok, but after an exam, the vet thought that her hind leg problems were not arthritic, because she did not welp at all when they were being checked specifically, but she gave me some pain tablets to try. She said if they gave her relief, she would prescribe more. However, she thought Rachel's problem was a nerve thing. She explained something about the casing of the nerves that supply feeling to the hind legs, rectum etc, start to fray and this can cause the problem Rachel has. We tried the pills, but they made not change. I switched to a prescription dog food with glucosamine and for diabetic dogs. She can let us know when she has to urinate, but does not seem to sense the bowel movement or maybe she just has no strength of feeling there. We have to help her up the stairs, and have to be with her when she goes outside to urinate. A couple of times, she could not make it to the door to urinate. We have gotten used to cleaning up her bowel movements, grateful that they are not messy and I try to keep doggie pads where she sleeps and lays. It has gotten worst in the last few months, her legs are just not holding up for long and it takes her longer to get up. She doesn't appear to be in any pain, but she has had accidents near stairs, so we are extra vigilant keeping stairways blocked.
Has anyone else had this problem and has anything they used/tried helped?

Last edited by cajmartinez; May 29th, 2011 at 08:53 AM. Reason: adding info/correcting spelling
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Old May 29th, 2011, 08:57 AM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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Bless you for taking such good care of your girl! 14 years! Wow!

I don't have any real experience with the problem she's having but I wonder if hydrotherapy or acupuncture might be beneficial? A lot of the clinics out here offer at least acupuncture and it seems to work for some cases of nerve dysfunction. Maybe some of them in Jersey do, too. If you can find a place that offers hydrotherapy, it might help strengthen the muscles in her hindquarters and maybe that would revitalize the nerves, as well.

one of our members will come along with some advice from experience soon.

And welcome to the board, cajmartinez.
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Old May 31st, 2011, 03:27 PM
cajmartinez cajmartinez is offline
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14yr old senior

Thank you for the advice. I will check with my Vet if she knows of any acupuncture therapy.
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Old May 31st, 2011, 03:30 PM
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CM,I have no advice to give,but kudos to you and your family for not giving up on your pup
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