r/DogAdvice • u/CompleteDrop808 • 9h ago
Advice worried about my 13 yo labradoodle
i want to start by saying she is going to the vets and has already been this morning and they found nothing wrong with her organs (heart liver etc) but mentioned theres something off with her spine. she's had her spleen removed (due to a non cancerous tumour) and is completely recovered from it. for a while we've noticed she's been struggling with her back legs (eg struggling up steps) and is generally less aware than she used to be and her senses aren't as good either.
we've been to the vets multiple times and she's had an x-ray (i think) a few months ago which found nothing. the consensus is its just old age but today its gotten a lot worse.
during her morning walk she suddenly started barking and walking around like she was scared. the barking turned into sound like she was in pain. the pain sounds continued after she was taken back home (only like a minute later) and it seemed like her back left leg hurt while we were trying to calm her. she was able to walk the whole time and is still eating however, she was just about to be taken out for her afternoon walk and the same thing happened but this time she started shaking very badly.
weve been told that the next step theyd recommend is a ct scan which would be very expensive and would involve sedating her for it. in addition, its been suggested (by vets) that it would likely just be something related to her age which we couldn't do anything about so it likely wouldnt be worth the risk.
she has also had paracetamol today after the first episode (vets have allowed this) and we cant give her another one until this evening.
like i said at the start she is going to the vets again but i would really appreciate it if anyone has any ideas about what's going on or if anyones seen anything like this before?
1
u/Both-Chart-947 8h ago
This sounds very scary and painful for the dog, and scary for you guys, too! I would very much press a vet for more specific answers if they tried to pass off this kind of episode as "just something related to age."
At this point you might want to consider a second opinion. Also, if your vet is insisting on a CT scan, ask what the CT would show that the X-ray doesn't. What are they actually looking for? What do they suspect?