[Dailydrool] Back Issues

[Mary Lee Trnka]

Tucker, 12.5 years, came home as a 12 week old puppy purchase from a breeder  He had the house training down by the time he was 5 months old.  Never had an accident, unless he was sick.  He could be left in the kitchen for over 8 hours, no messes - ever! When we were home, he would bark at the door when he needed to go out.  Recently, Tucker has been occasionally dumping his bladder with no warning.  I mean, he would leave a huge puddle!  This would happen about once every other week.  It's like he doen't realize what's happening.  We talked to the vet about it, and decided to watch him more carefully, that is was probably an age thing.
 
Last Thursday evening, he did this again.  My husband put him out in the backyard while he was cleaning up the mess.  When he called for Tucker to come back in, he wouldn't move.  I came home about that time and went out to see what was going on.  Tucker couldn't use his back legs, and would not move at all.  I had seen him have some trouble with his back leg before, bing weak and shakey, but not like this.  I wrapped a towel around his belly as a sling and grabbed his collar.  Finally I got him back inside the breezeway, and he collapsed on the floor.  I had to clean him off (it had been raining and both of us were muddy.)  As I was wiping him off, I turned him over from one side to the other.  He never moved, but he didn't cry, or make any noise at all.  After I got him cleaned up I got him inside using the sling again.  This time he did use his front legs to move around as I supported his rear.
 
After we got him in the kitchen, he stayed in the same spot without moving for about an hour.  We put his food next to him (it was his regular meal time) and he didn't touch it, which was very unusual.  When we check on him after the hour, we realized he had move some but was still pretty still.  About an hour later I hear him eating, so I went to check on him, and he was standing on all fours.  I watched him for a while, and after he ate, he walked around the table to get a drink, and back around to his bed. I left a call for our vet.
 
By the next morning, he was pretty much back to normal.  The vet suggested we get an x-ray of his spine, which we did.  The x-ray showed - nothing.  Tucker seems back to normal - maybe even better than normal.  We're thinking that this is just an age thing,(since it has happened before), and that it might occur more often as he gets older.  He has always been in excellent health.  He gets a walk every night, weather permitting.  He weighed 57 lbs at the x-ray, which is a few pounds more than I like.  Any ideas?
 
Mary Lee 		 	   		  
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