Please help me - I think my baby hurt his back

mcmug17

O.G.
Feb 14, 2006
1,089
538
My maltese dog has been doing perfectly normal until last night when he went into bed. My SO pushed him a little in his bed to adjust his position and he screamed once. We both thought maybe his funny spot got pushed and nothing serious happened.

So at around 3am today, we were awaken by his continuous screaming/yelping. When I came out, he wasn't greeting me, he wasn't standing up, it's just not his usual self. He was lying down and shaking. I talked to him and he gave me no response, although he rolled his eyes towards me. He didn't want to move at all. And he made these little yelps once in a while.

We decided to take him to the emergency. He's usually scared of pet stores (because that's where he gets his haircuts) and clinics. So when he was there, he was shaking even worse. I told the vet what happened at home, and when she was diagnosing him, he was jumping up and down, running back and forth trying to get away from her. She was pressing on every single inch of him trying to find the source of pain and he didn't scream at all (unless he was smart enough to know that if he screamed he'd have to stay there longer lol) He looked perfectly normal and active at that time, and the doctor found no problems with him.

He's eating, bowels are working. He can walk slowly.

So as we were driving back home, SO made a slightly sharp turn, and baby screamed again. Once we reached home, he's back to his droopy state. He can't sit, he has to lie down on his belly, and he walks like an old man.

I want to take him to the vet again, but if he keeps on behaving like a moron in the clinic, I can't really convince the vets that something's wrong with him, and he may injure himself even more... kwim?

Any advice please?
 
Could it be a slipped disc? I had a pom with that and even though she could walk normal, a sudden yelp would come out of nowhere. I think they have to do an x-ray to check for that since pushing on her back didn't always do the trick since she would feel it if she turned or positioned herself a certain way.
 
I would take him back to your regular vet. I think he needs an x-ray. Another possibility is Lyme's disease. My puppy behaved the exact same way when she had it. Good luck and please let us know.
 
Thanks ladies! So I read up some articles about slipped disc and my god it's describing him 100% correctly.

"reluctance to move, decreased appetite, and crying out in pain, or hiding from others... unable to rise... The dog may hold its head low... may have an arched back"

So I made an appointment with the hospital again, which is tomorrow morning 8am. I'll keep you posted.
 
maybe he has arthritis? if he's an older dog that could be the problem. didn't the vet do a blood test for him? in emergency, i would think that is the first thing they do. definately take him back, i hope he is better soon.
 
They should have taken x-rays..and or prescribe some sort of pain killer for him. I'd take him back first thing tomorrow..if he contiunes having pains.

To be honest I kinda want him to be in pain if he's really injured. I don't want him to think he's OK and start walking on two legs... unless the medicine contains sleeping aid.

This is my first time rushing him to the emergency, or taking him to the vet to get something fixed (thank god)... I had no idea what they would do to him. I told the vet that he seemed to be in pain, but I didn't know where, and she started feeling him and pressing him. During the whole time he was struggling kicking crawling scratching on the desk. I put him onto the floor as instructed (because she wanted to see him walk) and he was running around, dashing behind me away from the doctor. He looked perfectly normal.

I took him to the office today. He slept for the whole afternoon. He looks much better now. No arched back, ate dinner, walking with correct posture. But he still wouldn't walk at normal speed or beg to play.

Thank you for your support ladies!
 
I have a Maltese and she has intervertebral disk disease. It flares up every so often. The most recent time was when she fell out of my bed. When it happens she will not want to be touched and will hunch over. One time her legs sort of got all spastic when she'd walk. Luckily it doesn't flare up much, but when it does she can take meds for it. It's so hard to see her hurt like that.
 
OMG!!!! Thats what happened to my little mooey a month ago....i ran him to the ER and the guy wouldnt take xrrays and basically told me that in smaller breeds they have cartilidge problems and that it could be a disk, like stated above, and they put him on steroids for 10 days and told us to comee back if it got worse
 
With my pom, they put her on pred. I didn't want her on that forever so I weaned her off of it. When I did, she developed colitis, so I put her back on it. When her back seemed to be doing better, I slowly weaned her off of the pred again. For the most part, her yelping stopped (I heard slipped discs can heal on their own sometimes), and she was fine off of the pred. However, a year later, she developed a major curvature in her back that looked like osteoperosis (she started walking sideways) but it was supposedly a neurological disorder. I don't know if it was related, but I would closely monitor it if it ends up being a slipped disc. She was a rescue and believe she came to me with these underlying med issues that happened to emerge when she turned 6 years old.
 
OK so i came back from the vet this morning. My baby was behaving like a moron again. The vet did the same thing as last time - pressed him on every single inch, and he didn't make a sound. We tried to tell her that he may feel painful when being twisted because of what happened in the car when it was doing a sharp turn, but she said she couldn't do an X-ray on him because she didn't know the exact location of the pain. She said if there's something wrong with his backbone, she could feel it, or at least he would feel painful when being pressed.

Then she suggested a senior comprehensive exam. They got his blood and other stuff. I'm going to deliver his pee to them tonight. They should have the results by tomorrow.

Just by looking at his behavior, he seems to be getting better. At least he's willing to walk around by himself. Still no running or walking on two legs though. No yelping today.

*Lo: What did the steroids do? Did it actually help fixing his back, or just to kill the pain?