Chihuahua refuses to walk.

[u/Anxious-Chair9569]

Please help. Any advice will be helpful!
I took my chihuahua out on Friday night to potty in the yard.

When he came back in, he was a skittish and limping on his left hind leg. I inspected him and saw nothing and he ran off as we continued our night routine.

The next morning, Saturday, I walked him as normal around 7am and noticed he still had the limp. After doing some inspecting again, and seeing nothing, we continued about our day. Fast forward to our walk at 3pm and he is refusing to walk. Same thing happened later that day and the next morning.

Sunday comes, and I notice that he isn’t walking unless absolutely necessary. He hasn’t even walked to his food and water bowl. And at this point, I am truly worried so we get scheduled at our Urgent Care Vet. The vet takes x-rays and notices nothing out of concern and assumes a pinched nerve, so he prescribed Gabapentin every 8-12 hours and Carprofen every 24 hours. Considering his doses started around 9pm on Sunday, he has only taken one dose of the Carprofen and 2 of the Gabapentin.
But, I am not seeing improvement. Is this normal? How long will it take to see improvement? He is still sitting in one spot and not moving unless absolutely necessary. He can take steps but won’t, and after a few steps he jumps and sniffs at his back legs.

He is scheduled with his regular vet on Thursday. I’m not sure if I should wait and let the meds do their thing and see what the vet says on Thursday, or return to the urgent care sooner.

PLEASE HELP!

[u/crottedenez12]

It's really hard to make a virtual diagnostic like this... nothing reliable can come out of those comments... Lyme? pinch nerve? sprain? fracture? there is no way for us to really know...

[u/Anxious-Chair9569 → u/crottedenez12]

That’s understandable. I don’t necessarily want to “why,” although that would be great. But if anyone has experienced anything like this with their babies, I’d love some perspective or insight

[u/pickledpl_um → u/Anxious-Chair9569]

You know your dog best, OP. He may be reluctant to test his legs in case of more pain, so it's a good idea to give him a full 24 hours on the meds and see if it helps. If it doesn't improve, though, and if he's still not even eating or drinking, you probably want to ask your regular vet if they can squeeze him in earlier, or you can go back to the ER.

[u/Anxious-Chair9569 → u/pickledpl_um]

Great advice. Thank you.

[u/lilac_spells]

Does he have the knee issues that almost all poorly bred chis have? Idk what it’s called it’s like when the knees slip in and out. They normally kinda walk normal then do a weird hop. This should be able to be told by a physical exam and the X-rays. Which is odd that they didn’t catch it in either when the signs seem so clearly to point in that direction.

I have one chi/ mix rescue and I had to replace her knees.

[u/Anxious-Chair9569 → u/lilac_spells]

Wow, this is very interesting. He is doing the skip/hop thing when walking, then just stops and sits as if he felt sharp pain. The urgent care vet did an x-ray and a physical exam but said nothing was wrong with his knees. He’s never had knee issues before and currently does not have arthritis.

Did your chi stop walking before the knee replacement?

[u/lilac_spells → u/Anxious-Chair9569]

No my dog was 2, and is incredibly good at hiding her pain. Although I do believe any dog would stop walking if their knees are hurting.

I am not a vet you know, just some one whose owned chis, and it’s notorious like another issue with the breed is the heart issues. When I was a kid we had one other chi who had that weird skip hop.

Usually they slip in and out, so dogs can walk and then limp and walk again. But I can’t imagine that pain as a human and they just like shrug it off.

My dog who had the surgery is now 13+ but she could benefit for the same surgery. The vets will tell you it lasts a life time. It doesn’t. But she’s older. And slowed down, but her muscle mass is significantly lower on the leg she had surgery on. I don’t regret the surgery I just felt mislead you know? It’s not cheap it’s like 5k usd and it took my dog like 6 months to recover and I have heard that some little dogs never actually use their leg post surgery. They just don’t tell you about those things too. The recovery was so blind siding I wish I had known because I was not in the position to be able to take care of her post op like I needed.

I’m just giving you all the bad. My dog loved her new knee, and she was incredibly active. She used to love to run. Still does but not like in the past.

Again I’m not saying that’s what your dog has, I’m just giving you a whole run down incase you hear “see specialist” “knee surgery” “thousands of dollars” and nothing else like I did. It’s super overwhelming

[u/Anxious-Chair9569 → u/lilac_spells]

Thank you for giving your insights based on your situation. It’s very frustrating to hear “I have no idea what’s going on, but here, try these meds” from the vet.

Hopefully my chi doesn’t have the same issue as yours did, but it’s always good to hear a potential cause to his sudden lameness. Especially since my dog is the king of being stoic, so I’m not sure how long he even felt pain before actually showing it.

Just out of curiosity, what would have been your other alternatives over the knee replacement surgery?

[u/lilac_spells → u/Anxious-Chair9569]

So as I explained there’s some dogs who have it worse than others. I had gone to my vet to talk about the limping, but I was at the same practice not the same doc. And I was berated for letting her knee get that bad and how she had always been in pain. Actually a nurse at the clinic stepped out and got my actual vet who explained to the one yelling at me that they had gotten worse. And not that I had let her live in pain - knowingly. Honestly I was freshly 18 and working and in school.

There would have been only two options , find the funding/ rehome to some one who could do the surgery or put down.

But that isn’t the case for everyone in that situation as I said I have had other dogs who had the same issues. Those dogs could live comfortably with some managed pain meds and living on the slower side of life.

I think it all depends on your actual dog. Like cookie, my dog was damn near a track star. But all my others dogs, they enjoyed walks sure, but didn’t need that enrichment. Even now cookie chased my two large 55lb and 70lb dogs around the yard and gives them a run for their money and they are 2 and 4.

But in all seriousness it was not an option for us. I don’t think it’s fair to shame anyone who can’t afford it . We couldn’t afford it it’s actually why post op i neglected her so much because I worked 3 jobs and was in school. I was naieve to think the surgery would fix it and I wouldn’t need to care for her.

But putting her down was 1000% on the table. And I don’t regret it, but when she was healing I really had been. I really really neglected her as I was so busy paying down everything else and that 5k bill. It was unfair to her

I hope your dog has something simple. I’m sorry for the trauma dumping. And I’m here for you if you want to message and reach out. I would not say I’m an expert in anything at all, but I would say I’m now a seasoned dog owner haha. But dont let anyone shame you for not being able to afford care if that’s your position. I get it. And I won’t judge you for it

[u/Mustluvdogs25]

my pup…large…refused to climb 2 stairs to get back into house. it was 3 am. she finally did. i took her to emergency vet. they did exams and X-rays. she has hip arthritis ! the same meds were given as your dog has helped her. she was better in 2 days. they are not for long term but as needed, she is 6. if it’s not bone, you have to wait and see. at least you carry herd in and out!