Trouble Walking in Dogs: Joey’s Fast Decline. What Would You Do if It Was Your Dog?

Joey was accident-prone so when he started walking a little stiff, his mom thought he injured himself.

Finding his forever home was the best thing that happened to Joey. He needed lots of work to adjust to life in the city home but he learned amazingly well and became the best dog ever.

Trouble Walking in Dogs: Joey's Fast Decline. What Would You Do if It Was Your Dog?

The first thing Joey’s mom noticed was that he seemed to be a little stiff on one of his legs. Joey did injure the leg in the past, so that could have explained it. Because things weren’t improving, his mom scheduled a vet appointment.

In the meantime, it looked like Joey was having trouble with both legs.

Maybe Joey had hip dysplasia that started bothering him?

After examination, however, the veterinarian concluded that it was likely a neurological problem. Joey and his mom received a referral to a specialist. The neurologist figured it was a brain tumor but he felt optimistic about being able to remove it.

Joey kept declining.

In the effort to help Joey, his mom agreed to everything the neurologist recommended. They started with a CAT scan. The scan seemed to confirm the neurologist’s suspicion.

Based on the results, they went ahead with the surgery.

Joey’s surgery went well. The tumor was small and the vet removed it with good margins. Even though Joey looked like a Frankenstein monster, he felt much better.

When Joey’s biopsy results arrived, they were not conclusive but indicated that the tumor might have been a hemangiosarcoma. Unfortunately, hemangiosarcomas rarely start in the brain.

Joey was scheduled for imaging of his chest and abdomen.

Joey had multiple lesions all over the place.

The next step in trying to conquer Joey’s cancer was chemotherapy. The treatment was going well. Until one day his mom came home from work to listless Joey.

Hoping it was a reaction to his treatment, they rushed Joey to an emergency vet. Unfortunately, the chemo was not to blame.

What would you do if it was your dog?

Read Joey’s full story here.

Further reading:
Back leg Weakness in Dogs

Categories: Conditions • Real-life Stories • Symptoms

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Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer, dog health advocate, writer, and author. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Countless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care in my own hands. I learned the hard way that merely seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to get a diagnosis. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people how to recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to save others the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way as I did. That is the mission behind my blog and behind my writing. That is why I wrote Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog, which has turned out being an award-winning guide to dog owners. What I'm trying to share encompasses 20 years of experience.

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