3 year old dog suffering temporary back 'paralysis'

[Romanian Orange]

Hello, looking for advice here because we are baffled. Our 3 year old Romanian rescue dog - (think medium German Shepherd / collie / husky - is best description), very occasionally suffers from an almost complete inability to move his back legs and cries in pain, has to be carried outside etc. This will last a few hours and then miraculously he leaps back to life and will tear round our local woods chasing pigeons, leaping over fallen trees and generally behaving like a very fit young dog should. Our local vet is stumped. Has anyone experienced anything similar or have any suggestions as to what it might be. Thanks in advance.

 

[JudyN]

What investigations has your vet done?

 

[Romanian Orange]

No x-rays, just a back and rear leg check by touch, but nothing untoward found. Recovery is almost instant, so it can't be spinal problem - it's almost as if he is pretending!

 

[Kara 1]

Dogs dont pretend ....i would ask for at least xrays or a scan ...suprised your vet hasnt done either ...

 

[JudyN]

I had a quick google for causes of temporary paralysis and came up with a condition called fibrocartilaginous embolism. Now, it's not a perfect match by any means, but the page I read said that the diagnosis was suspected through the symptoms, and confirmed by X ray and/or MRI scan. So the point is, there are causes of paralysis that a 'hands only' examination won't detect - therefore in your place, I'd be asking for an X ray or scan and if the vet thought them unnecessary, I'd be getting a second opinion.

 

[Romanian Orange]

Thank you all. yes, certainly dogs don't pretend, I was simply illustrating the speed of the recovery. I will insist on scan - I can't imagine an x-ray will show anything as it must be muscular (bone / spine problems would not simply disappear), so scan on tissue is probably the best option. We hope it's just some form of severe cramp (perhaps a vitamin deficiency?)- but again I have never heard of anything like this before. Hence my reason for reaching out on the forum.

 

[JudyN]

It could be that a bone/spine problem means that sometimes a 'bony bit' impinges on a nerve and a slight movement then releases it. But I'm not a vet or any sort of expert so that's really guesswork - hopefully someone else might have more knowledge/experience of this.

Do please let us know how you get on.

 

[Shalista]

Speaking as someone from the physical therapy side (human) im agreeing with judyN. id actually lean more towards skeletal before anything else. but again, my realm is more homo sapien and less canine