9 Month Old GSD with Weak Hindlegs - Page 2

   There was a good thread on July 8 "weak vs strong pasterns" where Euroshepherd gave a lot of information. In this case I am in agreement with Hexe, I think a natural source of nutrition would do him a world of good. This would be a beautiful dog if given proper nutrition and exercise.

Fibrotic myopathy, perhaps? This can affect a dog between 8 mos of age  and 9 yrs.
video:

http://www.vin.com/Presenter/videoShellVNNJ.htm?flvPath=http://www.vin.com/ImageDBPub/Flash/NeuroVet/FibroticMyopathy.flv&flvTime=17.60&flvSound=0&videoTitle=Fibrotic Myopathy 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMdomjYNHmw 

video  looks like same crossing of rear legs when walking, which is why I looked up the video. Sometimes Fibrotic Myeopathy is mistaken for DM.
Marjorie
http://www.gsdbbr.org The German Shepherd Dog Breed Betterment Registry (a health registry for registered German Shepherds)
BE PROACTIVE!
http://mzjf.com --> The Degenerative Myelopathy Support Group http://www.mzjf.info/hgate Heaven's Gate  

Looks like a pup that has been raised on concrete, poor nutrition,  not enough exercise, and what a shame!

Mr Fred lanting also saw the video and also saw earlier photos. Accordring to Fred sir he may suffering from degenerative myelopathy. There was no question of malnutrition. He was given good food available in India. Enough exercise was given on muddy roads. I am going to put him of wetlands food by taste of wild. Somehow he is just not putting on weight. He is 25 kilos only. Is it true that east west feet are due to improper shoulder layout. It is frustrating for me also.

9 months of age is too young for classic Degenerative Myelopathy.

Marjorie
http://www.gsdbbr.org The German Shepherd Dog Breed Betterment Registry (a health registry for registered German Shepherds)
BE PROACTIVE!
http://mzjf.com --> The Degenerative Myelopathy Support Group http://www.mzjf.info/hgate Heaven's Gate  

With all due respect to Mr. Lanting, I find it highly unlikely that this 9 month old  pup has degenerative myelopathy evident at this moment; while it's certainly possible he might develop that condition at a later time, I doubt there would be evidence of it at this early stage of his life.

You mention that he simply doesn't seem to put on weight, despite your best efforts; 25 kilos might not be unusually small for some dogs, but with his frame it is clearly woefully underweight.  How much food is he given at each meal, and how many times per day is he fed?  I do think the Taste of the Wild will provide more protein of animal origin, but still believe he would fare better with fresh meat from fowl, fish or sheep or goat...

Also, not to be indelicate, but when he empties his bowels, are the feces well-formed and solid, and appear to be in a quantity that's commensurate with the amount of food he's eaten?  There are some heritable conditions that prevent a dog from properly digesting and utilizing his feedstuff, no matter what he's fed--his pancreas may not be functioning correctly, a condition called Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency, and in such cases the dog will literally starve right before your eyes because his body is simply unable to process food into the various elements of nutrition, regardless of how much or how often he's fed.  This can be treated in most cases by supplementing the dog with the enzymes the pancreas is supposed to produce, though some dogs also need additional medications to address bacterial overgrowth in the gut that can sometimes develop along with the pancreatic insufficiency.  It's also possible that the dog cannot properly absorb dietary fats, and those nutrients pass right through him; this will not only cause the dog to fail to gain weight, but because many vitamins and minerals are fat-soluble and therefore REQUIRE fats to be correctly absorbed so they can carry those elements to the cells, the dog becomes extremely malnourished. 

All of these conditions have to be diagnosed by a veterinarian, however--and in any case, it is quite clear that you do need to have him examined by a vet as soon as possible!  Not even a licensed veterinarian can successfully determine what is causing Maxim to be so weak and unthrifty from watching some videos on youTube and reading forum posts or even emails...he needs a hands-on examination, along with blood testing and radiographs, to determine what the next step is to get your young dog on the road to good health and condition!

Dear Hexe
Yes he is underweight. Sometimes his stoools are solid and less in quantity and some times they are smelly and loose. I did deworming with drontal plus. Got his stool checked up. No abnormality. Gave him a dose of Flagyl. Giving lot of prebiotics and probiotics. Total 5 cups of Royal Canin GSD Junior with 2 boiled eggs, 1 Spoon Irish Cal and 5 ml salmon oil. Sometimes he eats with gusto and sometimes he eats because of competition from other dogs. But he is still weak and lethargic. Sometimes I add boiled chicken to his food with broth. Also some curd. I groom him everyday and his skin in glossy. I am really frustrated. I showed him to the Vet yesterday and he told me not to worry and gave some multivitamins. Please guide me what to do step by step. There is no swimming facility here...

 I'm sorry but I can't agree with your vet's belief that there is nothing to worry about here--something is not right, and if it's not identified and treated, you could very well lose your young dog.  So, let's start with the worming and Flagyl treatment. Ok...when you say Maxim was given 'a dose' of Flagyl, do you mean he only received a single tablet, or was he being given the Flagyl daily for a sustained period of time?

What you describe does fit the profile of a dog that has contracted giardia, and that parasite can be extremely difficult to clear up, especially if there are multiple dogs living together because they will pass the organism back and forth for quite some time.  With particularly stubborn cases of giardia, it is important to disinfect any toys, bones, balls, food bowls, water buckets, bedding, kennel surfaces and the like with a solution of water and bleach, and then allow the items to dry before the dog(s) have contact with them again.  It is also important to disinfect the areas the dogs use as their bathroom facilities with the bleach/water solution, to destroy any of the immature parasites that are passed with the stool.

Here is an excellent informative web site which explains giardia infections in dogs; additional resources are here , here,  and here.  Additional info on dual infections of giardia and clostridium can be found here.

This link   will provide you with information regarding malabsorption syndrome.

To test for pancreatic insufficiency, your vet will need to run a specific blood test, the Trypsin-like Immunoreactivity test, or TLI.  This link  will take you a website where you will find extensive information on EPI (exocrine pancreatic insufficiency), and it warrants your review because it's possible that Maxim could have BOTH problems--parasitism by giardia, AND EPI--so you need to be up to speed on both conditions. 

So there's your starting points...look all of it over, and then discuss the possible issues with a vet==either the one you've been using, or perhaps a different one who might take your concerns more seriously? 

As for the swimming facilities, I didn't really expect there to be any available there---even here in the US, those are only found in and around some of the bigger metropolitan areas, and even there you still don't find very many of them.  I was thinking more of rivers, ponds or streams that might be nearby to where you live...if there aren't any of those, I wouldn't fret over it--right now, Maxim needs his health issues identified and resolved a lot more than he needs additional exercise!

I think I've loaded you up with enough homework for today...he was such a darling little puppy in the video of him @ 4 months, and he's still a beautiful dog now @ 9 months, but there is clearly something that is robbing him of his potential, and we've got to figure it out.

Dear hexe, I did deworming 3 weeks back. Just finished the 5 day course of norfloxacin and metronidazole. I clean the kennel with bleach twice a day and clean fresh water is provided and changed twice a day. I also wash the bucket for water and bowls with dish washer liquid and rinse them thoroughly. Yes u are rite. The vet has given a lame excuse. How about starting creon 10 before meals 2 times a day for EPI. He has no ticks and fleas. I just applied advantix spot on 5 days back. Ears are clean and nails well trimmed. All his toys are washed thoroughly with water. I have another pup and he is 4 months old. He is fine and stools are well formed. His link is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-DHtQYU1BQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Dog should be dewormed on a regular basis (once a month). I agree that this dog is too young for DM, or he is a strange exception. With pancreatic deficiencies, you're not going to see them in stool. You'd have to run a blood panel on him. Giardia should've been seen on the stool if he had it, it's not hard to see on floats. If the stool is sometimes firm and sometimes loose, like at least once a week loose, that's not normal. Whether it was the food, or a parasite, or a deficiency, that's not normal. He won't be getting the nutrition he needs. Still, he's got orthopedic issues, or a neurological disease causing him to walk the way he is, not just caused by a parasite.