I am panicking.  Last night, Crystal was panting excessively and incredibly restless.  After half an hour of this, I gave her some tramadol and she fell asleep and seemed much better this morning.  But when I took her on her walk during the day, her back left leg was really weak.  When she was standing up, her back left leg would slowly start bending and she would soon almost be sitting down.  I thought maybe this was due to her arthritis so I gave her some Previcox, which she has been on for years now.  I left for a few hours and when I came home, she again seemed fine.  However, about half an hour ago, she was going out her doggy door and took the worst fall I've ever seen or even imagine.  She couldn't get her back leg through the door and she fell onto her side onto a ramp on the other side of the door.  She then slid down the ramp on her side and ended up falling off the side of the ramp onto the brick patio.  I ran out immediately to help her and get her up.  I thought the worst was over but she fell again on the hardwood floor just now (which she hasn't done in what seems like forever).  Now she seems incredibly unstable and I don't know whats going on.  Does anyone have any ideas?  I'm worried that she is developing degenerative myelopathy since she is a German Shepherd and they are prone to that.  Does DM have such a sudden onset?  Thanks for any info you can provide.

Background info:  Crystal had her right front leg amputated on Jan 11th.  Her first two weeks of recovery were incredibly easy and she was doing great in terms of balance and was making improvements every day until yesterday/today.

Thanks Charon and Spirit Gayle.  My plan is to see how she is tomorrow morning and take her to the vet if there is no improvement.  I'm hoping that it's just her arthritis.  I haven't given her Previcox in a while because she started taking glucosamine supplements and she seemed fine with just the supplements.  In retrospect, I should have just continued giving the Previcox though.  I should also add that she had her first round of chemo on Jan 26.

Fingers and paws crossed here for some good news in the a.m.

All the best,
Jackie, Angel Abby's mom

Sending positive thoughts your way for a great diagnosis and resolution. Putting extra weight and stress on the remaining three legs may have strained the back leg or aggravated Crystal's arthritis. I know how scared you must have been when she fell. Good luck and keep us posted!

Beth And Spirit Smilin' Sammy

Hope you figure out what's going on with your girl. Sending you some Tripawd mojo from us here…

Rio's momma

Daisy (amp was Dec. 9th) did really well the first few weeks.  So much so that I took all the runners up because she wasn't slipping.  The past couple of weeks she has seemed to be having more difficulty getting around, slipping on the floors and slipping while standing at her food dish eating.  I had to put the runners back down.  We've started taking longer walks and I think her issues are more to do with her muscles being tired, maybe a little sore.  Maybe that's all it is?

Paws and fingers crossed that it is something minor!

Marla and Daisy