What causes hind leg weakness and difficulty peeing in my senior dog?

Question

We have a 12-13 year old Golden Doodle and recently she has been having problems with using her back legs. It's very hard for her to swat to pee and poop. In fact she primarily just walks as she doing it. It's hard for her get up and down. Also, she has pooped in the house twice, having never done this before. Started giving her glucosamine, and vet gave her meds for a week and said should take care of it. It's getting worse. Suggesting XRays. Just looking for second type opinion... Pet's info: Dog | Goldendoodle | Female | spayed | 12 years and 3 months old | 55 lbs

Dr. Strydom, DVM · Accepted Answer

Yes, I agree with your vet, x-rays are a good idea. Glucosamine is fine to give but it is not likely to significantly impact her at this stage. It will not hurt anything but it probably won't help much. If she has arthritis in her hips or spine then she likely needs long term therapy with NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatories like Rimadyl) and pain medication (like Tramadol or Gabapentin). The combination of these two types of medications works wonders for arthritis. She will need to be on them for the rest of her life. If there is no arthritis then this could be a neurological issue which would need another type of therapy (mainly steroids like Prednisone). The x-rays will help to narrow this down. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

What causes hind leg weakness and difficulty peeing in my senior dog?

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