Mysterious health issues

In January my doggy had a UTI. We treated it, it went away, all good. Since then, off and on, he has been lethargic, not eating, and showing some signs that his back legs/hip area is hurting him. We’ve been to our regular vet and then to an internal medicine doctor, who took X-Rays, urine cultures, and countless blood tests to check on kidney and liver function. Everyone comes up with “we can’t find anything.” The problem is, we definitely know something is wrong. He is usually a rambunctious, vibrant 2 year-old who suddenly sleeps all day and eats peckishly for about a week, and then returns to normal. The doctors say if it was IVDD he wouldn’t be able to move his back legs at all, but I’m concerned it could just be early signs??? Also, before he was on a urinary diet (started in January) he was on one of the dog food brands that had over 50 cases that could be linked to heart disease. Seeking advice on how to move forward with vet specialists, as well as if anyone has encountered a similar situation with their pupper before.

First off, Welcome to the DLC!

IVDD comes in many forms. Sadly, it is not something a lot of vets are super familiar with unless they have had a lot of dachshund clients. There are disk ruptures where the disk explodes and that is super fast. One day is 100% and the next day they are fully down. There are also disk leaks which are slower and harder to diagnosis. 2 is really young for a disk issue too. Not to say it can't happen, just there is usually some age related degeneration.

If you think something is wrong. Something IS wrong. I personally, would start with something like allergy testing. "allergy test my pet". It is not expensive and can rule out some issues. If you are not getting good answers from your current vet, I am not sure where you live, but maybe look if there is a holistic vet in your area. That is not saying you should not continue to work with your vet, just another opinion might not be a bad idea. At two, they should not be lethargic EVER. It should be all go.

Please keep us posted on your journey with this. Lots of healing rayz for your little guy. :bigrayz::bigrayz: :bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz:

:welcome::welcome1: I agree with Lisa...always trust your gut, even when the vet can't find anything. You know your dog best. It is young for a disk issue, but not impossible. A lot of it depends on genetics. Don't know if you got your little one from a breeder or rescued him, but if the former, you might check back with them and see if they've seen this in any other of their pups. It could even be something like a parasite, or maybe anemia? (I'm assuming they've done full bloods?) It kind of sounds like a GI issue to me...sometimes there are hidden ulcers or other abnormalities in the gut that xrays don't pick up. Years ago a friend of mine had a Springer Spaniel with similar symptoms. They finally ended up doing exploratory surgery and discovered a hole in his stomach that was hidden. Stitched it up and he was fine. He might have ingested something like a small wire or pin that's also hidden on the xray. Never hurts to do allergy testing for sure. At the very least, if you access to a vet who does acupuncture, it also might help. I know how frustrating it is to not be able to come up with a reason for what's going on (ask anyone on here about why my Alex was called "mystery doggie" :rolleyes: ), but two IS awfully young for this. It never hurts to get a second opinion from another vet either. Worth a shot...sometimes they see something your regular vet missed. Sending a ton of healing :bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz:. Please keep us posted, ok?

Thank you (and Lisa!) so much for your advice. We went ahead and sought a second opinion and consulted with a tech who works for a holistic vet. We think it could be a grain allergy from his food (the urinary diet is Royal Canin— not great) because before he switched to the urinary diet he had none of these issues on grain-free, chicken-free kibble. The pain we observed was basically just difficulty standing on his back legs after he laid down for a long time, which sort of just seems like a byproduct of the lethargy. In his bloodwork he tended to test high for sodium after he started the urinary diet. We also just wanted to get him eating again, since he has been eating about half of what he should be. All of this is to say that we’re switching him onto a balanced, high-moisture raw food, so that he’ll keep flushing out the crystals in his urine. Since it’s a gradual change in food, it’s hard to say if things are fixed, but he’s eating normally again and the changes in his energy are showing dramatically! He’s back to 100 mph. I will keep you all updated on his progress. Thanks again for the support and advice! My friend has a cat with kidney disease and told me that a forum would give me peace of mind and sound advice... I owe her a “thank you” as well.

What an awesome update!!! So glad you appear to have it figured out. We're here to help!!

Really great update!! :cheer3: :cheer3: :cheer3: :cheer3: