chihuahua cant walk anymore

[SwirlyFairy]

symptoms:
swollen joints & paws - difficulty walking
sleeping all the time
hates being touched

I have an 11.5 year old female chihuahau that cant seem to walk very well anymore. one of her paws seem kind of swollen today. A few days ago, it was her other rear leg that was the problem. She sleeps all day, and seems grouchy. She hates to be picked up now. I have to be really gentle with her. I have even been spoon feeding her. All this seem to have happened very quickly. I've spent so much at the Veterinarian already but cant find what is wrong.

Prior to this she had skin problems and an ear infection. She was always scratching and she seem to sweat all the time. Her skin was already scrapped and tested, and nothing. What's really really odd is that once this problem magically disappeared, this problem of her not being able to walk well appeared and replace her previous problem. Now she sleeps all day and barely moves around.

What could possibly be the matter?

[latergatorj]

Dear SwirlyFairy:

The symptoms your dog is displaying- seem to be unique in that I haven't seen any similar questions posted in the past by other pet owners, whether on this board or other pet boards I belong to.

I'm afraid I don't have any possible answers for you. Wish I did.

Hopefully someone else on this site will have insight they can give you.

But, just in case, an option you may wish to pursue is consulting another Veterinarian. Either in person, or even the vets on this website http://www.web-dvm.net/askthevet.html I've known the vets on this site for over a year, and they've been very good about giving detailed ideas for tests you can do to narrow down what the problem could be, as well as providing information on possible conditions that may fit your pet's symptoms. They also give information on how the conditions are treated. People that have used it have told me and others on my boards that it's worth the small fee, but that's a personal choice.

Another site I frequent is http://p069.ezboard.com/bhealthforumfordogsandcats some of the posters are vets or even Veterinarian techs.

Just giving you some more options for threads/feelers to put out for information.

I hope you find some help soon & your dog starts feeling better. It's not a good feeling when you can't figure out what's wrong, and you can't ask your pet how they feel, or even make them feel better.

I do hope you'll come back and let us know what ends up happening, so someone else could be helped in the future. :-)
-Jackie

[TinyChu]

My 14 year old chihuahau is like that too. in the past recent years she has been going back and forth from good to bad. There is never any consistency. I have tried everything the only thing that seem to help her health system to be a little more consistent is the food choice. unfortunatly i have only switched her food to high quality a couple years ago (wish i started earlier). I tried all the high quality brands from candiea to innova which has been suggested on multiple forums. But my little girl refuse to eat dry kibble anymore and i really have no time to cook for her. I have been feeding her Homestyle Select sold in my local Shoprite at Jesery. I would suggest trying to elvuate the food, there are alot of good brands on the internet if you search for them. You'll be suprise.