[Melissa352]

About 4 weeks ago my 4 year old mini-doxie, Daisy, started acting strange. She wouldn't do the stairs, get up on her hind legs, or walk around too much. We took her to the vet and he told us that she probably hurt a muscle in her back and gave us some cortisone pills to give her. 3 days later we had to rush her back to the vet because her rear end was swaying while she was walking, and she was having trouble putting her feet down properly. The vet took an x-ray and said all her vertebrae looked good and he didn't see any breaks. She gradually seemed to be doing better, and this past Saturday snuck up the stairs to the second floor of my home. This continued Sunday, she was chipper, and very playful. This past Wednesday she began having problems with her hind legs again, this time slightly dragging them while walking, she couldn't even hold herself up to do her business. Thursday morning when she woke up, we were shocked to find her having no movement of her hind legs, dragging them behind her. We again rushed her to the vet, and he took another x-ray. Again, he told us there was nothing wrong with her spine or her hips. He also said that she had feeling in her legs, so she wasn't paralyzed. He doesn't think it is anything neurological, and doubts it is that IVD. He told us that we have to cage her 24 hours, and only let her out to do her business and eat, and then right back in the cage. Today, she has urinated in her cage several times, and has not defecated, a normal morning event for her. Her sprits are good, she gets excited to see me and my family, is always looking for food (normal for her), and seems to sleep comfortably. Can anyone give me any advice as to what may be going on, or tell me something else I can do? Thank you in advance, Melissa

[labman]

Not being trained vets, or even seen the dog, we are not going to have a better idea of the problem than your vet. I am forever harping on keeping dogs lean to reduce joint problems. Doxies are very vulnerable to overweight. Your vet should have suggested she loses weight if she needs to. Here is a great guide to assessing her body condition, http://www.puppychow.com/products/po...condition.aspx

[doggie_poopie]

Anytime a dog has the symptoms that you describe we consider it an ER. Just because your vet can't find a problem on radiographs obvisouly doesn't mean there is not a problem. Can you seek another opinion? One that deals with Dachshunds? We have had tremendous success with acupuncture for these exact issues.
Check out these links http://www.dachshund-dca.org/discbook.html

"In some cases, plain radiographs (x-rays) may assist the diagnosis, but they may also be normal since neither the disc nor the spinal cord is visible on an x-ray. If the diagnosis is in doubt or if surgery is to be performed, a myelogram may be done. This procedure involves injecting a special dye around the spinal cord while the dog is anesthetized. When radiographs are taken, the dye will be seen outlining the spinal cord. A break in the dye column means that there is pressure on the spinal cord at that point." from http://www.veterinarypetcare.com/backproblems.html
Good Luck!