Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 4 year old Bichon Frise named Fritzy who is normally very healthy. Last night, my husband tried to pet Fritzy while he was sleeping and he started crying in severe pain when his hip area was touched. It didn't get better and he wouldn't walk or put weight on his legs so my hubby rigged up a little stretcher and we took him to the emergency vet (It was about 4:00 am when we first noticed the pain and about 4:30 am when we went to the vet). They rushed him back to the vet but in a few moments, the tech came walking back with fritzy on a lead. He was walking and acting completely 100% normal. I took him for a short walk outside the building and he tugged and walked and sniffed as usual and even hopped up and down curbs like nothing was wrong. We had the vet check him over anyway, but after a thorough exam, the vet couldn't find anything wrong. Nothing she did elicited a painful reaction from him.

Relieved, we took him home, but he wasn't in the car 2 minutes before starting to whimper in pain again. We went home and have been carefully watching him ever since. He doesn't want to put any weight on his back legs at all. He cries in pain when you gently pet him on the back near his hips and tail area but if I gently touch his legs - he does not cry. If he lays still, he doesn't act as if he is in pain, but if he is picked up or tries to walk or move around, he cries loudly.

We are taking him to our regular vet at 2:30 but I am afraid he will be fine again when he is there. Any ideas what could be wrong or what we should do?

Thank you very much,
Lisa

It's hard to make an educated guess as to Fritzy's problem without being able to see the reaction. By now I'm sure your regular vet has thoroughly examined him and possibly taken x-rays of the back and hip area. Please post back with any results.
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Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
PHMax

My dog had similar symptoms six years ago - except she would actually use her legs, but would cry out in extreme pain every time she tried to stand up - and after ruling out some of the other possibilities the vet said it was probably a ruptured disc in her back. After three weeks of bed rest - only being carried outside on a blanket when she had to go to the bathroom - she made a full recovery. I imagine a bulging or ruptured disc in the wrong part of the back could probably press on the nerves that go to the back legs, possibly accounting for that symptom too. This might be something to ask your vet about. With my dog it started up suddenly in the night like that too, and not following any known injury.