Hi all. This is a big read and may seem like "well there's your answer right there", sorry for the long post, it's been a long week. I'm not asking as if you're all vets, just if this sounds similar to anyone's situation. Please read :(

January: My almost 12 German Shepherd (And a tiny bit Great Pyrenees) in January I brought him for his checkup (everything came back great on the results not one category out of place), along to treat some allergies he seems to have from the new area I moved to (his feet were bright red, chewing at them, etc). He was put on an antibiotic and Apoquel.

Feb 13th: I brought him for his follow up last Tuesday (Feb 13th) to check and saw his feet were improving, and they wrote a new prescription for the Apoquel. This is a new vet this year because his usual one moved offices which hasn't opened yet.

Feb 15th: Then 2 days later (Thursday Feb 15th) around 5-6pm my dog kept coming up to me, pressing his back to me. He has learned since he was a puppy that doing that is a good way of telling me something is wrong (usually he needs to go outside because he has diarrhea). It was soft when he went, and he was walking okay, but once inside he kept coming up to me for hours, doing the same. He was refusing to lay down unless he got very tired and gave out, and was starting to pant more and more. If he did lay down, he would let out a louder than usual groan. He groans occasionally laying down, I always thought it was the tendonitis in his front right shoulder (which has been treated through weight loss).

I was talking on an online vet group and one of the vets suggested I take him to the ER as it could be something serious (flipped stomach for ex). At that point he laid down to sleep, but then got up again, so around 12-1am I drove into another state for an ER. He refused to lay down in the car as well.

Took him there, they felt his abdomen and he trembled. Felt something small apparently, so they gave Methadone to sedate him to Xray. After finished they come out, long story short the small bloat was from him panting from hours, and what they felt was he was in pain from arthritis and Xrays showed many things good and bad, but the bad were:

"Suspsected intervertebral disc disease in the lumbar area, impingement/compression of neural structures cannot be directly assessed on plain radiographs. Advanced bilateral arthritis of the coxofemoral joint, with bilateral incongruity/subluation, compatible with severe bilateral hip dysplasia. Probable muscular disuse atrophy affecting pelvic limb.

Recommend pain relief, and consultation with orthopedic surgeon"

All terrible things to hear. I knew he had arthritis, but he was Xrayed around 2-3 years ago and at that point his hips I believe were said to be 100% great :(. He has been walking fine and even on occasion runs around with my other dog (although I limit to prevent injury)

Since he wasn't fully sedated..how did you Xray him? (He never likes being on his back since he was a puppy) and they said "he wasn't too difficult, he didn't like being on his back though"

Anyways they gave me gabapentin and carprofen. When we got home, he still didn't want to lay down but eventually did because he was just so exhausted. He was trying to keep himself up and dozing off as he was standing, I've never seen him do that.

He slept like a baby after that (10-11 hours, didn't get up). Basically got up when I did. (We got home at around 4 am).

Feb 16th-17th: SINCE then (Fri 16th) , he started to not walk right. His rear legs have been sort of swaying one direction, and it seems he doesn't want to fully stand his rear legs up. Trying to walk him, he would occasionally almost fall. I've been using a carrier he had used when he had the issue with his tendonitis to help him during his walk so he doesn't fall on himself when he tries to turn to pee, but won't lift his leg up. He did lift his leg Saturday to pee, and attempted to again the past few days, but rest has been squatting.

Last time he was on gabapentin he had issues getting up, walking. So I thought it was that, I asked the current vet if I should remove it. They emailed and said yes to stop it. Then I was told on the phone by the receptionist that my vet disagreed with the Xray results, and though they looked good. Now I was confused a bit.

Feb 21: Anyways he was still having trouble walking. Yesterday he went to see the vet. He was a bit surprised and said he wasn't like this last week, and wanted me to do Xrays. Now I was more confused, I thought he already saw them according to the receptionist. I thought maybe just so many patients it's hard to remember, so I said he was xrayed and they were sent over. He goes to review them, comes back and asks me to walk my dog to the door and back to observe his walk.

After we got him on the scale for him to feel along his back, and was checking his feet. He then said "So this is one of two things, either IVDD or DM" and how basically IVDD is really the only one that's treatable, and DM is not. The xrays were showing X Y and Z. I thought he said they looked good? I was too emotional and crying I guess and just didn't ask why was I told they looked good.

Rather than a steroid injection, he prescribed Dexamethasone and Famotidine (he felt would be more affordable). He said if there is seen improvement within two days (tomorrow) we will have a better chance of knowing whether it's IVDD and to call him tomorrow, and then a recheck next week. Then some discussion for rehab such as hydro-therapies or Quality of life care :(

Today he's still been walking not right :(. Though he seemed slightly more willing to get up today to eat on his own when I got his food out (maybe that's what I just want to see). He hasn't been wanting to sleep on his bed either (maybe too hot or hard, it was a specialized bed for his tendonitis), so I laid a cushioned blanket on the floor and he's been sleeping on that.

Has anyone been given this steroid? What type of improvements can you see within that small time frame.

DM: I know I guess I should have asked these questions prior, but I just been so upset this past week. It's been all so of sudden. To me it makes me feel like he injured himself some way and is not DM. PLUS, in his DNA test, he tested negative for the gene that is responsible for DM.

Maybe running back and forth with my younger dog (which I try to stop as I was warned when he was diagnosed with tendonitis), and I caught him chasing my other dog back and forth last week. Maybe the constant jumping into the bath tub to bathe his feet which I was told last month as part of the treatment. Maybe he injured himself laying down (I recall hearing a yelp this past month as I was working when he laid down :(). What if he was injured during his Xrays?? ("He didn't like being on his back"). I mean what if it's something simple as an ear infection?

Does this sound injury related to the current conditions of his body?

I feel no one will read, but thanks for reading if you did