Dog cannot walk with left side legs

on thursday night, my dog was walking around with her head down but not in circles. she would walk to one place, stop and stand for a minute then walk to the next place, she repeated this pattern for about an hour. so we went to bed around 10:30 and she woke me up around 3:30 with what sounded like sneezing. she kept trying to get up but she couldn't. her whole left side seems to be paralyzed.
i took her to the vet and they said it could be a tumor or could be something in her spine/slipped disk. they took blood, they took xrays, and they kept her for a few hours. they put her on predisone, tramadol, and robaxin. (i'm sure i misspelled all those)
they told me to come get her and keep her for the weekend and to bring her back on monday.

so ...when i asked what was wrong with her, they couldn't tell me. but they could charge me $310 to see her and make a guess. that's awesome (sarcasm)

can anyone tell me what might be wrong with my dog? has anyone ever seen this?

she has an appetite, i gave her some chicken. she won't drink water but that's because she's stubborn, so i'm having to make her drink it through a turkey baster.
she has urinated 4 times since yesterday and has not defecated but i think it's because she's stubborn and doesn't want to do it on herself. i have her laying on puppy pads, so she just urinates on those and i clean her up afterwards.

please someone help! what's wrong??

[thisoneisa]

no she cannot reposition her foot. she does not have a history of seizures. i have been moving her legs and bending them to try to keep the circulation.

when i pick her up or she lays on her side, those 2 legs are completely straight, they don't bend on their own at all.

the vet did say that it could be neurological too.

could it be a stroke?

[Misfits4Me]

How old is this dog? What breed? Any other past information that might be a clue? Please, let me know......Karla

[thisoneisa]

she is 11 years old, regular size chihuahua. there is nothing in her past that i think will relate to what's going on. she's been a healthy dog, we haven't had to go to the vet except to get her fixed 2 years ago.

[Misfits4Me]

I guess the xray didn't show anything? Was all her bloodwork normal? A tumor of the spine would have shown up on the xray, but a herinated disk may not....I think your dealing with IVDD (Interveratral Disk Disease).....It's fairly common in a Chi!
Your Vet has chosen the correct medications....Once the steroids take effect, you should start to see improvement...This will be a long drawn out process, but it is do-able!

If your getting no where with your Vet, have your Vet refer you to a Canine Neurologist....He/she will recognize these symptoms......There is a surgery to correct this problem, but very expensive....One of my dogs have had it....I have a friend with a Chi that has had it also.....

Please Google IVDD and start reading...See if you don't agree.....Come back with more questions if you need....Karla

P.S. If you go to a Neuro., take all records (Blookwork & xrays from your Vet) with you...Will save time & money by not having to repeat any of them....A Neuro. may reconize something on the xray that your regular Vet did not....Good luck!

[Misfits4Me]

Here's a good link for you:

http://www.lbah.com/canine/ivd.htm