irish wolfhounds

Our irish wolfhound has had skin issues in the past;our vet tends to over-react to everything so this time we thought we would wait a week or so before taking our dog in.  Monday morning he woke up and could not move-his back legs would not function at all and now it appears to be spreading to his front.  We took him to our vet and he is on pain medication and steroids.  He was referred to a neurologist and saw him today and we were told that for "only"$3000.00 they could ultra-sound him and maybe we would have a diagnosis.

Throughout this ordeal, even though I am pointing out there is also a skin issue, I am being told it is not relevent.  In a human, one would try to perhaps look for a disease that combined skin and spinal issues.

Your opinion would be???

[Savas]

The only thing I can think (before an unusual case of heart disease; sometimes you need a specialist to tell) is Portosystemic Shunt.

It causes abnormal blood cell formation in or near the liver which causes blood flow to bypass the liver.

The resultant toxin build up COULD cause a skin condition and joint/muscular issues.