My dog Lily is around 9 years old. She has always been a pretty energetic dog but she has also always had minor weakness in her hind legs which was never too much of an issue. However, for the past week or so she appears to be dragging her legs. I can't really tell if she is dragging her front or her back legs because it's only a slight drag, but she still walks and runs cautiously. She also seems to be a bit confused because she has been digging excessively to the point where she pants quite a bit. Additionally, she appears to have a slight lack of coordination and balance/ when she sits she slides into a laying down position. I have taken her to the vet twice but each time she goes it is like she's perfectly fine- she doesn't show her symptoms! Yet, when she's home she still displays them. She has no loss of appetite and eats very well. She also still goes for daily walks which she enjoys and she responds to stimuli pretty normally, besides bumping into stuff at times (maybe this is because she is relying on her surroundings to support her and kee her up?) She breathes a bit heavily at time or more rather she will make a low grunting noise when she's resting. I just am confused about the few symptoms she has and what I should investigate into seeing if she needs anything.

My 15 mo old Golden died suddenly this am. He had an episodic abnormal gait (like with ataxia) for approx 6 mo. Episodes were 1-5 times a week, always lasted 30sec - 2 mins (at most) & was always preceded by him becoming very excited & active. He has been to Vet every 3-4 weeks to check on this. Was discovered to have a old fracture in his hip bone 3 mo ago after changing our vet. (We had been told by previous vet on multiple occasions this was an anal gland problem). He was seen 5 days ago. Started on Prednisone 20 mg bid 4 days ago with a tapering dose to be given over a month & Neurontin 300 mg bid. *was also given his first dose of Trifexis at that visit along with his yearly booster shots. Last night I noticed him panting a little more than normal, then this morning he was panting even more & just acting like he wasn’t feeling well. Moving around a lot & laying down hard on his back legs (would get down on his front legs & flop his hind legs down). That along with the panting made me think he was in pain. I gave him his dose of both above meds & just loved on him to try to ease what I thought was pain. Within an hour of his am meds he started pacing. I took him out in the front yard & he immediately pooped (very close to the front door which is so unlike him) walked a few steps & urinated. He turned to start back toward me to come back in & immediately became extremely wobbly & fell on his side & rolled on his back before landing on his side. He had a horrible posture bending his head back & stiffening up for maybe 30 sec -1 min and let out the most horrific cries I’ve ever heard (literally he could be heard upstairs in the back of our home) then he went limp, had some agonal breathing & was gone in less than 2 mins. I am a RN & we raise cattle so I’ve successfully resuscitated a couple (out of maybe 15 attempts) of newborn calves over the years, so tried some rescue breathing & he did havegoid chest inflation with that. No heartbeat confirmed with a stethoscope & tried chest compressions... just literally everything I could think of but he was gone. My dad had our vet on the phone almost immediately when this started & he pleaded with us to bring his body to his office just in case but I rode in the backseat crying & laying gently over his beautiful body and there was no signs of life at all. He seems to think that he had an aneurysm or stroke & offered to pay for a necropsy to check for a bleed bc he was upset too as he was there so often & the sweetest dog ever! We drove his body 3 hours to The University of Georgia for the procedure & leaving him was so hard, but they were so understanding & patient with us. After doing lots of online research on his meds I just can’t help but think the prednisone had something to do with this. As everywhere I look I see the exact same signs of these 4 serious side effects of prednisone: excessive hunger, excessive thirst, frequent urination, & PANTING. All 4 of which Peyton had I just thought the meds were making him hungry/thirsty & he’s always panted when he was in pain & I gave him the scheduled meds an hour before he died!! I feel so incredibly guilty, like if I had not gave him that last dose maybe he would have been ok. I would have definitely taken him to the Vet had he been acting like he was & I didn’t have “meds to ease his pain”. I’m just broken!!! I can’t sleep. We weren’t warned of any side effects to look for. We love our Vet, but I just can’t get this medicine issue out of my head. I would so much appreciate an unbiased opinion.

My 10-year-old foster dog was finally given a diagnosis of Ataxia. Based upon the notes I've been keeping and in talking with the vet, he appears to display symptoms of both Vestibular and Propriaceptive ataxia. His cranial functions are normal, no cloudiness in his eyes. His symptoms include: 1. Once a week he get nauseous, sometimes vomits, and loses his appetite for at least 12 hours. 2. Leg tremors 3. He staggers, falls, sways, drifts to and fro, and circles around 4. When raising his head to look up, he gets a bit dizzy. Right now he's on Gabapentin for pain. My question is really are there any homeopathic options, vitamins, etc. that I can look into to ease his symptoms.