I got a concerning call today from someone who has a two year old lab that I bred. He had very bad diahrea for no known reason and is lethargic now and his back legs don't want to cooperate, he is not getting up and when he does he does not want to do stairs. The vet was contacted but did not think the dog needed to be seen. Any ideas what these two symptoms in combination could be? I told him to watch the dog very carefully, feed small amount maybe with cottage cheese to bind up a bit and track his stools and if he does not get better in a day or two call the vet again and ask to bring him in. The leg lameness just concerns me. Any ideas or like experiences?

Electrolytes? Maybe Pedialyte would help.

I would be concerned about tick-borne disease. Also perhaps nerve/spinal problems affecting everything "back there"?

And they need a new vet if a dog who can't walk isn't a concern to their current one!

Get the dog to a vet ASAP.

Check for lymes, but also check for hookworms. I had a girl who had these symptoms and it turned out to be hookworms.

I checked with the people today and the dog is starting to come around on his own but they are making an appointment still with the vet to run a fecal and a lyme test. Thank you for your responses!!!

I told them also they really should consider a vet change and speak to some pet people in their area to get a good referral. I think they too felt like it was big enough that the vet should have been more concerned to see the dog.

If the dog was vaccinated for lyme they could get a false positive. Best to test at the lab rather than in house.

Prayers they get answers and this is not serious.

I also agree with finding a new vet. For God sake the dog can't walk properly - something is wrong.