Stairs

Our 10 year old Shih Tzu recently started hesitating when going up and down the stairs in our house. She still does it, but she looks down for a few seconds before going. Could this be joint problems? If not, what?

 

Have you checked her eyes? Shih Tzus are prone to eye problems especially with their long fur on their nuzzles. You should also consider visual problems since she is 10 now.

By the way, Trixie is so cute and adorable. I've always wondered how some Shih Tzus can keep their fur color dark. Ours usually have fur that grow lighter as they grow old.

 

A less likely cause is maybe heart issues? She might be getting winded trying to use the steps.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I know Shih Tzu's have lots of health problems when they get old. I'll look into what you guys suggested. Trixie has kept her color, but I've seen some gray come in too.

 

That may be the case.Get her checked out.
Mishka hesitates climbing the stairs at night. I think for her it's a visual problem which is caused by the LED lights we use at night but nevertheless ,a visual problem.

 

I agree with the others. It could be a few different things that are causing her to hesitate. Her vision, her heart, her joints.... even just her balance. If she has any inner ear issues, it could throw off her balance some and make her more hesitant to head straight down the stairs.

 

Yeah I can tell when I put food down on the floor individually sometimes, it takes her a few seconds to find it. She looks all over the place and I sometimes have to end up pointing to the food so she sees it. She can still see, but she is probably having a bit of vision loss as you guys said.

 

By the way, are there white spots on her eyes. Sometimes, Buchi can have white areas on his eyes but they are curable with steroidal eye ointment. Just have it checked out as it's always better safe than sorry.

Trixie is certainly a cutie. What are you feeding her. By the way, I am unsure if Shih Tzus are prone to PRA (progressive retinal atropy) but you might as well check it out.

 

Recently I noticed that Homer hesitated when going up stairs a few times too. It makes me worry.We have many stairs in our home and usually he runs up and down really fast. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any eye problems. Maybe it's something with his legs?

 

He might just be trying to get his speed up. Some little dogs have to take a moment and get a running start or might be trying to make up their mind whether or not they really want to go up all those stairs. Watch him when he is walking around and see if he is walking differently. If you are really worried about it you can call your vet and let them know what is going on.

 

Fortunately he doesn't walk differently
But yesterday he couldn't go up stairs at all, he started to bark because he wanted somebody to help him . It happened in the evening...maybe he was just tired or sleepy? During the day he didn't have any problems and he ran up and down a few times. Today everything is fine too.

 

I agree that it could be health issues due to the old age of your dog. She might have eye problem already and getting tired easily.

 

Mishka seems to have difficulty at night with getting upstairs. I do think it's some sort of eye problem I should get checked out next time I visit the vet.
During the day she runs so fast up and down but at night she pokes her head under each step rise of our staircase.

 

I hope Homer was just sleepy; the lights were on so it wasn't dark and I think that he saw the stairs.
But maybe I'll visit the vet too, just to make sure that everything is okay.

 

I thought I would google this seemingly night time seeing condition and I found this article. It may not be what either of our dogs are having difficulty with but it's worth asking the vet at some stage.
http://www.terrificpets.com/articles/10267865.asp

 

Thank you for sharing this article, it's really interesting! I'll definitely ask the veterinarian about it.
Yesterday, Homer didn't have any problems with getting upstairs and he got really angry when I was trying to carry him

 

Homer you are so funny. Always giving claudine so much to contemplate. You definitely have a mind of your own.

 

Oh yes, Homer makes sure that I can never be bored with him
He is sleeping on his couch now so he didn't have to run upstairs. But maybe he'll do it later in the evening - I plan to observe him.

 

Ah! So Homer also has his own couch. Mishka loves hers. When my daughter and her boy friend comes over she can get a bit narky if they sit on it. She is required to sit on her rug on the floor and is quite indignant. We do change the couch cover sheet for their visit though.
How does Homer cope with people sitting on his couch? I bet he doesn't.

 

No one can sit on his couch . We aren't even allowed to get too close to it. Some time ago I wanted to clean the cushions - he didn't let me
It's funny that dogs have their favorite furniture
Oh, and maybe it's not exactly "normal" but Homer has not only a couch but also his own room - it's very small though and he rarely sleeps there.