kudzu

Well, cannot believe I am writing this but I hope she has a corn. This will be a long wait for you. Sending good thoughts for your girl.

Regardless of how long you have had her, seriously consider checking for TBDs including babesia. Hope she is better very soon.

Have you considered an ACTH stimulation test? Just thinking about Cushing's disease as a possible cause.

What a relief just to be home again. Am remembering what the first night home was like after my boy's GDV. Part way through I decided we'd made a terrible mistake & should have taken back to ER. Yet in the morning he seemed better. By the next afternoon he actually tried to jump into the truck! Amazing how recuperative it can be to sleep in your own bed! Feel better, Johnny. Settle into your bed, relax, & recover quickly.

Is the myoglobulinuria from overheating? That would be a catch 22 I guess. If he is there & stressing that could add to the high temps which contribute myoglubulinuria which in turn means he's there longer. Could you handle an IV at home? If not, could they give him a bolus of sub-q fluids & send him home at least overnight with you taking him to a vet during the day for IVs? Just remembering how we handled my boy. He was at e-vet overnight first night, then to regular vet for IVs during the day & at home at night for a few days. E-vet had initially said bring him back but regular vet felt going home for the night was best idea. His IV catheter remained in overnight. Might not be a possibility for Johnny. The complications & severity of GDV can vary so much that after care can be quite different for each dog. Johnny, please chill out & come home soon.

Still keeping Johnny in my prayers. Get better quickly so you can come home, buddy.

Well, I did forget to mention the splenectomy. Dan lost his spleen at the same time. Still sending Johnny positive thoughts. Hopefully there will be good news this evening.

It is terrifying. I am so sorry. I had a dog bloat & torsion. He beat the odds & recovered in record time in spite of losing part of his stomach & having arrhythmia for a little while after surgery. Wishing Johnny a full recovery.

I have an aluminum, 7 ft folding ramp that I bought used. Aluminum Ramp It works very well, easy to use, light for it's length & the dogs used it willingly. (Goat used it but not as willingly.) I like the length because it prevents such a steep angle. That may be why the pups use it with less problems. However, longer means it takes up more space though still fits in trunk of my Prius without a prob. Longer also means you need more space to set it up. So far that has not been a problem for me but may could be if space was tight. If your dog is wary of a ramp & only need a little help, another idea is a plastic step. Mine is super light, compact & certainly easy to use. My dog with hindend weakness would use the ramp but turned out the step was all he really needed to get into car or truck.

Am very sorry your mother has CLL. Glad she is not needing treatment. Hope she is still feeling well. OSU is suggesting chemo but right now I have not intention of doing that. (Am inclined to say never but I know better.) We are just supporting his immune system but otherwise treating him like a heathly senior. Now that OSU Greyhound folks & Dr Couto have looked at Luke's records I will get my vet to consult with them.

Just looking for anyone who has some experience with or knowledge of CLL. Luke's flow cytometry report came back from CSU. He has CD8+ T-cell lymphocytosis consistent with CLL & his history, with multiple CBCs, blood chems & various tick panels, seems to confirm this diagnosis. I just faxed off his records to OSU & am also waiting for a return call from my vet. We've been slowly working towards this diagnosis, basically knowing for some months that this is what it would come down to. If you are going to have leukemia this type is the best you could hope for. We are treating him & he is acting like a healthy, normal senior Grey. He still appears asymptomatic & I expect him to be around for quite a while longer. Just hoping for some info from other pet owners who may have gone through this. Thanks, Laura

I am so terribly sorry. There simply are not words for something like this.

The only time I've had a dog do this it turned out to be a neck problem. Kept getting worse until the vet visit. They did a small adjustment & aquapuncture. She was right as rain the next morning. Don't got too stressed but I think getting him to a vet is a good idea.

LS certainly could be a possibility but arthritis in joints could cause problems getting up & down. No I wouldn't think arthritis would have a sudden onset. However... I have gone through it myself & can say that the damage could be building for a while before you feel it so it can indeed seem sudden. So I guess there is no sure way for you to know without xrays, etc. You can try pressing along his spine especially near the base of the tail. You could hold his tail up & press on the lumbar vertebra at the base of the tail. Don't be rough & be prepared for his hind end to sink or him to cry out. That could be a sign of LS. Though just because he seems fine does not mean he doesn't have it. Hopefully others will have ideas on this.

Gads! Sounds just like human medicine. Wishing you the best of luck keeping your girl calm. Maybe, hopefully all the rest will have her well before the appointment. I hate wasting money but LOVE it when dogs are well by the time you get to the vet. ETA: Perhaps some Benadryl would help take the edge off. (Or a margarita <g>)

Lots of dogs with neurological problems get this but plenty of perfectly healthy dogs also have this occassionally. Neuropathy can cause this. Can't really tell you why except it is something like the nerves & muscles miscommunicating. It's odd & sometimes disturbing looking but if it is minor I've not heard of anyone whose dog's vet or neuro felt it was anything to worry about in & of itself. Do mention it to the neurologist though.

Don't think I couldn't bring myself to cut back on a med that eased her pain that much. In your position I think I would not let her zoom around the yard even if it meant leash walking. Limiting stairs as much as possible isn't a bad idea. And you may need to restrict her area inside if you have to. Basically don't get her all riled up. Just my suggestion until you get closer to a diagnosis.

Ditto what MomofSweetPotatoes said. My boy had a polyneuropathy also. We also had all the xrays & bloodwork, then EMG/NCV to test the nerves, then MRI afterwards to look at the spinal cord & nerve roots. Dan's neurologist also added CoQ10 to the supplement list. The methylcobalimine form of B12 may be more effective for neuropathies. Neuropathy is applied to diseases (or damage caused by other conditions) of nerves outside the brain & spinal cord. Myelopathy would be disease of the spinal cord itself. Nerve compression can cause neuropathy & lumbosacral stenosis or other problems in the lumbosacral area could damage the nerves or at least nerve roots causing neuropathy. So I wonder if that could be what she was referring to. Since nerves carry signals to the muscles & sensation back to the spinal cord neuropathies can cause either motor or sensory problems or both at the same time. If the disease or damage is inside the spinal column then it could cause myelopathy instead of neuropathy. The symptoms can overlap & neither is likely to show on an MRI. However, the cause of the -opathy might show on MRI, most commonly disc damage, & that is why MRI's seem to be the main diagnostic tool. If a spinal deformity is suspected then CT may be used. I think CT with contrast might also show nerves. See a neurologist definitely. A good neurologist could be a big help in diagnosing the root (no pun intended) cause of the problem. Be particular on who you use. A mediocre neurologist might suck up your money to no effect. (BTW, my dog's first diagnosis was mild hip dysplasia but no orthopedist or neurologist concurred.) Hope you get help for your baby. Please, please let us know how things are going & what diagnostics you pursue. ETA: I'm Laura.

Definitely do & remember that myasthenia gravis can cause mega-e & effect the eyes also.

Sorry! The "quantitative C6" is a test run by IDEXX labs, a popular one with vets in US. I think the AZ lab you referred to would be Protatek. Either way, I think the same thing applies. You would expect the dog to still show as Lyme positive for quite a while after the original infection even with doxy treatment. As someone said, if she shows no symptoms at this point I would not treat further. (That's my personal opinion, of course, & I'm just in accounting not vet med.) Ask for the tests to be rerun in 6 mos & see if the titres have gone down significantly. If so, you're doing well. My dogs are both Lyme positive & one is Babesia positive. Neither can be blood donors. Don't know if they ever could be. Did they say your could be a blood donor later?

If I remember correctly, you shouldn't expect her titre levels to go down for about 6 mos. Did they run a quantitative C6? If so, you would run it again in 6 mos. You are looking for it to go down by a certain amount, which escapes me at the moment. If it went down that much then treatment was considered successful & you test again in 6 mos. If it did not go down then you have to discuss further treatment. How is Hannah doing? Does she appear symptomatic? Are her blood chem & CBC ok? If she is symptomatic then you need to discuss continuing treatment. (And I can't remember what the recommended doxy dose is for lyme.)

So many things share the same or very similar symptoms. Sometimes a neurologist can at least give you an idea of what may be going on without MRIs, etc. Depends on the neurologist though. Had a GP vet say my dog's hind end problems were from hip dysplasia. Orthopedist felt it was neurological with ideas that it was spinal based on something seen on the xrays. Neurologist felt it could be from discs or a lower motor neuron disease. Only an MRI would tell us. I put the MRI idea on hold for monetary reasons. We chose conservative therapy for a month which was NSAID & leash walks only. He continued to worsen so switch to pred which made things even worse. Then he seemed to improve a bit, at least outwardly. However, neuro found possible probs in front legs & felt improvements were from my dog learning to compensate for his neurological deficits. This dog was younger, 7 yo, & eventually a number of tests were run. Special handling with anesthesia was needed because of his renal insufficiency. End result was that he had a lower motor neuron disease & not disc problems. This was the initial suspicion of the neuro all along. All the tests just confirmed the diagnosis & let me know I had not missed something treatable. (It also sucked up all my available credit taking years to pay off.) Along the way LS was a suspicion & degenerative myelopathy was an early rule out. Blood work was done to look for Cushing's, Addison's, thyroid, parathyroid, diabetes etc. & so on. It is interesting to note that a neurologist at UFL felt it could be linked to his renal failure or at the very least the CRF contributed to the problem. Human renal failure patients frequently develop a form of polyneuropathy. (My guy's LMND was also a polyneuropathy.) If CRF contributes to hyperparathyroid then that only makes it worse. I am not saying that is what is going on with Alan. Just mentioning it since what was a suspected culprit for my big guy who, btw, was some sort of shaggy, sighthoundish looking mix but not a GH. Tramadol for pain management is safe for dogs with CRF. Gabapentin for nerve pain may be a possibility. In your place I would inquire about it. What about Adequan injections? Though this is an exceedingly rare case of it possibly causing renal problems there are many dogs & some cats with CRF that have used Adequan with success. What kind of antioxidants is Alan getting? They can benefit both renal failure & neurological problems.

That's what I thought when I closed my girls tail in the car door a week or so ago. Though it looked nasty I decided to proceed similarly to you. Thankfully hers is healing well but if I had ended up in the position you are in I would haul her to the vet. Seems like at this point the most you should have is some weeping, not bleeding. How are you cleaning & bandaging it? Just curious. For the first few days I used diluted betadyne to clean it each morning, put an ouchless telfa pad around it, cover that with a few loose wraps of vet wrap & then taped it on with elastikon tape. That held well & gave it plenty of padding in case she whacked her tail on something. After a few days I started removing the bandage at night & putting EMT gel on it. Had not used EMT with the bandage because it sticks to bandages so much that it seems to cause harm when the bandages are removed. (At least that has been my experience.) In the morning I would clean it again & rebandage it so she couldn't lick it or hit it against anything. Hope, whatever you decide, that this heals soon.

Someone mentioned filling the space between in front of the rear seat. That is essentially what I do. There are several approaches but this is the one I chose: Link to "Outward Hound Car Seat Extender" It's an odd contraption that doesn't look like it would work but it does. It spans the gap between front & rear seat while leaving the footwell area open to stash gear. Plus, my dogs ride laying down. Though I always used harnesses before. Since adding my senior dude he seems to get all tangled up. Am still searching for a solution to that.

Personally, I wouldn't use peroxide after the initial cleaning. Have heard from a couple vets that continued use actually irritates the wound & can slow healing. Venus sliced her webbing quite badly last year. It was the sort of thing that stitches would not have held well. I soaked it in epsom salts several times a day. If I was rushed I would just clean with diluted 10% povidone iodine solution like Betadyne. Take Betadyne & then dilute it 9 parts water to 1 part Betadyne. This diluted mixture does not need to be rinsed off. (This suggestion came from the horse vets.) Would then dry it, apply EMT gel Linky, then cover with a baby sock. Wrapped a strip of tape around the ankle of the sock to keep it from slipping off. When we went out I would cover that with plastic wrap to keep it from getting wet. The first few days she was bandaged but after that it was just the baby sock. She was on leash walking restrictions for 3 weeks & we limited her area in the house so there would be no running or climbing stairs. Of course this was webbing so a cut in a different spot may not have required as much time. Hope your pup's foot heals quickly.