Aerosmom

I dropped Cricket off this a.m. for an overnight stay at the specialty vet. She's getting intradural chemo treatment for her spinal cord disease -- the neurologist is thinking it's an autoimmune disease and it might help suppress the inflammation. Also if it's cancer, but it sounds like he thinks it's more autoimmune. I hope this is the right thing for her. She has been on Prednisone for over a year and just recently had a big relapse where she wasn't righting her paws and was unable to really stand/walk without major assistance. She did improve with an antibiotics course, but it sounds like the neurologist doesn't think that's the problem. I'm crossing my fingers that this is the right thing for her. It would be miraculous to pick her up tomorrow and see her walking well again.

I'm so sorry to read this. Join Circle of Grey. When Snickers was diagnosed I tried to read about choices. In our case, I opted for amputation and chemo. What really sold me was that the amputation eliminates the source of the pain and depending on the location of the tumor, the leg might be prone to pathological fracture too. Many dogs survive a long time after chemo and amp. Unfortunately for Snickers luck ran out. We're not sure if there was a tumor in her brain stem or a blood clot hit her respiratory control center but we lost her just over two months after her amputation. If that hadn't happened, I think she was doing very well and might have reached her one-year anniversary. It's hard to know what to do at first. You have to make a decision based on what you think is best for your Carrier. It's mind-numbing when you first hear the news, but be strong and try to look ahead. Carrier is older, so cancer growth tends to be less aggressive. Have you talked with Dr. Cuoto's group at Ohio State? They will help answer questions too.

Sending prayers!

From what I can tell, they didn't do the specialized test because the total cost was $90, and NCU's website says the specialized test costs $100. http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/docs/PDFS/ticklab/...onella_7-07.pdf It doesn't sound like the neurologist thinks it's TBD at all any more. I feel uneasy because we can't pinpoint what's causing this -- short of opening up her spinal cord, which obviously is not an option. No -- maybe I should run it by them just in the off chance that they've seen similar symptoms.

TBD panel is testing for tick-borne disease. Some tick diseases can cause limping. Sending positive thoughts it's something easy to remedy.

Cricket's bloodwork from the NCU tests came back negative, but I'm puzzled about why they didn't do the extended testing which takes much longer than a week. She initially perked up and got more coordinated with the Baytril, but just on Sunday she's relapsed and lost a lot of coordination and now she can't walk without a sling. The neurologist wants to give her intradural chemo, which should work with autoimmune and/or cancer, but I'm worried if there is an underlying tick disease that it would wipe out her immune system. I'm concerned because it sounds like many hounds on GT have tested negative and the PCR testing is necessary. I know the neurologist knows a lot more than I do, but I'm worried that we haven't explored this. Am I just grasping at straws? Why would she have an intitial positive response to the Baytril and then get worse? Any thoughts? For background, she developed lameness and neurological incoordination last August and has been on Prednisone (varying doses but unable to wean completely off) since then. She had an URI and I noticed that she got stronger and more coordinated when she took Baytril. We sent her bloodwork to NCU but after a week everything came back negative. I guess the neurologist thought there was a chance that she had bartonella since she improved with the Baytril. From the little I've read here, the drug that targets bartonella is azythromax -- could she have improved slightly but not enough because it was the wrong antibiotic? Or am I just hoping against hope that it's something that we can treat with antibiotics? After an MRI that showed only a slightly bright area in her thoractic spinal cord area and spinal cord fluid that if I remember correctly that had slightly elevated neurtrophils and leukocytes, it was determined that she had unspecified myelitis. Oh, and her bloodwork showed a very minimally elevated result to erlichia canis, but so low that the neurologist said it was insignificant. (I did ask.) She was tested for fungus and common diseases that would cause the symptoms too. She had two weeks or ten days of doxycycline and another antibiotic, but we also started her on prednisone at the same time. She got better for the next four months and we slowly weaned her down to a small every other day dose of prednisone, but when we stretched it to every three days, she had a relapse in January. I feel so helpless and that I haven't explored all the options for her.

Snickers yelped when we stepped on her cushion where her leg would have been. She also had a lot of screaming episodes after her amputation.

Mostly not with me there unless it's like a blood draw. When Snickers was going for chemo, one of the vet technicians told me that she settled down a lot when they brought her out back. I think if you feel confident about your vet, you shouldn't mind it if they do this.

Sending prayers! :hope

Just when her new life was beginning. My sympathies to everyone she touched in her short life.

I'm so sorry to read this. At least you had that special goodbye time together. Run pain free Phillie.

I wouldn't take the risk. Most vets will write a prescription if you ask. Plus antibiotics target different bacteria (gram positive or gram negative). I would want a vet to prescribe the correct one. If you have a recurrent infection, then you could ask to have some on hand.

I'm very sorry to read this. My heart aches for you.

Sending prayers. I hope Marvin turns the corner and gets better!

Sending good thoughts to Phillie.

What were Zookie's symptoms? he didnt' really have any. We registered him as a blood donor at the vet and they tested him and found it. Once he was treated he had a TON more energy, so we think it was making him anemic and weak and lazy. We just thought we had a lazy dog! I hope we're not grasping at straws for Cricket. I'd love to have this all just be TBD -- the other options are autoimmune and cancer. I'm feeling hopeful since the neurologist thought it was worth investigating, but it seems like they don't know too much about the disease yet. I have read it can manifest with neurological symptoms.

What were Zookie's symptoms?

Cricket's neurologist has sent her blood to NCU to test for Bartonella. We were in for a recheck and I mentioned that she was currently taking Baytril for rhinitis and that she seemed to perk up on it. Apparently Baytril is more effective against Bartonella than Doxycycline, which we gave her when all this started last August. So, he put her back on Baytril to see if she continues to improve while we wait to hear about her bloodwork. She's not back to 100% but I do notice she is more stable and coordinated. I have my fingers crossed that it is this and we can finally help her. It really would seem miraculous if we could bring her back to normal with antibiotics. Otherwise the other possibilities are autoimmune disease or cancer and that means continuing the Prednisone and trying chemo injections, which would help both. Does anyone know much more about this? Apparently it's an emerging disease which was only discovered to be tick-borne in 1993. I read that dogs with heavy flea and tick infestations are more prone to it. Have other greys been diagnosed with this?

Run pain free Sarge. I'm so sorry you had to go through all this. There are many greyhound angels at the bridge already playing and running with Sarge -- my Snickers also had osteo and she just died in early August. You did the best you could for him and letting him go when he was in pain I'm sure was a really difficult decision. Best of luck to you and your family.

To see if it's neurological, put the toes of his back foot on the ground (like a ballerina) while he's standing. If he doesn't quickly fix his paw so the pads are down, it means something is wrong neurologically. My 5 year old Cricket has incoordination and hind-end weakness. We've done an MRI, spinal tap, and she's been on Prednisone for a little over a year. We just chatted with the neurologist on Wednesday and are resending blood to North carolina. He thinks there could be a possibility of an emerging tick-borne disease bartonella. I'm actually crossing my fingers and hoping for a TBD -- it sounds easier to treat than the other possibilities -- autoimmune disorder or cancer. We did put her on two weeks of doxycycline when she first had her trouble too. I hope Big Boy's situation is easier to solve.

Way to go LaceyLaine!!!!! I saw your post on COG and I'm so happy for you!

Sending positive thoughts for sweet Winslow.

Sending positive thoughts for Phillie.

Run free Winnie. She was an inspiration to us when Snickers was faced with an osteo diagnosis. Maybe they have met at the bridge and are running and playing together.

Run free Jitters. Kelli -- I know how hard your decision to let Jitters go was....you made a very brave decision. Jitters knew how much she was loved.