Porky Update - Still No Definite Diagnosis

[Guest porkysmom]

A quick update on Porky, who woke up last Wednesday unable to use his back legs. He's been back up and able to walk since Thursday night, but the poor guy is still wobbly on those back legs, and a bit on the front right one from time to time, too. However, he doesn't seem to care - he's snuck past DH to run up the stairs, jump on the couch ... all the bad things he's not supposed to be doing! Porky went to a neurologist on Saturday and she's convinced that it's not FCE and her main three ideas of what it might be are Valley Fever since he raced a lot in Arizona (we're waiting to hear back from the lab on that test), a spinal neuro something or other (he yelped and flung around at her when she applied pressure to a vertebrae close to his tail ... maybe 3 up from his tail ... he was totally fine when she applied pressure to the rest of his spine), or a neck neuro something or other that is causing the problem in his legs. At this point, we are trying to rule everything else out before we commit to the $1,500+ MRI that she suggested (she wasn't pushy, it was just an option). So for now Pork is on Tramadol and Gabapentin for the pain, and on serious doggie bed rest in his crate, which he HATES!

 

Which leads me to our newest problem - we can't sleep! Porky has spent his 5+ years with us sleeping in our room (which is now upstairs) and the last several years sleeping in our bed with us. His crate is set up in the living room where we can keep an eye on him during the evening, and also where it is cooler in the house during the hotter days. For the first few nights one of us would sleep on the couch downstairs near him and that seemed to appease him. But apparently he's tired of that and he will whimper and cry ALL night long even if we are down there with him. God forbid we both try to go upstairs to bed - then he whines, cries, whimpers, and barks non stop. The only thing that seems to appease him is sleeping next to his crate (yes, on the hardwood floor) and opening his crate door; he is a good boy and will stay in his crate at this point. He's not getting the rest he needs, and DH and I are each working on about 3-4 hours of sleep today. I have a call in to the neuro to see if she can recommend anything to help him with this anxiety or whatever it is. He even gets his pain meds right before we go to bed, so we hoped that would make him a bit drowsy but they aren't.

 

Can someone suggest something to help all three of us get some rest? Thanks!

[4My2Greys]

Just another thought I had, with the pain experienced in this area, could this possibly be lumbrosacral stenosis. Her is the link for more information on this

Lumbrosacral Stenosis

 

Judy,

Mom to Nadir, Beanie, and Bruiser

 

[Guest trevdog]

Sounds like he just needs to be with you....do you have an air mattress you could sleep on downstairs?

I know how you feel, I spent many nights on the floor with sick pups with little sleep. But I'd like to think it helped them feel better....

[Guest porkysmom]

Just another thought I had, with the pain experienced in this area, could this possibly be lumbrosacral stenosis. Her is the link for more information on this

Lumbrosacral Stenosis

 

Judy,

Mom to Nadir, Beanie, and Bruiser

 

Thanks so much, Judy! I sent the link to his doctor. Any info helps him at this point.

[Guest PreciousMom]

I had a foster a few years ago--11 months old--front broken leg. If I didn't sleep on the air matttres next to him in the same room with him no got any sleep. We tried Valairin (sp) Root which helped for awhile. Six weeks in a case is a long time, we tried melatonin (SP). Then went to vet after a while for something stronger. I hated to have to use drugs but he would chew the case, bark and carry on all night. So with the meds he got to sleep and rest and so did I. I did have to worry about him hurting himself the meds knock him out and let the leg heal. I know it took a few tries witht he vet to find the med that worked for him.

 

Good luck with find something that works with your pup. The air mattres was very helpful.

[Trudy]

Carry him upstairs and baby gate him into the room with you.

 

When Ryan was yelping in pain I'd carry him up and down the stairs to pee and to bed. After a couple of rides up to bed and down in the morning, he just went up on his own because he wanted to be up there with us.

[Greytlady94]

Your description of where the pain is sounds like LS to me also. I have seen Dr. Herron treat dogs with LS and talked to their owners, and this treatment, Depo Medrol, makes a world of difference in the dogs that it helps.

 

If it isn't possible to get him safely upstairs then an air mattress is probably the best solution.

[ahicks51]

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but LS is a degenerative disease; IIRC, Porky's first symptom was acute hind-end paralysis one morning, yes? I would think it would be unexpected to see that as the first presentation of the disease, particularly now that he's able to stand and jump on the couch and run up the stairs.

 

I don't have a copy of the greyhound medical manual- can anyone in there cite what is to be done after an FCE? Is confinement a necessity? I thought it was a self-limiting thing, i.e.: if the dog is willing to do it, they should be allowed to do so. Am I wrong?

 

If confinement *is* required, how well does he do in an X-pen?

[Guest nerak254]

This is how I ended up with hound #2, Jessica. Goody had broken her shoulder and was also confined for a long time. She got depressed....here's Jessica! They were good friends from the start.

[gracegirl]

Is he able to navigate the stairs? If so, I have a wire crate I can lend you for your bedroom while he's on crate rest. Just let me know!

Edited July 30, 2008 by gracegirl

[NeylasMom]

If he's on crate rest, you're going to have to come up with other ways to stimulate him and tire him out mentally. Some ideas - car rides to busy places where he can get lots of interaction with other people (if you can lift him in and out of the car), stuffed kongs that have been layered alternately with something soft (like PB or yogurt) and hard treats, then frozen, training - particularly teaching new tricks that don't require a lot of movement. Right now, I'm teaching my dogs to lick their lips when I say "yummy". You could do anything - speak, some sort of cute ear movement, rooing on command if he enjoys that, etc. Use a clicker and try shaping the behaviors so he doesn't get frustrated.

 

Of course, with many of those things, you'll need to cut way back on his regular meals so he doesn't gain weight. Although, on that note, why not stuff his meals into kongs as well so he has to work for them too. Or if he's allowed to walk around, hide small portions of the meals throughout a room and let him search for them.

 

Another idea, when Neyla had to be on crate rest for an extended period, she started to not tolerate the crate well (which she typically loves) so I set up barriers through the living room so she was able to walk around but couldn't run (it was too difficult to navigate around the things I had set up in such a small space). If you can babygate him to one room where you've done this when you're awake and able to supervise, he might be less stir-crazy in general. Sounds like you'll have to block off the furniture you're not sitting on though.

 

As far as sleeping goes, if you can carry him up and down the stairs, I would vote for doing that so he can sleep in your room with you. Otherwise, air mattress sounds good.

[Guest porkysmom]

Is he able to navigate the stairs? If so, I have a wire crate I can lend you for your bedroom while he's on crate rest. Just let me know!

 

He can go up the stairs, but he's not supposed to. DH can carry him up them though and he probably would love sleeping upstairs with us. Thank you so much for the offer to loan us a second crate - that would probably help him A LOT! How in the world do i personally email you from the forum? I clicked on your name but the system won't let me send a msg. I'm not very good with forums.

 

If he's on crate rest, you're going to have to come up with other ways to stimulate him and tire him out mentally. Some ideas - car rides to busy places where he can get lots of interaction with other people (if you can lift him in and out of the car), stuffed kongs that have been layered alternately with something soft (like PB or yogurt) and hard treats, then frozen, training - particularly teaching new tricks that don't require a lot of movement. Right now, I'm teaching my dogs to lick their lips when I say "yummy". You could do anything - speak, some sort of cute ear movement, rooing on command if he enjoys that, etc. Use a clicker and try shaping the behaviors so he doesn't get frustrated.

 

Of course, with many of those things, you'll need to cut way back on his regular meals so he doesn't gain weight. Although, on that note, why not stuff his meals into kongs as well so he has to work for them too. Or if he's allowed to walk around, hide small portions of the meals throughout a room and let him search for them.

 

Another idea, when Neyla had to be on crate rest for an extended period, she started to not tolerate the crate well (which she typically loves) so I set up barriers through the living room so she was able to walk around but couldn't run (it was too difficult to navigate around the things I had set up in such a small space). If you can babygate him to one room where you've done this when you're awake and able to supervise, he might be less stir-crazy in general. Sounds like you'll have to block off the furniture you're not sitting on though.

 

As far as sleeping goes, if you can carry him up and down the stairs, I would vote for doing that so he can sleep in your room with you. Otherwise, air mattress sounds good.

 

These are great ideas - thank you so much!

[greysandmollie]

I would vote for carrying him upstairs.

 

I am curious...what is the reasoning behind the crate rest from your vet? If the dog is willing to go up the stairs and it is not causing pain what is the worst that could happen?

[gracegirl]

Is he able to navigate the stairs? If so, I have a wire crate I can lend you for your bedroom while he's on crate rest. Just let me know!

 

He can go up the stairs, but he's not supposed to. DH can carry him up them though and he probably would love sleeping upstairs with us. Thank you so much for the offer to loan us a second crate - that would probably help him A LOT! How in the world do i personally email you from the forum? I clicked on your name but the system won't let me send a msg. I'm not very good with forums.

 

 

You have to reach 50 posts before you can send a PM...so in the meantime just email me at bufftibbs @ hotmail . com (remove the spaces)

[Guest porkysmom]

I would vote for carrying him upstairs.

 

I am curious...what is the reasoning behind the crate rest from your vet? If the dog is willing to go up the stairs and it is not causing pain what is the worst that could happen?

 

The ER vets and the neurologist all believe it may be some sort of spinal injury and if that is the case they don't want him moving around and reinjuring himself. This whole situation is new to me and overwhelming, so for now i am taking their advice for the crate rest (and looking for more advice from the forum) ... especially after last night when we let him out to go potty and he stepped off one of the rugs, onto the hardwood floor, and all four legs slid out from under him and he made an awful H shape on the floor with all of his legs splayed out around him and shrieked like nothing i have heard before. He didn't have the strength/coordination to get himself standing again and we both had to struggle with a very frightened boy just to get him standing on a rug again. He has an neuro appt this afternoon to make sure he didn't damage anything more when he did that.