Going In For An X Ray Friday

[Guest mtnbluebird]

Our Folsom's been limping since November 1. He saw our vet who thought it was a soft tissue injury, was put on anti-inflammatory medication for 2 weeks, but the limp never got better, it was just a light limp when it started, only visible when he was walking slowly. It got worse in December so we brought him back in, joyfully we thought he might have had a corn (there's a rough, kinda circular patch on one of his pads on the leg he's limping on) but our vet wasn't familiar with corn removal in dogs. I'd heard it was a "greyhound thing" through internet research (link... http://www.grassmere-animal-hospital.com/corns.htm) and the procedure to hull them was bloodless and basically to pop it out with a spatula tool. But she insisted that the only thing that makes greyhounds special is their reaction to certain medications, and they don't get mystery ailments that other dogs don't get, and warned that pad surgery would be a long messy procedure that would still result in a limp (I agree, I just thought a corn removal was a quick painless thing). She tested him for lyme... negative.

 

So she referred us to the emergency hospital in our state and we're going for an x-ray friday. She mentioned it could be bone cancer, but Folsom's a young dog, 3 and a half, and it could be one of those unexplained limps. His limp is so bad this week, the worst its been. Poor thing barely gets around on his two good legs.

 

I'm hoping for good news, he's our "good boy, so so good" :-/

[Guest GreytMuse]

Your vet is partially correct, greys do react to some medications differently, but they also have other 'special' things about them...

Two outstanding resources for your vet:

 

Greyhound Medical Idiosyncrasies by Dr. Feeman, DVM

Greyhound Bloodwork by Dr. Stack, DVM

 

Forgive me if this is information you already have!

 

I'm sorry I have no advice on corns, but I do so hope that your x-rays turn up clean and you find a correct diagnosis for your pup.

 

 

[patricia]

Sending many prayers and gentle hugs.

[sweetdogs]

and they don't get mystery ailments that other dogs don't get,

Sometimes it seems that's all they get.

 

Best wishes for clean x-rays (& maybe a new vet?). If there's any doubt about the x-rays, have them sent to Dr. Couto at OSU to look at.

 

Corns can be very crippling but thankfully not fatal. If his x-rays come back clean, look into therapaw boots among other things for his corns. I just ordered some for my boy yesterday.

[Guest mtnbluebird]

Thank you so much for those resources. I didn't have the information, I just asked the vet if she was familiar with treating greyhounds, and she said she is. I took her on her word. Its a low cost clinic, so they don't have a ton of medical equipment at their disposal. Its just close by and very cheap. I don't want to sacrifice quality for price, but so far they've been good for us. We went to a vet recommended by our adoption group shortly after adopting Folsom to get his old track injury limp looked at (different leg) and it cost us $250 for a basic exam, a week of rymadyl, and a blood test. Plus it was a serious drive away in a tough section of town with large concrete steps up to the door (our boy doesn't do stairs)

 

We're going to the very expensive place for X-rays just because I got a bad vibe from the other place that's close by recommended by the receptionist at our current vet. When I asked if there was a vet on staff that was familiar with greyhounds the receptionist said "oh no one likes to do greyhounds, when they go down they go down hard". Um. No.

 

We're hoping for the best and giving extra cookies :-)

[MP_the4pack]

I'm going thru the same thing as you right now with my 4 yr old. I'm going to check her for corns, but she's already been xray'd. They're currently clean, but she still has a bad limp (3-legged).

 

 

good luck with your xrays!!

 

 

 

 

[Hawthorn]

I'm going through the same thing with my 4 year old too, so I know exactly how you feel and how worried you are, and will be watching this thread and hoping for a good outcome.

 

[queenwinniesmom]

It's terrible to not know. When you don't know, you worry. We'll be thinking of you and hoping it is good news on Friday.

[duncan41]

I have one with a mystery limp, too. Clean xrays and I'm still worried to death. Fortunately, while my Vet is just a little stubborn when it comes to buying into the "greyhounds are different" credo, he will do EXACTLY as I ask and will search to the ends of the earth for answers. (I secretly think that he searches just as much to prove me wrong as anything else. ) So, if you think you have a Vet that's receptive, I would use the resources of GT and use search engines to see what other information is out in cyberspace, print it out, take it to your Vet and be specific with your requests/demands.

In the meantime, we're sending prayers that after Friday, you will still be dealing with a mystery limp.

[Guest mtnbluebird]

Update: Folsom is being held at the vet for x-rays. They are going to sedate him and want to monitor his recovery so I'll pick him up after work. I'm extremely impressed with the orthopedic vet we saw this morning. He thoroughly checked all 4 of his legs, asked about his old racing injury, walked him up and down the hallway to see his gait (something the other vets haven't done yet) checked him for neural damage (by placing the top of his paws down, and seeing if he corrected them). He also checked his teeth and ears and generally did a whole body check. The vet noticed he's lost a little muscle in the leg he's been favoring but all other things checked out fine. They will do an x ray of his shoulder, wrist, and elbow.

 

Right now some of the possible diagnoses the vet threw out there are bursitis, possibly a bone spur in the shoulder, although he doubts it since a specific manipulation he did should have produced a pain reaction out of Folsom. He definately does not have a corn, and he's in fantastic shape apart from the limp. If its not a problem with his leg the vet mentioned it could be a neck injury, slipped disk or something like that. I'm picking my boy up after work, and hoping for good news!

[Guest GreytMuse]

Continued good thoughts for Folsom. Thank you for the update, I'd been thinking about you both.

[Hawthorn]

I've been thinking about you too and will be keeping my fingers crossed for good news.

[Guest trevdog]

Sending good thoughts...

[Guest mtnbluebird]

The X-rays came up negative, no tumors, no signs of arthritis, no bursitis or weird things going on with the tendon in his shoulder but the vet thinks it's neurological because he's holding his head down while walking, indicating pain could be in his neck. According to him it could be a Disc Disease, which he explained to me (and I may have gotten this wrong, he threw a lot of information at me at once!) puts stress and pressure on his nerves and inflames them. Surgery may be needed to remove part of a disc in his neck. Or it could be brachial plexus disease, which is usually caused by a trama, which Folsom has never had with us. Apparantly that involves pea sized tumors in his nerves which could migrate up into his spinal cord. Treatment is surgery, possible loss of the limb/amputation.

 

Unfortunately an MRI to diagnose him will cost $1500.00 so we've decided just to treat his pain symptoms. We love him dearly but we just can't. If he's got nerve tumors and we don't treat him eventually they will migrate into his spinal cord and he'll lose use of his legs. I think I'm going to call again just to get all the information, cost of surgeries, life expectancy for the two suspected diseases... ect.

 

I'm going to pick him up in a few hours, and we're going to try a combination of pain meds. Apparantly gabapentin is a drug that helps with nerve pain.

 

All of this is worst case scenarios I think, He's only 3.5. It could just be a random bad limp that may just go away. :-/

But then again, we got the results we wanted- a nice clean x-ray!

[Batmom]

Keep an eye on that rough circular patch on his pad -- that could indeed be a corn. Does he walk better on soft surfaces than on hard?

 

2nd thing -- if it is a back/neck thing, you might want to try an anti-inflammatory like prednisone for a week or two, coupled with 3 weeks leash-walking only, no jumping up/down onto beds/cars/sofas, no going up and down stairs.

 

Hugs and best luck.

[RobinM]

Continued good thoughts for your boy.

[djsgreys]

Keep an eye on that rough circular patch on his pad -- that could indeed be a corn. Does he walk better on soft surfaces than on hard?

 

2nd thing -- if it is a back/neck thing, you might want to try an anti-inflammatory like prednisone for a week or two, coupled with 3 weeks leash-walking only, no jumping up/down onto beds/cars/sofas, no going up and down stairs.

 

Hugs and best luck.

 

I have to agree - that rough circular patch does sound like a corn. And they can certainly be painful and cause the increased limping that you describe. I was convinced that one of my fosters had "something" going on - her limp didn't improve with anti inflammatories, x-rays were clear, even went for chiro treatments. Nothing worked - until we discovered the corn on the pad of her foot - the vet had missed this as well.

 

Check this forum for some of the threads on corns and removal options. I'm sure glad I did. My girl is now living comfortably - most the time that is.

 

 

[tbhounds]

I would really check that pad carefully. Vets sometimes overlook the little picture looking for that home run--there's a time and place for that. What you can do is wet the bottom (either water or baby oil) of the pad and re-examine the surface. You can also squeeze each and every pad and see if you get a pain response on any one of them. Does he limp less on softer surface's??

[patricia]

So glad the films were negative. Sending prayers for a quick and full recovery.

[tbhounds]

I wanted to add--there's a simple test to isolate the pain. Your vet could ringblock his foot (numb it from the wrist down)

Foot numb-no limping =pain in foot.

[Guest Annieya]

Both sympathy and best wishes to you and your pup, Folsom. We've been in that exact position for the past month so I know how you feel. Our new, grey-savvy vet gave us a couple of things to think about - even dogs who've had corns before (as Pearson has) with no visible pain in the past can experience a particularly painful one that is unlike anything they've had before - second, with pain in the front paws, because they're really the weight-bearing ones, small pains can show as much larger (Pearson has a small corn developing on a front paw). Keeping fingers and paws crossed here that you continue to get good results on Folsom's health and things improve there! There's little more stressful than "Mystery Limps" so take good care - the both of you!

[Guest argolola]

Sending prayers for your little sweetheart. Thank goodness the x-rays were clear.

 

We went through something similar with Lola and she was on pain meds off and on for a year. There was a weird thing on her foot pad, but none of the 3 vets she saw could figure it out. She even had it checked while under sedation for eye surgery. We finally figured it was from walking on rough pavement. Once she stuck to dirt and grass walking only, she was fine and has not limped in over 1 1/2 years.

 

Please keep us posted on how Folsom is doing. God bless.