Guest anujin Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 My greyhound is 5 and a half years old. Since I first adopted him almost 3 years ago he has had a few cases of lameness. Each time I put him on Rimadyl, minimal rest and after 2 weeks he was back to normal.... until this past March. Since then he has had chronic lameness off and on, mostly in his front right shoulder. Currently it's to the point where he can hardly walk. He's been undergoing chiropractic treatments and massage therapy, which seem to do nothing. He had xrays done today, which turned out normal. I'm very frustrated because he has seen 4 vets, all of whom have greyhound experience/have a greyhound and no one has any idea what the problem could be or what I can do to help him besides putting him on medication. The next step is to take him for a neurological exam/MRI.... but I have so many questions about that next step. What will an MRI show? What kind of damage could he have that is causing the limp.... and can it ever be healed so that he can live a normal life? And of course, though I will do what I can to get him what he needs, I'm worried about the cost. I've read that MRI's are over $1,000.... and I want to make sure that it will really help him. Any advice/help is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brandimom Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 I can only speak from my own experience with my grey and a few friends with their non-greys. Brandi was limping several years ago, had x-rays and showed a bone chip and vet suggested surgery. I tried the PT first, swimming therapy, massages, etc and nothing helped. We have always done holistic care with the acupuncture/chiro and then my holistic vet suggested prolo therapy (www.getprolo.com). My holistic vet had prolotherapy done on his knee and he is back to running now. We did six sessions of prolotherapy and after the first session we saw an immediate improvement (they recommend six sessions which is why we did it). We never did have the surgery and never did look back. A friend of mine's dog tore his ACL and decided to do the prolotherapy and the dog is doing fine, no surgery. It certainly would not hurt to check with your holistic vet about this procedure. I would have it done on my dog again in a heart beat. PM if you want to discuss it further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trihounds Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 We just had an MRI done on Bumper's spine as he has had a second bout of neurologic interruption to his back legs (caused by swelling for an unknown reason). I am not sure about ALL MRIs, but those I have heard about, the dog needs to go under general anesthesia, can easily take 90 minutes of imaging time, and our recent bill was $2300 for just the MRI process (including the anesthesia, meds, and other fluids). If it gives you the answer that you need, sometimes it is less cost in the long run than being seen by multiple vets, multiple tests, Xrays, etc. All it told us was that Bumper's swelling was not disc, muscular, or skeletal in nature - basically, his MRI was 'normal', so it doesn't always give you an exact answer! Good luck to you and your pup and to GT! Quote Doe's Bruciebaby Doe's Bumper Derek Follow my Ironman journeys and life with dogs, cats and busy kids: A long road Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryJane Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Has the dog been checked for corns ? My greyhound had limping issues on and off and the vets were just not sure what was causing it -- turned out to be corns. The vets were not really "greyhound aware" but, it was the biggest animal hospital in Boston so someone there should have picked it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleptogrey Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 not only checking for corns but what about a tic borne illness. i just noticed a good sized corn on my female's front paw, couldn't hull it since she wore the edges off walking, but also noticed a soreness in the wrist joint. she is presently being treated w/ doxycycline for lyme which is common in the area. the last time she was lame the doxy did the tick. a lot cheaper than a mri to say the least. also the lyme test sometimes read as false negaitives and false positives. my vet treats the symptoms. if the doxy doesn't work then we will look further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bets Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Hi, I'm new to this, but do want to take full advantage of the wealth of information here. I've just discovered my dogs limp is cause by a large corn. Someone has recommended Bert's Bee's products. I'd like to hear from anyone else with this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest anujin Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 Thanks for all the replies. He has been checked for corns and the pain is definitely in his neck/right upper shoulder. He has limited range of motion in those areas... it's the only firm conclusion anyone has been able to draw. I'm really having a hard time making a decision as even the vets don't seem to know if it's necessary to have the MRI or not. I don't mind spending the money, but like BrucieDad's experience, I don't want to end up spending thousands that won't help him. I guess what I'll have to do is make an appointment with the neurologist and hope he can help me make some decisions - I've been told that it's a wait of a few weeks to get in. In the meantime the Rimadyl seems to finally be kicking in and his limp has lessened a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawthorn Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 As the xrays haven't shown up anything, why not take him to a chiropractor to see if that helps? Sunny has had intermittent lameness on his left front leg and the first vet had no idea what was causing it. The second (greyhound) vet we saw found a problem in his neck with a misalignment of one of the bones. He said this injury is very common in greyhounds, mostly after a fall or collision. Sunny had had a collision with his sister 10 weeks before we saw any symptoms. We tried painkillers and muscle-relaxants but they didn't cure the problem. The second vet said he could manipulate Sunny's neck under anaesthetic but I wanted to try a chiropractor first as I felt that was less invasive and risky. So, to cut a long story short, Sunny has seen the chiropractor 5 times now and is very much improved. He is going longer and longer between appointments, the last interval being almost 3 months. Might be worth trying before going down the MRI route? Quote When a relationship of love is disrupted, the relationship does not cease. The love continues; therefore, the relationship continues. The work of grief is to reconcile and redeem life to a different love relationship. ~ W Scott Lineberry Always Greyhounds Home Boarding and Greyhounds With Love House Sitting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest anujin Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 He's been having chiropractic treatments and massage therapy for the past month - they said that chiropractically he is doing much better but his limp has actually gotten worse. I'm going to inquire about acupuncture when I'm there this week and also have blood work and a Lyme disease test done before the MRI. At this point I'm leaning towards soft tissue damage in his neck or shoulder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawthorn Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Sorry - I missed the part in your original post where you said he was already having chiropractic . Quote When a relationship of love is disrupted, the relationship does not cease. The love continues; therefore, the relationship continues. The work of grief is to reconcile and redeem life to a different love relationship. ~ W Scott Lineberry Always Greyhounds Home Boarding and Greyhounds With Love House Sitting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UESBrindle Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 not only checking for corns but what about a tic borne illness. i just noticed a good sized corn on my female's front paw, couldn't hull it since she wore the edges off walking, but also noticed a soreness in the wrist joint. she is presently being treated w/ doxycycline for lyme which is common in the area. the last time she was lame the doxy did the tick. a lot cheaper than a mri to say the least. also the lyme test sometimes read as false negaitives and false positives. my vet treats the symptoms. if the doxy doesn't work then we will look further. I second checking for tick diseases. William was liming for a while after we took him out of town for a vacation. We figured he'd been liming because he ran a lot, but after 3 weeks we went to the vet and she did a tick panel and he did have trace of lyme in him, so he was on 1 week of previcox because if he awas liming, they assume it's clearly in pain, and then a month on doxycycline (which we'll be wraping up next week), and we've also been keeping him relatively more rested than before (1 less walk per day) and we haven't seen any liming come back. I hope it's something as simple as this.. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleptogrey Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 "a month on doxycycline"uesbrindle -that is what my vet does, how many mgs and how many times a day? i am currently administering 100mgs/3xs a day for my 60lb female, for one month. you are the only person i have heard of whose vet is using the same regime. was thinking of asking on gt, just wondering the norm. i usually don't second guess my vet, he has serviced my hounds really well for 30 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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