Sore Neck!

[Guest luvdogs]

Hi everyone; for the past week or so, my female has a sore neck. When she sleeps and then gets up, she yelps and it is quite obvious it is sore. We have felt all over her neck and down her spine and we can't feel anything nor can we intiate the pain or make her yelp. I hate to rush her to the vet for nothing, any ideas?

[CaliforniaGreys]

I'm not one to rush to the vet, but hurting is not nothing. If she yelps, it hurts.

 

When it comes to the neck and the back, I wouldn't take chances, I would see the vet

[PrairieProf]

My girl had a sore neck (she yelped sometimes, not all the time) that the vet felt was muscular (i.e. not a spinal issue). Treatment was a week or so of Deramax, no running for a week, and several sessions of acupuncture (I requested this since I knew he does it and I'd heard good things about it here). He told me to walk her on a harness rather than a martingale, which I did for a month or so. Anyway, with this treatment the issue completely resolved. But you should definitely go to the vet to get it checked and to get some painkillers at the very least.

Edited January 31, 2010 by PrairieProf

[Guest Stargirl]

Well, it could just be a strain, but that was the first place my dog showed pain when her spine became inflamed. It got worse with a fever, more aches/pains and eventually was diagnosed with encephalitis. Does your girl flinch with her head at all? Appetite loss? Hope it is just a strain, the way they whip their heads around sometimes is scary.

[Guest Energy11]

I there wasn't any trauma (injury) to the neck area that you know of ... a fall, slip, pulling too tightly with her collar, etc., it would be a good idea to get it looked at. Even if you recall some type of trauma, I'd get her looked at, to be on the safe side.

 

Good Luck, and hope she feels better very soon!

[Guest wmlcml6]

I don't mess with possible neck injuries because the sooner treatment can start, the sooner the dog can get relief. I would include acupuncture if deemed appropriate. It can work wonders.

[Guest luvdogs]

Okay, thanks everyone, I will call the vet first thing in the morning.

[TinyMityMo]

one time Mr. Murphy started yelping with every stair going down. This was a few days after Dewey where I had a friend watch him walk to look for a limp. We both thought we saw something but it wasn't obvious. At the vet I demonstrated him walking in the parking lot where you could only see a slight rocking. So I had him walk down the stairs to their kennel area to demonstrate the yelp yelp yelp which he did going up. I had the vet xray his entire questionable leg from shoulder to toes but that was all clean. He had good range of motion with all his legs too. But, when the vet straddled him and gently pulled his head and neck high he reacted then. So the vet said it was a pulled muscle in his neck. He gave him a cortisone shot (don't know where because he did it while I had left him for the xrays) in his neck. It was an instant cure and Murph's never had trouble like that again.

 

good luck

[greyhoundlady]

What you described sounds exactly what my boy went through a few months ago. I immediately took him to the vet and it was a pinched nerve. You and your girl will feel much better having the vet check her out. Good luck!

[Guest GryffinSong]

If nothing else makes sense, and they can't diagnose it, they can do some blood tests. I had a borzoi many years ago who presented with pain in her jaw and back. My first vet couldn't figure it out at all. I went to a specialist in bones, and he thought to do blood tests. Turned out she had an autoimmune disease. We put her on something like prednisone but it was supposedly safer. I forget the name of it. She was on it for years, occasionally stopping it to see if she'd gone into remission. She eventually did, and lived the rest of her life drug free, pain free, and until a ripe old age of 16+.

 

Hugs and good luck!!!

[Ragsysmum]

It may well be a pulled muscle and I have had this on occasion with two of mine. I just massaged with firm circular movements from behind the ear right down the shoulder and leg on the affected side for a few minutes several times a day. This seemed to help and they were back to normal in a couple of days.

[silverfish]

I've learned over the years not to ignore signs of pain in my dogs, and last year, I learned a very hard lesson not to ignore neck pain. Not that I ignored it, but I didn't insist on further investigation soon enough.

 

Renie stared yelping on getting up, just a squeak, really. Then she started limping just a little. She went to the vet, of course, and had anti-inflammatories, and they did seem to help at first, but then she got rapidly worse one day and it was all downhill from there. She had a tumour, which had spread into her spine.

 

Not suggesting that your girl has anything remotely as serious - it's almost certainly just a pulled muscle. But I'd definitely go to the vet and get it checked out. At the least, as someone else said, you shouldn't ignore neck pain, because it can be an ongoing problem, but it could also be a symptom of something else entirely.

[racindog]

Its been my experience greyts have a tendency for neck/spine issues-at least mine have. It can be serious. You never know what those vertebra look like untill you see a vet and maybe get x-ray. Cash's are smashed together-very important to know in order to protect her from possibly serious consequences. Slim's were messed up too. If there's any tension involved on leading etc. I go with a harness now. I have not found greyt necks to be very strong. As noted above accupuncture works wonders.

[DaisyDoodle]

My Daisy has some neck issues. She's had oral steroids, Chinese herbs and acupuncture, and Metacam. So far, I think the Metacam works the best, but she's only been on it for a couple of weeks. She goes for blood work later this week. (She's been on it before without a problem.) Daisy has arthritic changes in her neck, but given a limp, we thought it was a paw or leg for quite a while.

[Guest bpcurl]

What you described sounds exactly what my boy went through a few months ago. I immediately took him to the vet and it was a pinched nerve. You and your girl will feel much better having the vet check her out. Good luck!

 

Hi, I'm quite new to this group(just joined this a.m.). I joined hoping to get some answers for my mom's Grey who is experiencing neck pain as well. Nothing shows up on X-rays at all. He has scaring on the neck from an injury at the track. No info came along with him. His name is Gotti, by the way and he is 7 years old.

He used to run the yard, then one day he yelped, started a slight limp and that was the last day he ran. X-rays of leg--top to bottom are clear. Foot and toe nails are ok as well. We are thinking pinched nerve.

He sees a chiropractor on a regular basis and he seems better, but has never gone back to normal. He is on a mild pain med, but he will still yelp, even in his sleep (which could be caused by running in his sleep). He bends his righ front paw backwards a great deal and we were told by the chiropractor it could be to shorten the nerve/muscle to relieve the tension that may be painful.

Has anyone had success with acupuncture? Hydotherapy? Those with the confirmed nerve damage, how was that confirmed and what treatment did you use. I know when I had a pinched nerve I just had to live with it until it became "unpinched". We are at a loss and would welcome any suggestions as would the vet and the chiropractor.

Thanks,

Pam--speaking for Gotti

[PrairieProf]

It may well be a pulled muscle and I have had this on occasion with two of mine. I just massaged with firm circular movements from behind the ear right down the shoulder and leg on the affected side for a few minutes several times a day. This seemed to help and they were back to normal in a couple of days.

 

Oh yes, I was told to do the massaging too -- forgot all about it! I did it several times a day for a few weeks, up and down the neck with firm circular pressure. Whether it helped or not, it sure put Beth into a trance.....

[Guest 2greygirls]

Sounds like a strain or pinched nerve, Bonnie has one, sometimes she does they same thing, yips when she gets up, raises om front foot, she has discomfort turning her head one way..I think it is related to an old recing injury ( she tumbled pretty hard in the 1st turn once, pulled a shoulder) She sometimes aggravates it, usually after running into her brother. I just give her a little aspirin, Massage, and I use a harness on her. I attempt to keep her activity down, ( I say attempt because she is a boisterous spirit and will leap in the air even when she hurts, the brat) If you are unsure, go to the vet for peace of mind and to rule out other things. Leda had the same thing, I think it can be common. Think of all the aches and pains old injuries can cause ex pro athletes. Ex racers can have some of the same issues.

[Guest Che_mar_Cody]

Please go see a vet ASAP My boy had pain and yelled it just broke my heart, so I took him the next day. Turned out to be a slipped disc.

[Guest bpcurl]

Well. Gotti has had X-rays and there dosen't seem to be anything wrong with his spine at all. We are leaning towards pinched nerve or nerve damage. I am interested in hearing from others that have gone through this with their greys and also those that have used acupuncture with good or bad results.

Thanks,

Pam

[Guest 2greygirls]

Glad the X-rays were clean. I have had two epsiodes with Bonnie. Because I know her racing history, I know she rolled, and injured her shoulder , so when she first yelped turning her head, I freaked out a but thinking something terrible had happened. Turns out it's a pinched nerve. She has pretty good mobility when it's flared up she just gets uncomfortable. I have npot tried acupuncture, though I would if I thought it woudl help. Usually a flare-up lasts about a week. I use a harness on her always now, as she tneds to have nutty moments. I notice that a heating pad, interspersed with some ice seems to help, although it is a guess as to exactly where the point is.. I just feel her neck for tightness, like a human, seems to work. Try to limit jumping up and down, my vet also said to limit stairs, or high curbs. The hardest part is when they are almost all better, and they want to play hard, and they re-injure it..Bonnie is incorrigible. good luck, and hugs to the pupper!

 

ETA the editor doesn't work well on my work computer, so I guess I have to live with typos as I can't reach all of them, weird.

Edited February 1, 2010 by 2greygirls

[Guest luvdogs]

After all the advice on here, I decided to investigate further. I felt all along her neck bi-manually, one hand on either side and I actually managed to find the area that is bothering her about 2 inches from the botto of her ear on the left side (if you go on a diagonal) it is definitely muscular, I could feel it spasming while I was massaging it. I gave her about a 15 min massage tonight (as people above suggested) and it was amazing to see how much she was appreciating the moderate pressure and circular motion I was applying to that area, she was leaning into it. I am going to try that for a couple more days before I take her in. Even after I did it, she was asleep within minutes and didn't yelp when getting up again. I felt around again and the muscle was much more "loose" after I massaged it. We shall see.

[PrairieProf]

That's good news. Beth leaned into the pressure that way too. Really dig those fingers in there -- that's what my vet showed me to do! I'd still encourage you to go to the vet and get a prescription for Deramax or something -- it's like doggy ibuprofen, which I'd certainly want to be able to take if I were sore that way.

[nyGreys]

Sending prayers.

[Guest wmlcml6]

After all the advice on here, I decided to investigate further. I felt all along her neck bi-manually, one hand on either side and I actually managed to find the area that is bothering her about 2 inches from the botto of her ear on the left side (if you go on a diagonal) it is definitely muscular, I could feel it spasming while I was massaging it. I gave her about a 15 min massage tonight (as people above suggested) and it was amazing to see how much she was appreciating the moderate pressure and circular motion I was applying to that area, she was leaning into it. I am going to try that for a couple more days before I take her in. Even after I did it, she was asleep within minutes and didn't yelp when getting up again. I felt around again and the muscle was much more "loose" after I massaged it. We shall see.

 

Excellent. It sounds like you are in tune with your girl, and I'm glad you were able to pinpoint the area. Acupuncture could probably help, but what you are doing with massage will, too. If that continues to help, then I would save my money.