Kelly's Back From The Vet!

[Guest Stripeyfan]

Kelly is home! A bit groggy, but we're keeping a close eye on him. He was given fluids during the anaesthetic as his kidney levels were elevated beforehand. Only very slightly, though - the vet thinks this may be because we had to fast him. We've got to check them again in a couple of weeks.

 

As for the results, well, the vet is stumped. The ultrasound initially showed what she thought was a cyst in Kelly's prostate area, so she inserted a catheter and aspirated it. However, it contained just a small amount of urine (clean, with no blood or any other nasties in it), and subsequent scans and x-rays were completely clear. No stones. They used a fairly large catheter and it went in easily, so no blockages or growths anywhere either. She has no idea what the pocket of urine could have been or why it was there.

 

She says that although they can't completely rule out a problem with his prostate, she thinks he may be suffering some sort of spasms in his urethra and has given us a short course of something called Hypovase (Prasozin), a muscle relaxer, to try. Has anyone here given their dogs anything like this? We are supposed to start at a half dose to see if he can tolerate it.

 

Of course now I feel HORRIBLE for putting him through all this for nothing - he has awful bruises where they took bloods/put lines in and has clearly found it stressful. But I guess you have to get these things checked out, right? And I'm RELIEVED he is ok!

[PrairieProf]

I'm glad you're on the other side of the procedure and that nothing major is wrong!

[4greyhounds]

I have always thought it is better to be safe than sorry. I am very happy to hear that it was not the worst. Hope he feels better soon!

[sabrina]

Kelly

[Charlies_Dad]

You're only trying to help your pup, there is nothing wrong with that. I am glad one way that there does not appear to be an issue and hope Kelly improves over the next few days.

[greyhead]

Sounds like good news to me and quite a relief!

 

Shane gets real bruised up whenever he's had to have a procedure (MRI, blood draw, cystocentesis -- well, lots of blood in the urine sample from that one) at the specialty facility rather than done by his regular vet. The specialty place is also an ER, and the techs are used to regular dogs, and they're used to doing things fast! If you handle a greyhound like a regular dog and/or fast like an emergency, even a blood draw will leave a bruise! All we can do is tell them to take it easy if there's a next time. I won't beat myself up if you don't!

[mychip1]

I'm sure you are feeling some relief!!! You did what was best for your baby!

 

 

[JJNg]

She says that although they can't completely rule out a problem with his prostate, she thinks he may be suffering some sort of spasms in his urethra

Some male greys are prone to a condition called "tying up" where muscle spasms make them unable to urinate a normal stream. In greys, this seems to be trigged by strenuous exercise or stress. It would explain the straining to urinate with poor flow, but usually doesn't cause the leaking or needing to go out at night. Although it might cause those signs if the spasms make him unable to empty his bladder, so he has a full bladder at night.

 

Similarly, reflex dyssynergia is a neurologic condition seen in middle-aged, large breed male dogs, that causes the same signs. It's not really understood what causes this. Symptoms are treated with medication when they occur.

 

Of course now I feel HORRIBLE for putting him through all this for nothing

Don't feel bad, and you didn't doing it for 'nothing'! With signs that could potentially have indicated something serious, the tests were the best way to go to rule those out. Now you can have peace of mind that it's not one of the worse possibilities (like a tumor).

[Guest Stripeyfan]

Some male greys are prone to a condition called "tying up" where muscle spasms make them unable to urinate a normal stream. In greys, this seems to be trigged by strenuous exercise or stress. It would explain the straining to urinate with poor flow, but usually doesn't cause the leaking or needing to go out at night. Although it might cause those signs if the spasms make him unable to empty his bladder, so he has a full bladder at night.

 

Similarly, reflex dyssynergia is a neurologic condition seen in middle-aged, large breed male dogs, that causes the same signs. It's not really understood what causes this. Symptoms are treated with medication when they occur.

 

Thank you jjng, that is really interesting. I will have to look into these and ask the vet about them when I phone her next week, although I don't think it's 'tying up' as Kelly's symptoms seem to occur when he's been resting for a long time. It might be a bit of a stretch, but I do wonder if this is somehow connected to the head spasms he had when he was on pred last year, which also only seemed to happen when he was resting. Maybe he is prone to muscle spasms?? Who knows...

 

Also, I am not going to start giving him the Prasozin today as it can cause GI upset. As he has IBD and had to miss all his meds for that yesterday, I want to make sure he isn't going to have a flare-up which the Prasozin might make worse. It can also cause low blood pressure (in humans, it's used to treat high BP) so all in all I'm a bit nervous about giving it to him, although I will try the low dose if he seems otherwise ok.

 

This morning he seems fine – no spasms and no needing to go out in the night. He gobbled his breakfast and gave me the 'when are we going for a walk, then?' look, and his bruises are fading already, so I don't feel so bad now. Like you all say, if we hadn't had the tests done and then this turned out to be something serious – well, that really would be something to feel bad about. Thank you for all your good wishes and advice, I don't know what I'd do without this place!

 

[Batmom]

I'm glad his tests came out clear and that he is feeling better today. Handsome fellow .

[Guest ravenchilde]

Aww, Kelly. Miley gives you some licks and is happy to hear Kelly is on the mend!

 

(I also felt bad when Miley came home with a huge bruise on her arms and neck from blood draws. They only took about 4 days to fade, but still made me feel bad.)

[greyhead]

Glad to hear Kelly is doing better. You're a greyt mom!

[Guest Stripeyfan]

Thanks for the continued good wishes. I'm sure I don't need to say just how much they're appreciated. Kelly still seems fine, no symptoms since we got him home and his bruises have gone. I've been giving him an extra turnout in the evenings, which I think has helped – makes me wonder if this was something to do with his bladder getting over-full??

 

We decided (for the time being) not to give him the Prasozin – I couldn't see the point of giving him something that had such potentially disastrous side-effects, and would at best make him feel crappy again, unless he really needed it – especially when we only recently got him off pred. The vet supports this decision.

 

Miley, Shane and Spencer – Kelly sends some wags right back at ya!

[EllenEveBaz]

Sending all sorts of cyber pats and scritches to your handsome stripey boy.