I Need Lots Of Good Thoughts For The Wizard

[3greys2cats]

Adding my positive thoughts for you and 'the Wizard", glad to hear that you are getting the second opinion, hoping it turns out to be nothing and your worries subside, hard not to worry when it is one of your precious babies, will keep you all in my thoughts.

[racindog]

I a little concerned about the deramaxx. Perhaps I'm confusing Merlin with another hound but, doesn't Merlin have diarrhea flairs?? If so, I would be very hesitant to start with a NSAID-- tramadol might be a safer option here.

While it's extremely unlikely to see osteo in a foot nothing is impossible. If you're like me you won't rest until you get a second opinion-- absoultely send the films to OSU. Keep us posted!

I was thinking the exact same thing.

[MerlinsMum]

I a little concerned about the deramaxx. Perhaps I'm confusing Merlin with another hound but, doesn't Merlin have diarrhea flairs?? If so, I would be very hesitant to start with a NSAID-- tramadol might be a safer option here.

 

No, you're not confused - he has IBD! The vet said to wait at least 24 hours before giving him Deramaxx to make sure his stools are okay and he didn't develop a flare-up from the anxiety of the visit. His stools have been awesome, so we are thinking of starting him on Deramaxx this evening, but I have a call into the vet and I am waiting to hear back from her discuss yesterday's proceedings with her over the phone, since I couldn't be there. I will mention about Tramadol. She told DH to try the Deramaxx and check in with her if he gets diarrhea from it.

 

The last thing I need right now is for Merlin to develop a med-induced flare-up. He has been doing SO well in that department since we upped his Metro to 1000mg a day.

[Guest greytbookert]

Thinking of you and Merlin!

[duncan41]

Feeling much better about our favorite Wizard! Kerry, I know you're a mess, but that's what the Mother of a Wizard does...............stands in the background and worries. Keeping the faith and praying for good news from Dr. C!

[Tallgreydogmom]

I would send the X-rays to OSU. Not to freak you out, but a lot of us have dealt with the "it's not osteo" original diagnosis only to find out the vet was wrong. If there's "something" on the X-rays, I would want Dr. Couto's team to look at it, for sure.

 

I Ditto this.

 

Having dealt with Osteo 6 times, please have OSU look at the x-rays.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Kerry, was the "moth-eaten" phrase your DH's? Or the vet's? If the vet's, once you get an all-clear from OSU, gently explain to your vet why "moth-eaten" is not a phrase greyhound owners ever want to hear. Tell her she scared the bejeebers out of us.

 

If the phrase was DH's, maybe he was seeing something "normal" but just didn't read it right?

 

Thinking of you all...

[MerlinsMum]

Kerry, was the "moth-eaten" phrase your DH's? Or the vet's? If the vet's, once you get an all-clear from OSU, gently explain to your vet why "moth-eaten" is not a phrase greyhound owners ever want to hear. Tell her she scared the bejeebers out of us.

 

If the phrase was DH's, maybe he was seeing something "normal" but just didn't read it right?

 

Thinking of you all...

 

It was DH's expression. My vet would never say that. First because it would be unprofessional, and secondly because she had a greyhound herself - a beautiful black girl called Goofball, whom she misses a lot. She knows what it's like to live with that fear.

 

We weren't able to connect today - I left a message but didn't get a call back -- this is virtually unheard of for her (I've lost count of the times she's called me from her cellphone after a long day rather than have me wait until the next day to talk to her) so they must have had been incredibly busy or had some emergency case to deal with. I will speak with her tomorrow. In the meantime, though, I freaked myself out reading the instructions that came with Deramaxx and decided to wait one more day before starting him on it. I know she wouldn't have givn it to him if she thought there was a serious risk of a bad reaction, as she knows what we've been through with his IBD - we've practically lived thre since Merlin's fist flare-up in March! But I will wait until I've spoken with her directly, I guess I need to be reassured because I would hate for him to have another flare-up.

 

As for Merlin - he tried to do zoomies in the yard at lunchtime I had to rush over and stop him

[DesiRayMom]

It's hard to keep a good wizard down. Luvu Merlin!!!

[NeylasMom]

Kerry, you could ask your vet about giving pepcid and/or carafate before giving the Deramaxx to try to minimize the impact. The serious concern with Deramaxx is stomach ulcers, which is separate from issues with the intestines. Not saying any medication couldn't cause GI side effects, and I would probably be very cautious of introducing anything from a pain med to an AB with a dog with Merlin's recent history, but I don't think it's out of the question that you try it. I might want to first know what I'm treating though to be certain he needs it. Often vets use NSAIDs as a go to when they're not sure what's going on, but if for instance he has a bacterial infection, you'd want to focus on treating that with high doses of ABs and maybe use Tramadol to minimize pain in the meantime. I think. I'm not a vet.

 

You never said, is it just a toe, or his foot, or is that one of the things you need to find out from your vet when she calls you back?

 

How's Merlin feeling in the meantime?

[MerlinsMum]

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write a proper update - week from hell. Enough said

 

Well, it's official, DH is never taking the hounds to the vet again without me, because he can't report back and make sense

 

The vet diagnosed arthritis in his toe (why couldn't he just say that? ) I spoke to her at length on Thursday evening. She says she is absolutely not worried by the calcification in his shoulder, that it is very slight and extremely common and that extensive manipulation did not result in any sign of pain. She offered to take a digital picture of the x-rays (they did do both legs for comparison) and upload them to VIN to see if anyone specializing in orthopedic trauma could provide additional comments. My vet's office apparently does not have the tools to take digital x-rays so can't send them to Dr. Couto, but at this point I feel good following our thorough conversation on Thursday, so for now I am happy to go with her suggestions.

 

As mentioned above, my vet has been pretty much seeing us or talking with us every week since the end of March when Merlin had his first IBD flare-up, so she is familiar with his history of IBD and did not prescribe Deramaxx lightly. She was convinced it was the right choice for him because of the inflammation caused by arthritis, but wanted to make sure that the Metro was doing its thing before trying it. He's been taking Deramaxx since Thursday and his stools have not suffered in the least, which is a relief. However, I also have not seen a great improvement in his limp yet. The way we left it is that I am going to keep giving him half a tablet daily and then call her Tuesday morning (Monday is her day off) to discuss things again and re-evaluate his meds if necessary.

 

THANK YOU for your continued advice and good thoughts!

[DaisyDoodle]

Please take a look at this thread about Daisy's toe/neck/limp. We went around for years trying to figure out what was going on.

 

Linky

 

 

In the end, we had the toe amputated and she still has issues with her gait occasionally but she is 95% better.

[Remolacha]

Glad you finally have a coherent report and a good one! Fletcher has IBD, and when his arthritis started getting worse this last year, (in his hips now, as well as his shoulders ) we went to a combination of Tramadol and Metacam. So far, so good! I don't know how you feel about alternative medicine, but I have started giving him Yucca Root drops, and it has really made a difference, to the point that I am able to cut back on his other meds, and it hasn't triggered a flare-up. I can understand if you don't want to take the risk, though.

 

Oh, and he gets a milk thistle capsule everyday, now that he is on daily Metacam.

[GreyPoopon]

What a relief.

 

I hope he gets some relief--and no side-effects--from the Deramaxx.

[maggiespet]

I hope the Wizard is feeling better soon. Maggie is tolerating the Deramaxx quite well, but she doesn't have IBD. Hugs to you and Merlin.

[crazygang]

What a relief.

 

I hope he gets some relief--and no side-effects--from the Deramaxx.

 

 

Ditto that!!!! Sending hugs to you all Kerry....

[BatterseaBrindl]

What a relief.

 

I hope he gets some relief--and no side-effects--from the Deramaxx.

 

My thoughts, exactly.

 

Glad he has had good poos after being on the meds for a few days.

 

And give him a big ole smooch from me!

Edited September 10, 2011 by BatterseaBrindl

[JJNg]

She offered to take a digital picture of the x-rays (they did do both legs for comparison) and upload them to VIN to see if anyone specializing in orthopedic trauma could provide additional comments. My vet's office apparently does not have the tools to take digital x-rays so can't send them to Dr. Couto

If she can take digital photos of the x-rays to upload to VIN, then you can send those same digital photos to Dr. Couto. X-rays actually reproduce pretty well this way if you have a decent digital camera.

 

Glad you got some more information directly from the vet and are feeling better about this.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I would keep up with the Deramaxx, and also strict leash-walking only until the limp subsides. He's going to want to run around before he's 100%, but that will only make the recovery take longer. Best of luck!

[Guest greyhoundgirl1]

Been following this thread. So relieved about Merlin's diagnosis. Hopefully his arthritis can be successfully managed and he can continue to enjoy a long life with you.