Old Tripods Os Survivors

[Guest 2magicracers]

If anyone has/had an old tripod due to OS, I need your feedback. My girl is a one year OS survivor and now 12 1/2. She has been weak in her back (lost back leg March 22nd 2011) and I worry she won't be able to walk soon. Oncologist is increasing NSAIDs and other pain meds but not helping. Getting accupuncture and perhaps helping a little but not much anymore. Has anyone used Adequan on their old Grey? Anyone with old OS tripod survivors, I could use some do's and don'ts and your experience. All of my girl's other tests check out ie chest xray, leg xray, blood work urine etc - all fine!

[mom2four]

Hello, here is our experience with Jamey, a right front leg amputee. He was not quite as old, he was 11 at the time. He had just been rediagnosed with osteo in his hip in Sept 2010 (after being cancer free since June 2009), This was a week before Christmas 2010- he started getting very weak in his hind legs. He was on Metacam and tramadol at the time. The vet suggested gabapentin and it was as if a miracle had happened, he improved so much. He was still declining, but the decline was much slower. Jamey left us on Sept 18, 2011.

 

I hope that you will be able to find something to help your girl!

[DaisyDoodle]

Please check Eddie's Wheels. They make carts for disabled animals and have made many for greyhounds.

[MP_the4pack]

I actually had the amputation done on a 12 yr old. Diamond had cancer in her front leg. She had 6 months of quality life until OS hit a back leg.

 

She lost the battle at 12 1/2 yrs old.

 

I hope you are able to get a few more months, even years with your girl.

[greysmom]

You might also try adding in massage therapy. It really helped to keep our osteo amputee loose and mobile. Gabepentin is an awesome drug as well, and very effective for greyhounds in combination with tramadol for pain relief.

[NeylasMom]

If the pain meds aren't helping, you might look into whether she has LS affecting her spine. It's at the forefront of my mind because I was just reviewing Dr. Stack's article and she mentions that typical pain meds - NSAIDs, etc. - don't help because it's a neurological issue. Depo-medrol injections are recommended, but that article is a bit old so I don't know if neurological drugs like the Gabapentin that someone else mentioned would help.

 

A good chiropractor who can do doggie massage as well may be a good option to look into, but I think you need to get to the bottom of what is causing her issues. If it's something that can't really be treated, then I think you might be looking at a situation where you'd have to choice between something like what DaisyDoodle mentioned and letting her go.

 

I hope you can get something figured out and can get her some relief.

[GreyPoopon]

This may not be relevant at all, but Jessie, not an OS amputee, has a wobbly back end and a leg that sometimes doesn't work (generally right after she's gotten up). She has been helped by Methocarbamol, which is a muscle relaxant.

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

Morgan was 10.5 when his front leg was amputated for OS. He made it to 13.5 when he was euthanized due to LS. His back-end started having problems around 12 years old. We had him gabapentin which seemed to help some. It progressed as he got older. We tried the depo injection once and it didn't help. A few months before he was euthanized, we had a physical therapist come to the house, evaluate him and write up a PT plan. He had lost a lot of muscle tone and range of motion in his back legs. We did PT on him the last few months. When he started losing control of his bowels, we decided he'd been through enough.

[Guest 2magicracers]

Thanks everyone for all your feedback, and my condolences for all the houndies on the Bridge who have lost to OS. My girl and I keep fighting and hope she keeps up her strenght and the monster won't attack again. We had her back leg and hip xrayed just to make sure and thank goodness it was clear. We have decided to try Adequan. If it is stiffness and artheritis, it will help. If it helps and she gets stronger, we will take up swimming at the Canine Physical Therapy Faciltiy (nice heated jet pool - they take the hounds in with life jacket and physical therapist). If it does not help, we try something else. She is still walking ok and even running but has some real bad days. In her younger years, she tore both of her thigh gracillus muscles, so that does not help either. She is a very determined alpha girl and all her doctors say she is far from giving up. She is black and her name is Tinkerbelle aka the "black Queen".

 

I like to share with all of you, I also lost my boy last year to OS (July 10th). But before OS attacked him, he ruptured his L2 and L3 disc February 2011. He was paralyzed almost immediately when I rushed him to Neurology. The surgeon was amazing and after a 5 hour spinal surgery, he survived. He was hospitalized for one week and then spent one week in Canine Rehab. He had to learn to walk all over again and there was no guarantee he would. Well, he did!! It took him 4 weeks before he took his first step and was running in 8 weeks. Although he walked wobbly, he walked and ran like a rabbit with both of his hind legs togehter. Then a few months later, he broke his leg just to find out he had OS. Since his spine was unstable, he was not a candidate for amputation and I had to let my handsome boy spread his wings. He flew away one month short of his 12th Birthday. All during this time, his sister was fighting her own OS battle. My boy was precious and his name was Doc aka Studmuffin.