Zuri Update & More Qx

[NeylasMom]

So if you read my earlier post you know I have this gut feeling that something has been off with Zuri, but I don't necessarily know what. A couple of people I think suggested testing for lyme so I decided to push up his annual a bit and get his bloodwork and snap test done this weekend. Snap test was negative for everything. I expect bloodwork back today, but don't expect anything to turn up there. The vet also did a fairly thorough examination for pain and couldn't find anything of note - said that his back felt good too, no snapping or popping as she went down it.

 

I do think he's been better lately. Some of the stuff I was noticing hasn't been happening although the leg licking has been going on a bit again the last few days. I have an appointment with the orthopedist for mid-March, which was the earliest they could see us, so sometime between now and then I need to decide whether it's worth going or if we're going to drop nearly $350 for a consult and x-rays to find nothing, so here's my follow-up question:

 

The vet suggested it could just be some arthritis starting. Not sure why I didn't really consider this, I think I just got focused on the possibility of LS. If it is, would it show up on x-rays? And where is it likely to be? We did x-ray that left foot and lower portion of his leg (that's where the dislocated toe was) and the x-rays were pretty much spotless, no signs of arthritis in that area at least.

 

If it's not likely to show up on x-ray, and LS is difficult to dx with x-rays I'm thinking we wait to see the orthopedist until the symptoms are more obvious. I didn't really care for the vet we saw on Saturday (I stupidly forgot to specify that I only see the one vet), but I think she pretty much thought I was crazy.

 

Zuri is 7 btw.

 

Update: My vet, not the vet we saw on Saturday called me back with the blood work results. Everything was normal. She agreed that she didn't think TBD was likely here and felt it was worthwhile to get the x-rays done at VOSM to check for arthritis or other issues based on what I've been seeing. I'm feeling a lot better about sticking to this plan now that I've talked to her - it's the conversation I had hoped to have when I took Zuri in on Saturday and I'm really grateful she took the time to talk to me on the phone today even though we had seen the other vet. She also mentioned that we could try Body Sore, a chinese herb blend. I used it for Neyla and may have some leftover, but I think I'll wait until after the appt in March and I'm going to start keeping a journal to help keep track of what's going on.

Edited February 27, 2012 by NeylasMom

[krissy]

If his bloodwork comes back and his kidneys look good you could try him on Deramaxx or Metacam and see if that resolves the pain.

 

In terms of the x-rays, arthritis will show up. Summit had a toe x-rayed last year because the knuckle was enlarged and bony. X-rayed it. Looked arthritic but had them repeated 3 weeks later because they weren't 100% sure and were concerned about potentially OS. Looked exactly the same. He also limps on his left front a little bit and I'm sure if I x-rayed that leg I'd find arthritis too, so I don't bother. I have a bottle of Deramaxx at home. Whenever he has a bad day he gets a dose.

 

Summit is turning 7 in May.

[NeylasMom]

We were using Deramaxx for his toe dislocation. I put him back on it before I left town for New Orleans because he was being dog-sat and if his edginess was from pain I didn't want to risk issues. He was totally fine with them, but when I got him back I took him back off of it and he was still fine. I'm going to pay more attention to exercise as well as weather and how they might relate to these signs of discomfort and see if I can identify a pattern.

 

Otherwise, my concern is where the arthritis might be if that's what it is and whether we'd find it on x-ray. I'm not going to pay the orthopedist to x-ray his whole body minus the bottom of his left leg. We could start with 2 views of his spine/back end or I could wait for the source of his pain to be more obvious. VOSM where I would be taking him also has really cool equipment like a gait analysis set up so that might be useful.

[Hubcitypam]

As far as I know the SNAP test doesn't pick up Babesia or RMSF (which caused my Harley to be creaky).

Gotta to a full panel to rule out TBD. You can have the vet draw blood and send it to Protatek or somewhere else overnight. I think the "greyhound special" at Protatek is still around $50 -$60.

[krissy]

We were using Deramaxx for his toe dislocation. I put him back on it before I left town for New Orleans because he was being dog-sat and if his edginess was from pain I didn't want to risk issues. He was totally fine with them, but when I got him back I took him back off of it and he was still fine. I'm going to pay more attention to exercise as well as weather and how they might relate to these signs of discomfort and see if I can identify a pattern.

 

Otherwise, my concern is where the arthritis might be if that's what it is and whether we'd find it on x-ray. I'm not going to pay the orthopedist to x-ray his whole body minus the bottom of his left leg. We could start with 2 views of his spine/back end or I could wait for the source of his pain to be more obvious. VOSM where I would be taking him also has really cool equipment like a gait analysis set up so that might be useful.

 

An orthopedic exam by your regular vet might tell you where the pain is in order to target your x-rays. The problem is, if you have a greyhound anything like Summit... you won't find anything. Summit is stoic to a fault. He'll be limping so I know he's in pain, but through a full orthopedic exam he won't wince even once. Then he gets back up and starts limping all over again. To be fair the most recent time was probably due to a corn, but previous to that... he'll pull up lame after running and I put him through full ranges of motion and nothing. Then he limps off almost hobbling on 3 legs.

[NeylasMom]

As far as I know the SNAP test doesn't pick up Babesia or RMSF (which caused my Harley to be creaky).

Gotta to a full panel to rule out TBD. You can have the vet draw blood and send it to Protatek or somewhere else overnight. I think the "greyhound special" at Protatek is still around $50 -$60.

Yes, that's true, but I felt like the symptoms are somewhat different and don't seem to fit as well as lyme would. Not ruling it out and certainly if people share more specifics that might change my mind I'll look into it further. We did a full panel back in November of 2009 and sadly at that time my vet charged me $60 to send the blood out (we did it through MSU that time) so the whole thing was $150. Not something I want to drop unless I am really suspicious.

 

 

An orthopedic exam by your regular vet might tell you where the pain is in order to target your x-rays. The problem is, if you have a greyhound anything like Summit... you won't find anything. Summit is stoic to a fault. He'll be limping so I know he's in pain, but through a full orthopedic exam he won't wince even once. Then he gets back up and starts limping all over again. To be fair the most recent time was probably due to a corn, but previous to that... he'll pull up lame after running and I put him through full ranges of motion and nothing. Then he limps off almost hobbling on 3 legs.

I think he would yelp if there were an acute source of pain that the vet located, but general arthritic pain or something like that, I bet he wouldn't respond.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Sam stood peacefully while his vet checked legs and flexed them and all. Then the vet started down Sam's spine. Still no reaction...until just one spot on his spine. Sam flinched just the tiniest bit. X-rays showed arthritis and a slightly herniated disk at that spot.

 

Even a stoic is likely to give away the location of a painful spot--at least enough of a give-away for an experienced vet. (Of course, on his last exam, when the vet got to the sore spot, Sam swiveled his head around and delivered the classic stink-eye.)

 

Spinal arthritis can manifest in all kinds of quirky pain reactions as the dog tries to learn to move without jiggling the sore spot on his back. In Sam's case, he'd tense up his spine when things hurt, and then he seemed to be having painful muscle spasms or cramps from the tensed muscles. He's on actual pain relievers (gabapentin) for the arthritis, but he also takes muscle relaxers (methocarbamol) to keep those back muscles from cramping.