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Spine/disc Issues


moofie

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Been to the vets with Hattie tonight as she was acting oddly when we got home, standing looking distant with head down and occasionally looking at flanks or bowing to stretch The few times she did try to lay down, she yelped when getting up.

 

Vet checked her over and she's hurt the L7 disc so has had an injection tonight and some Predniscare & Tramadol for the next few days and told to rest up for a month (no sofa/stairs or walks). Hattie does seem a bit better now and has finally gone to sleep but was up & down earlier and panting a lot, felt terrible seeing her so uncomfortable. Luckily the vet that came in to see us was the orthopaedic specialist, he runs the sister referral practice and suggested we book a follow up appointment there to have it properly looked into.

 

Not sure if anyone can offer advise with it still rather vague, but any support is welcome.

 

Preparing to sleep downstairs tonight, time to test the new sofa bed. Thankfully Throps toe lump seems to have just about healed and were done with the paw baths, but will be fun trying to manage him & Pru (heffalump) so they don't bump Hattie.

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Think we had the same thing going on. If I had to do it over, would have gong to OSU.

 

Do you feel they would have given better care then?

 

Not that OSU is an option to us and will see what this vet advises next, he seemed good at least. Just hoping won't be a massive bill & they except direct payment from the insurance company.

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Not sure if the vet discussed this but Tramadol can cause restlessness and panting.

 

I hope everything goes well and Hattie gets back to herself soon.

Alicia and Foster Yoshi ( pit bull) 

Always in my heart: WV's Milky Way 6/25/2000- 4/22/2013, Hank ( St Bernard/Boxer) ???? - 10/3/2017 and Sweet Pea (English bulldog)  2004 - 6/19/2019

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Hi Moofie

 

Yes Doc suddenly appeared to be in a lot of pain last May - head down, reluctant to walk which is very unlike him - and x-rays showed a compressed disc in his spine - I think also L7, at any rate in the pelvis area. There was also some arthritis so we think he'd done it some time before but had been being stoical until the pain got too bad. Also his right hip was painful, probably down to an associated pinched nerve.

 

My vet initially put him on anti-inflammatories, a fairly hefty dose of tramadol and very restricted exercise. I also found a lovely local physiotherapist with lots of greyhound experience who does home visits - she is an NHS and veterinary physio, who volunteers at our rescue - who was able to make him a lot more comfortable, just with massage and cold laser therapy initially and then manipulation too as he got less sore. She also gave us various little exercises to do daily between visits which we still keep up. My vet's offers hydrotherapy on the premises and though Doc was unenthusiastic about the water treadmill a course on that helped build his muscle back up too. Acupuncture would have been another option to explore.

 

All this worked well for Doc who is now happy and comfortable and back to enjoying long walks! He will always be on the anti-inflammatories - liquid Metacam/Meloxidyl - the vet says the liquid form is easier on the stomach and kidneys, but also that Meloxidyl is just a generic version of Metacam so she is happy to write me a prescription for whichever is cheapest online! He has stayed on the Tramadol for quite a while thanks to some other unrelated health issues (surgery on one paw for a lump on his toe, then an infected wound on the same foot, then removing the lump when it came back again) but fingers crossed he is now over those and we have got the dose down to half a pill every other day, and should have phased it out altogether within a month. Vet tells me it is works best to scale it down slowly like this because of the way it works on the ?nerve receptors - otherwise you may get a misleading result. I also give him a joint supplement daily.

 

If the rest/physio/hydro hadn't worked, the other option would have been surgery of course. But Doc is older than your Hattie I think - eleven last August - and talking that through with my vet (not an orthopaedic specialist but very experienced and sensible, someone who will always give an honest answer if asked 'what would you do if it was your dog?') and the rescue I felt it wouldn't be fair to put him through it. It's major surgery, which would have had to be done at a specialist facility and involved a stay of several days, for an uncertain outcome.

 

Hope that's helpful - ask if there's anything else you'd like to know!

Clare with Tiger (Snapper Gar, b. 18/05/2015), and remembering Ken (Boomtown Ken, 01/05/2011-21/02/2020) and Doc (Barefoot Doctor, 20/08/2001-15/04/2015).

"It is also to be noted of every species, that the handsomest of each move best ... and beasts of the most elegant form, always excel in speed; of this, the horse and greyhound are beautiful examples."----Wiliam Hogarth, The Analysis of Beauty, 1753.

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Sam had a pinched nerve, was limping, whimpering and hopping on three legs. He was in a lot of pain and He was on a lot of pills. We did not want to have the surgery.

 

At the suggestion of many good people on this site, I tried a dog Chiropractor. I was NOT a believer in Chiropractic care. Sam has had three visits now. His limp is gone. He is enjoying his walks and today played with squeakies for the first time. We have reduced his pills.

 

If you have not considered Chiropractor care please do. I am amazed at his progress.

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Thanks for the replies, glad to hear Doc & Sam are feeling better now. I'll look into a doggie chiropractor, i've used an osteopath myself in the past which was helpful. I need to check the insurance policy too as not sure what the coverage is for complimentary care which i think chiro and hydrotherapy etc will fall into. Its a shame as i wanted to switch Hattie & Throp to a higher cover policy but DH didn't get round to sorting it out so now were stuck with them, sods law!

 

Hattie seems to be feeling better now with the meds and is getting about ok, she even trotted off to the kitchen on hearing the biscuit tin last night. She does have a slight limp (it is the disc near pin bones) and is on crate rest as she will try to clamber on the sofa and it avoids other dogs knocking her, luckily for a greyhound its not much hardship. We've only just bought the crate for Pru as she jumps the dog gate when left, so not sure what i'm going to do with her as don't think we've room for a 2nd.

 

 

We've an appointment at the referral practice Friday morning with the same vet i think, so expect we'll know more then.

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My first greyhound, Sugar, had this problem, and acupuncture made a world of difference for her! I saw some improvement right away, and it took about 6 weeks to get the full effect, but she was about 90% back to normal. She had many other health issues, plus being 12 yrs old, but the acupuncture gave her another good year (she passed from unrelated issues). Hope Hattie is feeling better!

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Been to see the same vet at his referral practice today (i think its also his home), he gave Hattie a check over and feels that as she's responded so quickly to the medication (behaving pretty much as normal now) that just crate rest for a month and then 3x5min walks per day building up by 2 minutes per day will hopefully do the trick & prevent further damage. He showed us scans of other dogs disc issues to explain the 3 common things that could happen, bulging, moving into spinal chord and pinching it and a piece of disc exploding into the chord causing damage along the way. We found that interesting, one scan was a Dachshunds.

Vet also mentioned she had some tension in her right elbow/shoulder, which i think would be the inside leg on the track so could be old. Hattie was very well behaved and made the vet laugh as she was like a statue being checked over, but not relaxed enough for his reflex reaction tests.

 

Its been hard to keep Hattie from trying to jump up on the sofa, us and the fence to look for cats just in the short time she gets out of the crate. Thankfully, is not too much of a hardship for a greyhound on crate rest though and she has the best spot next to the radiator in this cold weather as our house can be drafty.

 

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Guest dwolfe711

When we adopted Apollo at 12yo (he was a return) he had rearend and other health issues. We cleaned up a lot of his problems with a dental that left him with only 5 teeth! I was not a believer in accupuncture but decided to give it a try - it helped him immensely and he was with us until 13.5 when we lost him to a sinus tumor. Allie had accupuncture for several sessions at 15yo - I didn't see as much of an improvement as with Apollo. And right now our 13.5yo Ellie is getting treatments every three weeks. She has disc problems and the accupuncture really helps her. She walks better, gets up and down easier and just overall seems to feel better. We've found a wonderful accupuncturist who comes to the house in the evening - Ellie loves her and knows exactly what is going to happen when she walks in the door. It may not work for everyone but in these three cases it certainly has worked for our pups. Good luck with your girl -

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Guest happygrey

Hattie doesn't look as though she minds being in the crate one bit!

 

Glad to hear that she responded so quickly.

 

Sorry I missed this when you first posted it. Sending hugs to Hattie are all the boys here with me. :)

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