darcie983 Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 Good morning! I have been stalking this site for sometime, getting answers and ideas to many questions I have had concerning both my greys' health. I finally decided to take the plunge. My black grey Lou has had a really tough year. He was diagnosed with spinal meningitis myelitis on December 2 (by a highly recommended specialist at Southern Cali Vet Hospital) after an mri of his spine and brain. He even had a spinal tap procedure. This poor pup. He has been on prednisone since then and is starting to wean off and is now on 5mg every third day for the next six weeks before we have another checkup. There are really good days and not so really good days. Lou is such a trooper! He hasn't yelped since he went in to the vet in December. I totally wish he could tell me what was hurting! His back right leg is weak and we made two steps for him to use when he wants to get on the couch (too bad he forgets how to use them sometimes. Stubborn boy). He has a decent limp when he gets up from sleeping on one side for too long which is OFTEN. His body is so hot to the touch. His head feels like fire when you pet him. I am starting to wonder if I should monitor his temp for a week or so. And a scary thing for me is that his left eye is starting to sink in again. It tended to sink often when before he was diagnosed. He is only 8.5 and his bday is November 19. We didn't think he would make it to Christmas last year and I know its asking a lot of him, but I want him to be around for his birthday and Christmas this year. Anybody have any experience with these types of issues? I trust my vets completely (we have a collaboration with the specialist and our VCA vet) especially since the specialist is where Greysave takes their newly acquired greys to be fully vetted and to be taken care of in the event surgeries are needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeh2o Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Hi Darcie! I don't any have any experience with this, but my heart goes out to you and Lou, this sounds incredibly tough. Are you working with Dr. Berry at SoCal in Irvine? He's a fantastic neurologist, he really pulled my girl through when she had an FCE. Have you discussed Lou's situation with Cathy or anyone else at GreySave? If not, please consider doing so, there are so many knowledgeable people there. Please keep us updated on how he is doing. My email is: clkruzan at gmail dot com if I can be of help or put you in touch with someone. Quote Sunsands Doodles: Doodles aka Claire, Bella Run Softly: Softy aka Bowie (the Diamond Dog) Missing my beautiful boy Sunsands Carl 2.25.2003 - 4.1.2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawthorn Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 Do they know what caused this? Bacterial? Autoimmune? I would definitely take his temperature every day for the foreseeable future as it's a good way to monitor if his condition is under control. Take it at the same time every day and write it down somewhere so you can see any trends. Maybe he needs to be on a higher (perhaps daily) dose of prednisone to keep his issues under control for the time being, or even for life. Quote When a relationship of love is disrupted, the relationship does not cease. The love continues; therefore, the relationship continues. The work of grief is to reconcile and redeem life to a different love relationship. ~ W Scott Lineberry Always Greyhounds Home Boarding and Greyhounds With Love House Sitting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darcie983 Posted August 23, 2016 Author Share Posted August 23, 2016 (edited) Hi Darcie! I don't any have any experience with this, but my heart goes out to you and Lou, this sounds incredibly tough. Are you working with Dr. Berry at SoCal in Irvine? He's a fantastic neurologist, he really pulled my girl through when she had an FCE. Have you discussed Lou's situation with Cathy or anyone else at GreySave? If not, please consider doing so, there are so many knowledgeable people there. Please keep us updated on how he is doing. My email is: clkruzan at gmail dot com if I can be of help or put you in touch with someone. Why yes we are! Dr. Barry is amazing. We have also been working with Dr. Korner(Corner-not sure which spelling) as well. To make it even more awesome, our VCA vet was did the majority of her training with Dr. Barry. I am actually waiting on a call back from Corner or Barry so we can discuss whether or not to increase Lou's dosage back to 10mg a day. He seemed to do much better with that. I actually did not think about contacting Cathy. That is an excellent idea! Do they know what caused this? Bacterial? Autoimmune? I would definitely take his temperature every day for the foreseeable future as it's a good way to monitor if his condition is under control. Take it at the same time every day and write it down somewhere so you can see any trends. Maybe he needs to be on a higher (perhaps daily) dose of prednisone to keep his issues under control for the time being, or even for life. They suspected Autoimmune. Poor Lou's MRI results were shocking. Where there should be black/shadows around the spinal cord-it was completely white. It was a wonder why he was able to withstand the pain. His counts (can't remember which) where they are supposed to be a much lower number where well into the 400s. I agree with the question as to whether or not he should be increased on the Pred but we are going to wait to see what the Drs. say. As for taking the temp everyday, I have mentioned this to the hubby and we are going to get a thermometer and some covers so we can keep track. I will make a worksheet so we can monitor. He DOES love it when we ice him after the walk--he gets one large icepack for his hips and one smaller one that travels up and down his spine. Thank you so much you guys. One more question...how the heck do you post pictures? For some reason when I go to upload, it doesn't allow me to create a post/folder! I would love to add my two boys to this site! Edited August 23, 2016 by darcie983 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawthorn Posted August 23, 2016 Share Posted August 23, 2016 One of mine had a serious autoimmune issue and had to stay on 10mg of prednisolone daily for life, and at times we had to increase this for a while. He had some side effects from this, mainly muscle-wasting, but lived until he was 11.5 (he was on prednisolone from the age of 6). Let us know how he gets on. Quote When a relationship of love is disrupted, the relationship does not cease. The love continues; therefore, the relationship continues. The work of grief is to reconcile and redeem life to a different love relationship. ~ W Scott Lineberry Always Greyhounds Home Boarding and Greyhounds With Love House Sitting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darcie983 Posted August 23, 2016 Author Share Posted August 23, 2016 Well, just got off the phone with Lou's specialist and they are going to put him on gabapentin along with upping his pred dosage back to 5mg everyday for the next month. Then we will give them a call for an update. If the signs are not positive, then we will make an appt to bring him back in. Even the hubby said it doesn't matter, he will call for a substitute that day at school and we will get him there. If it is good, then that is good. Wewill then try to lower his pred dose back to every other day. The reason for the gabepentin is because of the disc in his lumbosacral and nerve damage. I went to wipe his behind today after a potty moment and as I lifted his tail to get a better wipe area, he dropped his butt to the ground. I was so scared. But Dr. Corner said that is normal in dogs with that type of deterioration. She sounded confident in that this is going to help but as with all cases, you never know. I am heading to the pharmacy to pick up meds and supplies for doggie temp taking. Thank you for all the good thoughts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sportingfields Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 healing hugs and prayers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seeh2o Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 Well, just got off the phone with Lou's specialist and they are going to put him on gabapentin along with upping his pred dosage back to 5mg everyday for the next month. Then we will give them a call for an update. If the signs are not positive, then we will make an appt to bring him back in. Even the hubby said it doesn't matter, he will call for a substitute that day at school and we will get him there. If it is good, then that is good. Wewill then try to lower his pred dose back to every other day. The reason for the gabepentin is because of the disc in his lumbosacral and nerve damage. I went to wipe his behind today after a potty moment and as I lifted his tail to get a better wipe area, he dropped his butt to the ground. I was so scared. But Dr. Corner said that is normal in dogs with that type of deterioration. She sounded confident in that this is going to help but as with all cases, you never know. I am heading to the pharmacy to pick up meds and supplies for doggie temp taking. Thank you for all the good thoughts! Have you considered acupuncture and possibly cold laser? My girl had an FCE in Dec 2014, that's how she ended up in Dr Berry's care. When she came home after 8 days in the neuro dept at SoCal her regular vet started acupuncture and cold laser right away. In the last year and a half she continues to get it, she has had quite a bit of lumbosacral work, it has been incredible. It has been great complimentary therapy to what she recieved at SoCal. I don't know if Dr Berry believes in it, but he has been respectful of it at the very least! Quote Sunsands Doodles: Doodles aka Claire, Bella Run Softly: Softy aka Bowie (the Diamond Dog) Missing my beautiful boy Sunsands Carl 2.25.2003 - 4.1.2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeorgeofNE Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 All you need is a regular thermometer and mark it "dog" in sharpie marker. No need for covers, really! That's what I do anyway. The other one is marked "human," of course! Poor dog. Sounds awful. Quote Susan, Hamish, Mister Bigglesworth and Nikita Stanislav. Missing Ming, George, and Buck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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