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Possible Neck Pain Or Nose Pain.


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In the beginning of January Jasper my 6 year old greyhound was experiencing some neck pain when he would lift his head/neck from a resting position. Generally it was happening in the early mornings when he woke up but occasionally would also happen during the day when he woke up from a nap. He would yelp loudly in pain. He is actually a very stoic greyhound so when this occurred we became concerned and made an appointment with our very greyhound savvy vet (A & A on Long Island). The vet did a physical exam (no-x-rays) and thought the problem was possible arthritis, pinched nerve or some muscle pain in the neck. There was stiffness when he manipulated his neck from side to side.

He put Jasper on Deramaxx 100mg for 7 days and then 50mg for another 7 days. Problem completely resolved. I should add my dog showed no lameness, he is very well muscled (no wasting), no dragging his back feet, teeth are great condition. Appetite is great. This was also the case when we first noticed the neck pain, meaning no other symptoms.
On to what is going on now: Last week we noticed that he randomly cried out in pain when he would bump his nose against us—like when you accidentally back into your dog—he would cry out. It happened several times since last Thursday. We are pretty observant dog owners and it is very specific. His nose touches or grazes something and he yelps. It is not all the time—just on occasion. The other day he went to grab one of my gloves off the shelf and yelped again-which makes me think sudden neck movement and thus the sudden pain. This morning when my husband was petting him-he accidentally grazed his nose with his leg and our boy yelped again! This is “the” only symptom. Everything else is normal. He plays, goes on long walks, has a great appetite. We have two greyhounds and our older boy is not at all stoic-any little thing and he will let us know. Jasper can tolerate more. Which is why we are super worried.
We went to our regular neighborhood vet last Friday (we have two vets—the greyhound savvy vet on LI and our local vet who is also good just not as greyhound specific) and he said that he still thinks this is a neck issue and referred us to a neurologist. We are seeing the neurologist next Tuesday. Also complete blood-work was done last week, and other then a low thyroid everything is fine (I don’t really care about the low thyroid, he is a greyhound).
Has anyone had any similar experience? I am kind of freaking out. Thank you for reading!
Edited by forevergrey
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neck and shoulder issues can do some very weird things. it makes sense that nerve pain from an inflamed joint will spark up periodically when the head/neck are in the wrong position. i have that right now--- but mine is emanating from the rotor cup. neurological exam??? wouldn't an orthopedic person do the trick? i would call a&a rather than schlepping out there, it's a haul(i live in yonkers and have helped schlep the gh from this area out there for spay/neuter and dentals). speak with your a&a vet and describe what is going on. he may decide on a simpler approach. funny, i was just chatting w/ a good friend who is a vet and discussing how vets today are sending their clients out to specialist and for tons of testing, ah, paying off those $$ machines....arthritis can show up in hounds as young as 6.

 

for orthopedic specialist you have tops at the AMC. i ended up at KB VET/dr. palamari was excellent.

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Hi thanks for the reply!

A & A is my regular vet. We take our greyhounds there all the time. However we already went there in Jan. for the neck issue and while it did resolve for about 2 months, now it appears to be back but effecting the nose/head area. We love A&A however our vet wanted us to see the neuro vet at VERG, they also have an ortho vet on staff and from past experiences they tend to collaborate with each other. I have a feeling the ortho vet will take a look at my greyhound. I like VERG and had good results with their specialists in the past. Plus they are much closer to us in Brooklyn then AMC. I just want to know what is going on and if it's manageable..... So worried.

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River had serious neck pain not long after we adopted her. We took her right to the emergency vet where she tested positive for Lyme disease. She was treated with pain killers and a very expensive course of antibiotics. Several months later we saw similar symptoms again. She was retested for Lyme disease. The Lyme test was clear, so we opted for X-rays which revealed some disc issues. River's neck issues have been resolved with anti inflammatory drugs for the time being. Good luck to Jasper.

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Tricia with Kyle, our senior mutt dog 
Always missing Murray MaldivesBee Wiseman, River, Hopper, Kaia, and 
Holly Oaks Holly
“You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.“          -Bob Dylan

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I would strongly recommend a CT or MRI to evaluate the discs in the neck. Neck pain can be caused by protruding discs, and in some cases surgery is recommended. I just went through this with my oldest hound, not quite a year ago. I noticed the occasional yelp, usually at night when he was laying in his bed and occasionally it was when I moved his head toward me while brushing his teeth. He was otherwise great though, running around with our other dog and going for walks without any other concerns. Then one day he was laying on a dog bed, and he went to sit up (he was laying flat on his side) and he screamed and started paddling around in a panic crying. I helped him up onto his chest and then to his feet and he was in severe pain. I took him to my local referral centre for a consult with one of the surgeons and we decided to CT him to find the disc (which we did) and we then followed with surgery.

 

Now, I will say that I have never seen a dog have such a bad reaction to this surgery as my dog had. As a vet I've seen lots of these dogs post op, and I didn't hesitate to go for surgery because I know how well they do after as a general rule. But it is spinal surgery after all. Summit was a roller coaster after. He was completely paralyzed in all 4 legs after surgery, which I have never seen happen before (though I was aware that in theory it was a risk). Fortunately, we believe he was just very sensitive and had a lot of inflammation post op. It took 3 weeks to get him back up on his feet, and by 6 weeks he was doing pretty well. It's now been about 10 months and he's basically 100% and pain free. I'm really glad I went ahead with surgery, though I could have done without the roller coaster ride!

 

Here's the original post and the 6 week update.

Kristie and the Apex Agility Greyhounds: Kili (ATChC AgMCh Lakilanni Where Eagles Fly RN IP MSCDC MTRDC ExS Bronze ExJ Bronze ) and Kenna (Lakilanni Kiss The Sky RN MADC MJDC AGDC AGEx AGExJ). Waiting at the Bridge: Retired racer Summit (Bbf Dropout) May 5, 2005-Jan 30, 2019

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Had several hounds with neck/cervical spine issues. Most were adequately managed with extra extra care and Robaxin and Tramadol. Had a little black female though (Cash) that had severe trauma in her cervical spine- the vertebra were all smashed together-it was awful. She also had a broken untreated hock and broken teeth. Poor thing looked like she had been in a war. She was in pain everyday and there was nothing that could be done to fix such damage. Remarkably she never let it slow her down and was quite the little socialite-everybody knew and loved Cash. Most people never suspected the pain she endured because she always was such a happy little girl. But one vet told me once that I didn't realize how much pain she had everyday. She did pretty well-all things considered- until her lower back was suddenly injured (by the years of abnormal stresses put on it from walking on the crippled leg). She suddenly went down with rear end paralysis and her spine just deteriorated from there and she crossed over a few weeks later at 12 yoa.

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  • 2 years later...
19 hours ago, Jasjag said:

I realize it had been  a long time since forever grey posted this initial post.  Did you find a solution to your greys problem ? Our four year old is having similar symptoms. 

our Zeke has been having the exact same issues as the original poster -- neck issue and he would yelp when his nose was touched, like if he went to rub on the side of the bed or one time when Bruce just went to pet him.  He's been on 300mg Gabapentin 3 x day for the last couple months.  Hope your pup feels better.  I don't know why the nose would cause pain other than I think the neck pain hurt when he moved his head downward, and that's what happened when he cried out from the nose.  Weird.

Kim and Bruce - with Rick (Rick Roufus 6/30/16) and missing my sweet greyhound Angels Rainey (LG's Rainey 10/4/2000 - 3/8/2011), Anubis (RJ's Saint Nick 12/25/2001 - 9/12/12) and Zeke (Hey Who Whiz It 4/6/2009 - 7/20/2020) and Larry (PTL Laroach 2/24/2007 - 8/2/2020) -- and Chester (Lab) (8/31/1990 - 5/3/2005), Captain (Schipperke) (10/12/1992 - 6/13/2005) and Remy (GSP) (?/?/1998 - 1/6/2005) at the bridge
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." -- Ernest Hemmingway

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