Back End Weakness

[Guest kar]

snow has mild hip dysplasia confirmed by xray. lately it has been bothering her more. Took to vet and she gave her tramadol, and said I might want to consider putting her on a anti inflamatory. she can only take one kind as she has mild kidney disease - she is 10. any one have any ideas about this.

[rsieg]

I can give no help on the hip dysplasia, but I recall you had a post recently about how Snow is sometimes unwilling to walk very far. I would think this condition affects her willingness/ability to walk, maybe folks with veterinary knowledge can add something on that (e.g. should her walks be limited to some shorter distance?). Hope you can get the hip dysplasia managed well.

[macoduck]

My new senior, Allen, had recent xrays showing osteoarthritis in his lower back and hips. The week before I adopted him he had a pronounced limp. After a week on Carprofen (Rimadyl) the limp is gone.

 

He, too, has mild kidney disease and we will do testing periodically to make sure the Carprofen isn't having an adverse effect. We've also taken him off the very high protein food he was eating.

 

His previous owner said he could only tolerate 15 minute walks maximum, 3-4 times a day, for the past several years. Now he is running in my yard in brief spurts.

 

I don't think the Tramadol is helping your girl much. Ask your vet and Carprofen for the inflamation and Gabapentin for pain.

[Guest kar]

had a bad experience with one of my other greys who is now gone when he was on rimadyl. he started vomiting blood. so I'm a little afraid of that and my vet would not even give it. Is rimadyl an anti inflammatory? she had mentioned a new drug that had come out that is not supposed to hurt the kidneys. Do you think an anti inflammatory is a good idea?

[dante2zoe]

Maggie will be 12 in 2 weeks and has rear weakness. We got her in January and promptly placed her on Robaxin, gabapentin and gentle exercise. Our walks routinely consist of an incline of some type - the joys in living on a hilly road. Anyway, getting strength in the hind quarters has helped tremendously, when coupled with the muscle relaxer and gaba. When she is really creaky and cranky, I give her Previcox, which also helps. She has come a long way in a short period of time. Also, if she is favoring limbs, check for corns. It has been my personal experience that an altered gait helps with the development of corns and treating those also really helps.

[Guest kar]

maybe I will call the vet and get the medicine. Muscle relaxer or anti inflammatory?

Edited April 18, 2017 by kar

[ramonaghan]

Sweep has an old toe injury and does well on Previcox but did not do well on Meloxicam (GI upset within a couple of days). Rimadyl did not seem as effective for her specific issue. All are anti-inflammatories. So it can be a process to find the best fit, and what works for one dog may not for another dog. Unfortunately you can't know until you try, but if you find one that works it can improve their quality of life so much. Sweep is only 7 and I resisted NSAIDs for so long, but no amount of supplements or alternative therapies alleviated her limp; only the meds do the trick. Best of luck to you and Snow.

[Remolacha]

Conner has multiple cause gimpiness, but his main issue is a sore shoulder resulting from an old foot injury on the opposite side that threw his gait off. He is on gabapentin and sees a chiropractor. You want to be careful and see an animal qualified chiro, because it can help in some cases, but make things worse in others. Honestly, in your case I think a chiropractor might not help, but if there is one in your area it wouldn't hurt to ask. Acupuncture might help as well.

[Guest kar]

vet said if I want I can try a new anti inflammatory that has come out. I have forgotten the name, but might just try it.

[GreytTerp]

Just following this thread, as we're starting to see some of the same types of things many of your have mentioned in our just-turned-eight Marvin. Thank you all for sharing what has worked and not worked for you. Marvin will likely be headed in for a general old-man wellness check and leave with some of the above after we move next week. He was fine at his annual visit in January, where we declined any meds for him, but he has been showing his age on and off the past few weeks. He will seem uncomfortable and not want to walk, and then the next day, or even just two hours later, will walk so fast almost 2 miles that I'm almost jogging with him to keep up. It's hard to tell when he's playing me (he will only want to go someone where he thinks he will find 'food' outside sometimes, and I can't move him easily in any other direction), and when he just isn't feeling well physically. We would like to be prepared for days when we know that he isn't feeling his best.

[dmswartzfager]

The new anti-inflammatory is called Galliprant. We don't carry it where I work, but I have heard that it is expensive (which makes sense, since it is a new drug with no generic equivalent). https://www.elanco.us/galliprant/vet/

[NeylasMom]

The new anti-inflammatory is called Galliprant. We don't carry it where I work, but I have heard that it is expensive (which makes sense, since it is a new drug with no generic equivalent). https://www.elanco.us/galliprant/vet/

This looks promising! Longest safety study is only 9 months, would like to see longer, but that was at very high doses. Looks like it would be about $80 for a 1 month supply (at least for Violet, who is about 60 lbs). Certainly not cheap, but hopefully the price will drop with time.

[GeorgeofNE]

Gabapentin is for nerve pain, not general pain.

 

As someone who had actual hip dysplasia myself, they started me on an NSAID, then I graduated to a stronger one, then to Tramadol, then to hip replacement.

 

All doggy NSAIDs require regular blood monitoring, so if your vet wants to try Rimadyl or Deramaxx, I'd go ahead and do it.

[Guest kar]

has anyone else given their dog Galliprant. Do you think I should start her on this?

[dmswartzfager]

This looks promising! Longest safety study is only 9 months, would like to see longer, but that was at very high doses. Looks like it would be about $80 for a 1 month supply (at least for Violet, who is about 60 lbs). Certainly not cheap, but hopefully the price will drop with time.

 

The veterinary pain management community is certainly very excited by the apparent safety of this drug. But as someone pointed out, similar to Rimadyl, we are not likely to see any potential significant adverse effects crop up until there are thousands of dogs taking the drug. In a brief review of the comments in the Veterinary Anesthesia Nerds group, the biggest concern that has been seen so far is two dogs (of ~100) losing their appetite, which is mentioned as a potential side effect on the package insert.

 

has anyone else given their dog Galliprant. Do you think I should start her on this?

 

I think it is worth a try. Based on the commentary from the pain management group, it appears to be helping most dogs placed on it. The ones it doesn't seem to be helping as much are generally dogs that are already on several different types of pain medications. I would recommend having monitoring blood work done; while it is not supposed to significantly affect liver or kidney values, it is still a very new drug, and greyhounds can be weird.

[Guest kar]

my vet said she wants to keep her on the low dose tramadol until Monday and to give her a call then.

[Guest kar]

Vet put snow on galliprant for her leg problem. I know she has mild hip dysplasia diagnosed by X-ray two years ago. Her leg has gotten worse. She has been scraping her back leg for a few years now. Vet had asked about that too. She is ten now. Does anyone else have a dog that scrapes her back leg? She said if this does not work in one week do I want to pursue X-rays. I am afraid to put her out again because last time the anesthesia really bothered her. I just walked her around the block tonight. Not a lot for a dog that walked close to an hour one or two months ago. I am really worried.

[tbhounds]

had a bad experience with one of my other greys who is now gone when he was on rimadyl. he started vomiting blood. so I'm a little afraid of that and my vet would not even give it. Is rimadyl an anti inflammatory? she had mentioned a new drug that had come out that is not supposed to hurt the kidneys. Do you think an anti inflammatory is a good idea?

https://www.elanco.us/galliprant/vet/

[turbotaina]

Vet put snow on galliprant for her leg problem. I know she has mild hip dysplasia diagnosed by X-ray two years ago. Her leg has gotten worse. She has been scraping her back leg for a few years now. Vet had asked about that too. She is ten now. Does anyone else have a dog that scrapes her back leg? She said if this does not work in one week do I want to pursue X-rays. I am afraid to put her out again because last time the anesthesia really bothered her. I just walked her around the block tonight. Not a lot for a dog that walked close to an hour one or two months ago. I am really worried.

 

By scraping, do you mean dragging? Typically leg dragging or knuckling points to a neurological issue. One simple test you can do yourself is while she is standing, fold her foot on the affected leg downwards so that she is standing on her knuckles. Note how long it takes for her to right it. This *should* be a reflexive action. If it's not, you're most likely looking at a neurological deficit, in which case I would seek out a specialist.

 

Can your vet not sedate her to do rads? I've got one that can be done without sedation and my other one gets really upset and has to be sedated for rads. I would do rads myself. If they absolutely do need to sedate her, it should be a light sedation followed by antisedan, so I wouldn't be overly concerned about the effects of a full general anesthesia (because that's not what they'd be doing).

[Guest kar]

you can hear her nails scrape every so often. she is not knuckling. one of my greys did that very bad. my vet will not do without anesthesia. I think she would be fine, she is very compliant.

[turbotaina]

Can you go to a different vet? Get a second opinion, etc?

Oh, and my boy Turbo would drag a nail on his walks. Nothing wrong with his legs or back at all - just his gait. If she's been doing it forever, I wouldn't sweat it. If it's recent, it might bear investigation.

[Guest kar]

she has been scraping off and on for two or three years.

[Guest kar]

Snow has taken 3 galliprant. How long before I see any results? Does anyone know?

[NeylasMom]

Is it given once or twice per day? I would expect you would see some, if not max improvement very quickly, at least based on other nsaids. Someone told me 2 weeks before discontinuing to fully test whether a med is helping though that was not in the context of an nsaid. Probably a good question for your vet.

Edited April 27, 2017 by NeylasMom

[Guest kar]

Once a day