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Greyhound Acting Odd


Guest Iampam

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Hello-

Weve had our grey Georgie for about 9 months now. He was settling in great and then one day he was running around outside and starting screaming. Took him to the vet and they said it was a pinched nerve in his back. Hes all well and rested now, but now he doesnt get the zombies anymore like he used too (at least twice a day before) and he wont jump up on the couch/bed anymore. He gets really scared to do it. Weve gotten him to jump up on there by coaxing him but he wont do it willingly. Only stays on his one bed all day long. Anyone else experience this? Will he eventually get over it? We miss him laying with us!

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Hi. If George's back pain is/was anything like my back pain, then the acute pain fades with time but a dull pain remains. The chance of that spike of acute pain returning, makes me cautious about how I move. Try to make sure he still gets physical and mental stimulation though through calm interactions, toys, walks, stops to sniff, explore, meander, etc. As far as sleeping all day - my grey has (almost) full freedom to come and go outside, but chooses to sleep/rest nearly all day. Cheers.

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These dogs are super stoic and very rarely show that they are in pain. I might ask your vet to reassess his recovery to see if his back might still be twinging on him, or if there is any referred pain down his limbs. He may need a continuing dose of pain meds or a nerve pain rx like gabapentin.

 

It could also be that he is just remembering his prior pain and is being cautious in his movements. If this is the case, he will probably get over it at some point.

Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora)

52592535884_69debcd9b4.jpgsiggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr

Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly

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I have had a great deal of experience with greyhound spine issues. IMO it almost never "gets well." Usually it is a disc issue or something and while it can make improvement it will never be like a healthy one again. I do not think you should be encouraging him to jump or run on anything yet! Thank goodness he is smart enough to know better. It takes weeks or months sometimes for the immediate inflammation/injury to subside. Any additional stress on whatever the spine problem is before that will only makes things worse and could exacerbate the injury. One vet cautioned me STRONGLY about this- she said the dog could even go down paraylzed! And in fact I did have one hound that did just that one day when she went out to potty. I am not trying to scare you but spine issues can be very serious and do not generally just get well like a bruise or cut or something. And even if it does improve it usually takes a minimum of weeks of restricted activity-no jumping/no zoomies and you must always remain cognizant of it. If you leave him REST and restrict his activity for a couple weeks-no zoomies, no jumping, and then gradually ease him into his old fitness level then he will probably bounce back to his old self. But it does tend to crop up from time to time. Important thing is REST, restricted activity. And some meds do help sometimes if warranted. It is painful when it is inflammed so perhaps some pain meds, and Robaxin at the proper dose (not too much to relax the muscles too much) has worked well for me. Don't encourage him to jump and run and things like that yet or it could really hurt him. Let him recover for a couple weeks with restricted activity is what I would do based on lots of experience and lots of vets/treatments that I have had. Once he recovers more fully and feels better he will most likely zoom again :) but I would bet money that right now he is still in pain and knows better than push it.

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If he hurt a disc (it depends on the severity), he might never get better without surgery. A definitive way to determine this is to see a neurologist and get an MRI. Gabapentin would help, methocarbomol might as well. If he doesn't do the things he used to, it sounds like it is still hurting him. Is he limping at all? Hanging his head low, and not high when on walks?

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