demismom Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 My 3 yr old new-ish adoptee male does not like to be touched in the butt/tail area and does not like to have joints touched. What I mean by this is that I have difficulty getting his front legs in the arm holes of winter sweaters -- it's like his joints don't bend properly. And the more pressure I apply to bend the more upset he gets with what I'm doing. He will nip at my hands and then when I'm done, he'll lick his ankles. With the tail, I once moved his tail out of the way so that his greyhound sister could sit next to him and he bit me. In the face. Drew blood. Scared me so much I thought I might have to give him back to greyhound group. (Literally thought that for about a day. I then decided that I was his and he was mine and we would work it out together.) His tail isn't very bendy, is usually sticking out straight and I realized recently that I had never seen him wag his tail. . . . Odd. My other grey has helicopter tail and is generally a joy. She's the sweetest thing. I love them to pieces. I've mentioned this to the vet a few times and he said that my boy has signs of arthritis but didn't recommend that I do anything differently. For the record, they both still have hooks from Palm Beach. It's been very frustrating. He doesn't have any issues running or playing. Or getting in and out of the SUV. No issues jumping in/out of bed. No other medical issues that I'm aware of. My boy gets CBD oil that helps to manage his anxiety and behavior. Both get Omega 3+6, glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM. We have not had any X-rays or other diagnostics yet at this point. Blood tests are all within normal range. As an aside, when I scratch his pelvic/croup area he does this crazy movement with his back legs that makes it look like he's dancing. I can't tell if it's painful or if it's itchy and he's enjoying a good scratch. We've come a long way and he trusts that I'm not trying to hurt him so he'll let me scratch his backside without issue now. I just don't want him to be in any pain. Has anyone had issues like this? What could it be? Arthritis at 3??? Quote
cleptogrey Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 The first thing that comes to mind is check for tick borne diseases. Some one will chime in and mention the name of the more accurate blood test that checks for antibodies. Also maybe a complete blood test as a starting point. There will be some excellent suggestions coming in. Quote
MP_the4pack Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 That's what I also thought. So another vote for a tick panel. Quote
NeylasMom Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 TBDs can definitely cause joint pain so a full tick panel through NC State would be a good idea. One simple, inexpensive thing you can do to see if it is pain is a trial of NSAIDs. But if TBDs are suspected I would address that first Quote Jen, CPDT-KA with Zuri, lab in a greyhound suit, Violet, formerly known as Faith, Skye, the permanent puppy, Cisco, resident cat, and my baby girl Neyla, forever in my heart "The great thing about science is that you're free to disagree with it, but you'll be wrong."
macoduck Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 (edited) On the non-medical side of this, maybe he doesn't want to wear the sweater. Could be he feels the static electricity from it. Have you tried a coat that slips over the head with a band at the waist? Is it extremely cold where you live? Even on our rare snow days here, all of my greyhounds hated to wear a coat. I did make the senior boys wear a flannel coat from Houndtime http://www.houndtime.com/ though, and as a plus - much less static electricity than a sweater or fleece coat. Edited December 5, 2018 by macoduck Quote Dobby, the podenco maneto, Flashy (Droopys Fresh), NoAh the podenco orito Angels: Howie the portuguese podengo maneto Rita the podenco maneta, Lila, the podenco, Mr X aka Denali, Lulu the podenco andaluz, Hada the podenco maneta, Georgie Girl (UMR Cordella), Charlie the iggy, Mazy (CBR Crazy Girl), Potato, my mystery ibizan girl, Allen (M's Pretty Boy), Percy (Fast But True), Mikey (Doray's Patuti), Pudge le mutt, Tessa the iggy, Possum (Apostle), Gracie (Dusty Lady), Harold (Slatex Harold), "Cousin" Simon our step-iggy, Little Dude the iggy ,Bandit (Bb Blue Jay), Niña the galgo, Wally (Allen Hogg), Thane (Pog Mo Thoine), Oliver (JJ Special Agent), Comet, & Rosie our original mutt.
tbhounds Posted December 5, 2018 Posted December 5, 2018 Im with Ducky-I think its that act of putting on the sweater. Quote
demismom Posted December 5, 2018 Author Posted December 5, 2018 Thanks for the suggestion on TBD. I will push for that at the next vet visit. Quote
PatricksMom Posted December 6, 2018 Posted December 6, 2018 I rub mine down with a dryer sheet before putting coats or pjs on, solves the static problem. Hoping you'll find an easy fix too. Quote Beth, Petey (8 September 2018- ), and Faith (22 March 2019). Godspeed Patrick (28 April 1999 - 5 August 2012), Murphy (23 June 2004 - 27 July 2013), Leo (1 May 2009 - 27 January 2020), and Henry (10 August 2010 - 7 August 2020), you were loved more than you can know.
Sambuca Posted December 6, 2018 Posted December 6, 2018 I agree with everything above, but also think you should work on conditioning him to get used to being handled more. Gently stroke his legs and tail and immediately give him a treat. Until you know if it's pain related I wouldn't bend or manipulate him though. If you know it's not pain related start bending his joints, but only into comfortable positions. Don't force it. Keep giving him treats while you're doing this so he starts to think it's great Quote
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