Dog Yelps When Getting Up From His Side

[diglesias0625]

I have a 6yr old retired greyhound. He started yelping when he gets up from lying on his side. When it started I noticed it affected his front right leg. He has been put on Diazepam and prednisone twice already. He will be fine was on that but it comes back when he is done. He went to the vet to have x ray done of neck. Nothing came out and since they had him under I ended up cleaning his teeth. They ended up pulling a moler. They put him back on the prednisone and diazepam since yesterday but he still yelps when he gets up. They recommended for me to go to a neurologist. I need suggestions so I do not get taken advantage of which I am fool like that when it comes to my babies.

[BatterseaBrindl]

How long has this been going on?

I'd have X-rays taken of his leg, although it may not be a skeletal issue. Could be soft tissue.

[krissy]

Certainly could be a disc in the neck. If the pain can be isolated to the neck it would be worth a CT or MRI. If your general practitioner isn't sure of the exact source of the pain it may be worth either a neuro or orthopedic consult to try to localize the pain so you know what body part to x-ray/CT/MRI.

 

Vets are not in the business of taking advantage of people, but we are human and can only work with the information we have. Some cases are very straight forward and others are not. We've all worked up cases where we've run every test in the book and after thousands of dollars still have no idea what's wrong. You should have a working relationship with your vet that is based on trust. If you don't trust your vet, it may be worth finding another one that you do. Vets are people and people have personalities, which means sometimes despite practicing good medicine you may find you work better with one vet over another. There's nothing wrong with that. You should be totally comfortable with your vet so that you can take their advice and recommendations. They're certainly more qualified and trustworthy than people on the internet that have never seen your dog and may have no medical knowledge.

[greysmom]

Yes, definitely keep in mind that we are not vets (for the most part - krissy actually is!)

 

It sounds like this escalated really quickly. A limp can be anything, yet it seems in a short amount of time it went from a small yelp to being on steroids and seeing a neurologist. Did your vet try an nsaid or other pain reliever first? Could he localize the pain through a physical exam? Was there any sort of incident that started this - a zoomie or wild play session where he could have pulled a neck muscle?

 

If he's not any better after treatment then a consult with a neurologist or orthopedist seems warranted. If cost is an issue see if you can find a specialist who will do a records review without a physical exam.

[MaryJane]

You didn't mention whether your dog had an x-ray of the leg - if not, that needs to be done.

 

My dog also yelped occasionally when getting up and had an issue with swelling in one of his legs and per discussions with a few of his vets, we decided to put him on 1/2 baby aspirin as there could be a chance of a blood clot in the leg - this seems to be a greyhound issue and please note, I am not recommending that you do that, only that you discuss with vet.

[tbhounds]

What you describe sounds like a disc in the cervical (neck) region is causing the pain. You would need an MRI (I work in an advanced veterinary imaging center)-Ct won’t be diagnostic. Seeing a neurologist is sound advise but, before I jumped to that I would ask your dr about starting gabapentin (not sure why your dog was prescribed Valium) and robaxin to see if that eases the discomfort. Could be IVVD-if so that’s not surgical but, medical management. Also, make sure you are using a harness from now on.

[diglesias0625]

I just got back from the neurologist with my dog. She says it may be 2 things. Either a disc with a pinched nerve or a tumor in the spine. At this time she wants me to continue the diazepam and prednisone and see if it helps him. She checked his neck and squeezed on it hard and he does not help. He is fine when he is on these meds, she wants me to slowly ween him off these meds. If it does not go away she suggest MRI. I notice that he walks slowly and sometimes here and there I can here his nails on his left leg. She does not want to rush to an MRI yet but keep him on these meds and see if they help. I am hoping that this works and I have switched to a body harness now.

[racindog]

I have had a few hounds with similar. Just Intervertebral Disc Disease- "bad disc" in their cervical and/or lumbar spine usually. All mine were managed medically with a pain killer and Robaxin which was highly effective. Even if they have to take it everyday I never had a problem and they would be fine most of the time. I prefer conservative approaches and this has worked quite well for a couple of my hounds. Its also apparently a fairly common issue. I have had 10 greyhounds over all and fostered many others and I would say probably 25 -40% had some type spine issue to a greater or lesser extent but all were medically manageable for the most part.

Edited April 12, 2019 by racindog

[diglesias0625]

U hope that is the case and he can be treated because it really crushed me when stated possible tumor in the spine. I don't think I can handle that. I just had a scare with my other greyhound for possible bone cancer which after all the testing, biopsy etc, came back negative. My other baby just had a metal plate taken out of his leg less than 6 months ago and just had a corn removed a month ago. So Iam praying that this is treatable and he can live a normal life. These are my two babies and they mean my whole world to me.

[TomH]

Hi diglesias

Did you end up finding out what the problem was? My grey has the same symptoms,  so would love to know if you worked out what was wrong?

Thanks

[RemusinCA]

Hello @diglesias0625, wondering if you ended up doing an MRI and came to any solution. We've got the same exact issue - our boy yelps/whines when he gets up from lying down (lifts his neck). Seems to be particular bad if lying in the same position for a long time. Xrays done on the neck show nothing. MRI suggested, and we are managing pain with Rimadyl and Gabapentin (carprofen). Our boy is 7, so I am hesitant to keep him on pain meds for life and would of course prefer to actually fix the source of the problem.