Very sick dog. Can you help me interperate these symptoms?

[Redyre Rotties]

I will say it again.

If this were my dog, I would have an ULTRA SOUND EXAM OF HER INTERNAL ORGANS IMMEDIATELY. Hoping she is feeling much better very soon.

 

[breezy]

One of my clients has a dog with similar symptoms which turned out to be meningitis. Hope your girl is better soon.

 

[carolinagirl58]

This morning, Bailey started showing some classic symptoms of a spinal injury. She is toe dragging and stumbling with her back feet only. So back to the vet we went. He took her off Rimadyl and put her on steroids and tramadol for pain, plus something to protect her stomach. Poor girlie. At least we know for sure now it's not internal. Hopefully she can recover from this. If it gets worse, I don't know what the next step is.

 

[TLWR]

Has Baily had any steroids during all this yet?
When we brought Ry to the vet for his issue, the vet gave him a steroid injection and said if it helped, great, he could do more. If it didn't, it was beyond his ability to help in the office and off to the specialist he'd send us. That's where we ended up and I was bringing poor Ry to the vet at least 1x a day for pain med injections while waiting to get to his appointment a couple days later.
Specialist saw him, was confident it was a tumor and suggested a MRI so we knew what we were dealing with. Luckily, didn't have to wait long for that and it was done the next night. No tumor, but they did find a very large blood clot in his neck in an area that nobody had a clue how a blood clot could get there, let alone one that was several inches long. Vets around the county were consulted and set his MRI images. Nobody had a clue. Not wanting to dislodge it, the bubble wrap treatment began - don't let him do anything until the blood clot resolves on its own (no problem, he was a lazy greyhound lol).
When Ry swelled and looked like a classic Cushings dog, we went to Cornell for a better ultrasound than my vet could do in his office and found out the poor dog was packed full of clots. Which was why he was having so many seizures again - his body wasn't able to process his seizure meds. And trying to keep a seizure dog from not seizing and dislodging a zillion clots... so fun. It was also then they thought his spleen was an issue, but no vet was willing to do surgery on a dog that was so full of blood clots. I was told if he made it through the next 48 hours, it wasn't his spleen behind all of it. He did, the clots finally resolved on their own and he continued to have issues from all this and we finally gave up trying to figure out what was causing it and just treated stuff as it came up.
I'm convinced his passing last year was a result of all that, but again, still nobody had a clue.


To me, it still sounds like a neck/back/spine issue. I wouldn't want my dog to be treated by a chiro without a definitive diagnosis of what is going on. But MRIs are expensive. I'd be working with the vet to see what options there are to rule in/out certain spine issues that could be tried first.

 

[carolinagirl58]

Bailey has not had any steroids yet. She starts on them this evening. The vet said that the steroids should made a noticeable difference by Monday and wants to talk to me then about how she is doing. If the steroids do not help, we will have to explore other options.

 

[rebel-rousing-at-night]

Quote:
I know a lot of ppl want to be loyal to their vet but I truly think the other option you should explore is...a different vet.

I basically went through this type of thing with a dog almost 30 yrs. ago. It did not turn out well.

I hope all goes well for you and your dog.

 

[carolinagirl58]

Quote:
I know a lot of ppl want to be loyal to their vet but I truly think the other option you should explore is...a different vet.

I basically went through this type of thing with a dog almost 30 yrs. ago. It did not turn out well.

I hope all goes well for you and your dog.

If this is obviously a spinal injury of some sort (which it is now clear that it is based on her latest symptoms) I am not sure why you say we need a different vet? Steroid to reduce inflation is a very common and successful treatment for this kind of injury.

 

[Redyre Rotties]

I also had a dog who had some of the same symptoms, and it was indeed a spinal issue. She should feel better quickly from the steroids and tramadol. My girl had several relapses, but responded well to meds each time. Wishing you all the best for a swift recovery for her.

 

[carolinagirl58]

Quote:
thank you. I think after this, we may limit her extreme playful activity. This is a very active fun-loving dog who loves to be outside, but she loves to an inside couch-potato dog too. I'll give her more inside time. Now that the Anatolian pups are starting to be really good watch dogs, I was planning on letting her take more time off anyway. Of course her watch dog duties were usually preformed from the comfort of her very own park bench (with cushion) on the front porch.

 

[maizy'smom]

With her hesitation to lift her head, could it be a throat problem? She may have swallowed something that got lodged in her throat? Also, some obstructions wont show up on an xray......like the very long hi-top sneaker shoe lace my cat swallowed several years ago. If I hadn't seen it coming out of her mouth three inches at a time (and going back in), the very expensive ER Vet wouldn't have found it.

What ever it is, I hope you find it soon and that she feels much better. Best of luck.

mm