Jump to content

Western Australian Thread


Lab_Rat
 Share

Recommended Posts

I hope all is ok with Mason, MG :(

Happy birthday Zac :thumbsup:

Does anyone have the Canine News handy? I have lost mine and need to know the non-member fees for the shows on the 11th December. Yes I know it is late but I rang up and pleaded :p

Link to comment
Share on other sites

MG I recall you tested Mason with Chicken a while back and said he seemed fine... do his food allergies show themselves straight away? I only ask because if Spartan gets hold of any chicken, he has no reaction for 2-3 weeks and then it either shows itself as skin issues or diahorrea. when he was younger and we hadn't diagnosed the chicken allergy, he used to poo blood.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Back from the neurologists- and wow that was alot of information to take in :eek: But the tests were inconclusive :banghead: The vet thinks it is either an FCE, or a slipped disc (FCE is the better outcome)- but she said it is a really puzzling case, and without further diagnostics we can't tell- and the only way to diagnose FCE is to rule out everything else.

Bondi was "walking" better than I've seen since it happened, with the use of the vets "sling". She was moving her back legs in the motion of walking, occasionally toeing over still, but sometimes not.

Vet said Bondi still has good reflexes, pinching her toes and hammer on her knees- she pulled her feet away.

Pinch test up and down Bondi's back to try to generalise the area was inconclusive- and kept giving different results each time we tried it. It is most likely lower back- but sometimes she showed she had feeling there, sometimes she didn't.

  • What vets said:
  • FCE are usually very sudden, with only brief period of pain- Bondi had has extreme pain for 3-5 days before this happened- which possibly suggests it's not FCE- but then she has had frequent painful episodes for about a year now since being diagnosed with spondylosis- so her painful episode prior to loss of mobility could be completely unrelated. Bondi had been "shuffling" her back legs about 3 hours prior to collapse- so not as sudden as you would expect to see with an FCE- but then, she could have been shuffling as a result to unrelated pain.
  • Disc herniations/slipped disc are very rare in dogs with spondylosis, and are most common in the middle of the back where the ribs- however that is where Bondi's spondylosis is at it's worst, and her spine is completely calcified there so slipped disc isn't likely
  • To diagnose if it is a slipped disc we need to do a myelogram (insert dye into the fluid around the spinal cord, then xray or CT scan to look for any compression on the spinal cord) or an MRI. Myelogram is done under anaesthetic, and can be risky- dogs can come out of it temporarily worse after it. Myelogram cost is roughly $1500
  • Treatment of slipped/herniated disc is either medical or surgical. Vet said surgery is most effective in first 2 weeks after the incident- and gets more risky and less effective after that timeframe. 90% of dogs who have surgery recover to function well, 80% of dogs treated medically will recover to function well enough.
  • FCE most improvement is seen in first 4-6 weeks, progress slows after that but can still happen slowly. Hydrotherapy and other physical therapies aswell as supportive care are needed for treatment.
  • Slipped Disc/Herniated disc may start calcify/repair itself after around 6 weeks- although if it is impinging on the spinal cord in the wrong place this can be problematic.
  • Slipped discs often recur.
  • Bondi seems to be making good progress in 4 days- and we are booked in for another examination on monday to decide what to do.

My thoughts at the moment are

- I'm happy with her progress so far, and if she has come this far in 4 days she will hopefully keep improving

- I'm not keen to have her undergo spinal surgery- no matter what the diagnosis, it is risky, it is expensive, Bondi doesn't cope well under anaesthetic, slipped discs often re-occur, and Bondi is 8 years old with servere spondylosis already. Vet said the main pro to having surgery over medical treatment is that recovery is much faster- but I have time to spend on her recovery so thats not an issue.

- I don't really want to do the myelogram either- it has risks, may set her progress back, requires anasthetic which Bondi doesn't cope well with, is expensive, and will only tell us the diagnosis- of which surgery or medical treatment are the only options if it is slipped disc- and I already know I don't want to put her through surgery. Vet also said medical treatment of slipped disc is similar to meds she is on now- and her supportive care- so it doesn't really matter if we know exactly what it is if the treatment is similar, knowing would help with the treatment making it more exact/tailored- but the basic care will be the same either diagnosis.

Sorry for the long post :o Just needed to get all this info down before I forget it ;)

Edited by boxagirl
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Clean run Christmas Miracle!!!!! thumbsup1.gif

Not good for the bank balance, though rofl1.gif

Some doggies are going to have a very Merry Christmas!!!!! Do we think orders will arrive before Christmas if we order in the next few days? Or there might be a delay due to the amount of orders they will be swamped with? Hmmmm confused.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah my order is rapidly approaching $100 already :eek: Such good value when it's free shipping!!!!!!!!

:laugh: You're not even trying, AP - mine is over $300 - this helps explain why this poor old lady is still working when she should be retired :rofl: - gotta feed the doggy habit. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I'm up to over $200 now :rofl: Need to cull some stuff :eek: maybe! :eek: Tassie you only just spent a bomb on coats for yours too, your credit card must hate you :laugh:

Good opportunity for people to buy silver shade panels if they want some - won't find them anywhere near that cheap in Oz

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:rofl: AP ... hey - it's only money - and yes - I did include the one cool coat I didn't get last time - the Chilly Buddy. Still waiting to put the order in though - it's only 2.40 in the morning there, so no wonder we haven't got replies to our emails about how to organise the free shipping.

There'll probably be so many orders from Oz going in all at once that we'll kill the site - oh no :eek::rofl:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...