Back problems/ defecation issues

[agilebasenji]

would the vet give him the okay to go swimming? Digital goes to hydrotherapy once a week and it has been great for him. (He's still not thrilled about it.) We're lucky in that an excellent canine hydrotherapy pool is about 15 minutes from here.
http://k9hydrotherapy.com/blog/?paged=3
(You can see Diggie on the blog on april 7th ) Swimming is very exhausting work

[Buddys Pal]

Throughout all the talk of the feces, no mention of the 'consistency' way ever mentioned. the only time Buddy has ever had an accident, was because he had diarrhea due to virus. I very often check his 'poop' closely with a long stick….! and sometimes when any of my dogs' has loose stools, they get pumpkin or sweet potato added to the dinner and sometimes brown rice. Actually, I have used 'quick' oats to the dinners as well. All good news!!!(amount relevant to size...) buddy's pal-debbie

[westcoastflea1]

well it wasnt runny and it wasnt rock hard, it held its shape once deposited :) does this help?

[sharronhurlbut]

My 3 b's don't like to poop in their yard. They like to go on walks so they can go away from their yard. This is no help to you re your dog, and back issues. But I wanted to share it with you.

[dcmclcm4]

I would ask your vet about adding Tramadol for the pain. My elderly foster-15-16 years old was prescribed this by the specialist and I thought it helped her. She had spinal problems. I would verify that your B is not taking other medication that Tramdol will react with. The only reason I took her off of it was to put her on Anipryl which she took for canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome (senility) and the two cannot be taken together. I thought the Anipryl helped after 30 days but her back problem/pain got worse so she went back on Tramadol.

If I remember correctly, Tramdol is an inexpensive drug that I had filled at WalMart.

I have a female B presently on the liquid Metacam for Spondylosis. She had been on Metacam for a long time and I thought it stopped working so the vet put her on Previcox. She took it for over a year and I thought it was not as convenient as it was a pill and more expensive than Metacam.

Jennifer

[lvoss]

If he hasn't already had a full thyroid panel done, I would suggest having one. I know of one basenji girl that was having back issues and it turned out that she was severely hypothyroid and that was a contributing factor to what was going on.

[MacPack]

When Topper hurt his back several years ago and was on steroids and pain meds , muscle relaxers, they told me crate rest for 3 days. Yeah right. He slept on the couch and I moved him so he didn't jump, which they said would be a bad thing. I started using a harness and we did slow walks but other than no playing at dog park, we were not walk restricted. I personally would want a second opinion on that, if he is an active dog he may strain more being confined than having a long relaxing walk, especially with his poop issues. Some vets just aren't realistic, IMHO!

[westcoastflea1]

thanks for the advice
im really rather upset and confused at this point i was hoping that this might be just an episode that he will recover from and then he would be fine after the months rest
but someone with brat emailed and said that dogs with this condition especially at his age can go down hill quickly or that the condition will worsen over time and he may need a permanent foster home, as he may never be adopted
they want him to go on a diet of dog food without grain? and to keep his weight down
they want him to see a chiropractor and in just a few hours have already found one for him to see im really hoping that this will help him

im trying to be optimistic but im really really worried

did topper have the same problem? and if so is he fine now?
ill double check with brat and see if they think i could take him for short slow walks with lots of sniffing once a day
thanks so much for writing i really appreciate it :)

[westcoastflea1]

wow thanks for all the replies :)

when i go to the chiropractor with sebastian ill ask about the swimming and the idea of thyroid tests
ill have to of course go thru brat for all of these and get their final approval before doing anything
someone with brat said i should put him on a food with no grains as well
im concerned as to how this will affect his adoptability

i think that it would be best to walk him slowly once a day and give him a chance to defecate so that we dont have anymore problems in the house its really weird the way he does it :)
my other basenji maya would take forever hiding, behind a bush going back and forth in this hunched position for minutes before going, a jeep ride was sure thing to make her move her bowels if you were in a hurry

sebastian on the other hand is the exact opposite its like he doesnt know he has to go til it hits, afterwards he gets all excited and runs around for a minute or so like "whew" glad thats done for the day!

[westcoastflea1]

oh yes hes on metacam now for pain but also because it is supposed to help with the swelling of the discs
when he comes off that in a week we have to wait for a few days then we will put him on steroids to ease the swelling of the discs
i guess right now the crucial thing is to make the discs go back to the size they should be so they dont infringe on the spinal cord or nerves which would be really really bad for sebastian