Almost 2 years old, diagnosed with a neurological disorder today
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Sorry it took so long to come back with an update… it's been a crazy week.
We had the MRI done on Tuesday, they confirmed that he has multiple issues with his spine. This is a relief for us as it confirms that his symptoms have a mechanical cause, rather than the terrifying prospect of a systemic storage disorder (no treatment for that). Since the problem was detected on the MRI, no spinal tap was done... we're really glad about that too. I can't imagine how painful and uncomfortable something like that would be, especially for a little dog.
Here's what they found:
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A 'minor' birth defect in one of the vertebrae which is putting pressure on the spinal cord.
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Two swollen discs, one of them right on top of the birth defect, and one of them 2 discs up (swollen, normal, swollen+defect).
We're starting off with what they're calling a 'medical management' strategy: a 2 week course of steroids and 3 weeks of extreme rest to give the steroids the best chance to reduce the pressure on his spinal cord:
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He only gets to leave his crate to go outside and do his business, or if we have him cuddling on the couch. No jumping on or off of anything, no running, no B 500, nada. They even told us to keep his various toys away, any of the ones that he likes to grab and try to shake around, as that would stress his neck.
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They told us to stick with the harness only any time we are walking him with the leash, no more leash attached to the collar (ever again)... this isn't a big deal though... the harness works a lot better anyway.
I'm sure the fellow B owners out there will know how difficult the extreme rest is going to be. We feel terrible having to keep him in the crate (you all know the sad face I'm sure... it's heartbreaking), though we do spend even more time on the couch with him than we had in the past. We just have to be ultra-paranoid to make sure he doesn't jump off... so far so good!
He's also on an antibiotic for the UTI, and a 10 mg dose of Famotidine (generic Pepcid), once per day. The antacid is to try and reduce the stomach discomfort that results from both the steroid and the antibiotic.
He's definitely enjoying his twice-daily peanut butter + pills.
They warned us that the steroids would make him very thirsty and that he would likely have a few accidents. They weren't kidding... there have only been a few accidents, but we have to take him out 5 times as often to pee... he seems to have a never-ending supply of it now.
So far it seems that the antacid is working for his stomach, no diarrhea or vomiting yet.
It's only been 4 days so far for the medications, but it does seem that there is slight improvement when we take him outside walking. He isn't knuckling over on his front paws anymore on the sidewalk and has lessened in the grass as well... so no more bloody scrapes on his little toes (he is such a trooper, we had to tend to his paws very often after even short walks because of the knuckling over).
That's it for now... We're praying that the steroids do the trick and we won't have to even discuss 'plan B', which includes two different back surgeries of varying risk and difficulty. So far it looks like they might be working!
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I am so glad that it looks like you found an answer. I hope you will contact his breeder, so that he/she knows what is going on. Even if it isn't at all genetic, I would want to know if a puppy that I had bred had such a major issue going on. If nothing else, so I could help provide emotional support for my puppy buyers :)
I hope the steroids and rest fix the problem without sugery. Best of luck keeping him calm during the crate rest. I think there are lots of great ideas on crate entertainment on the internet if you search for such things.
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Glad your seeing some improvement.
Do keep us posted. -
Thanks for letting us know! Fingers crossed and tails curled here hoping everything goes well.
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I'm glad to hear Trent's problems are manageable and treatable. I do have a couple of suggestions to help keep him and you happy:
A Sensation Harness is great for walking - it won't put any pressure on his back or neck
A Molecule Ball or other "work to eat" puzzle for his meals
stuffed Kongs
Any puzzle toy that won't require neck strength to dissect.Keeping a least one or two of his natural drives engaged will help keep him (and you) from going totally bonkers whilst on crate rest. My oldest boy has some disc problems and we used to do warm water massage and swim therapy. It helped greatly.
-Andrea
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Hello again everyone,
My deepest apologies for taking so long to update this thread. Thank you all for the support and the suggestions.
It ended up that, while he responded great to the high-dose steroids, as soon as we backed off on the dose he regressed back again. The neurologist was as disappointed with this as we were.
After some careful consideration, we went with the back surgery. This involved removing the top portion of one of his vertebrae to give the spinal cord some additional room (the swollen discs and birth defect were putting pressure on the spinal cord).
We were not prepared for the sheer SIZE of the incision when we picked him up. It was nearly 6 inches long, going from the top of his head straight down his entire neck. My wife had to leave the room when we first picked him up.
In the 3 months since the surgery (and our last update) he has had what the neurologist calls a "near miraculous" recovery. She said she has never seen a dog go from a procedure like this to running around like an idiot so quickly.
We now have our little boy back. He is doing his B-500's, running and jumping on and off the couches (even though we try to minimize the jumping off).
We hope to have the "easy financing" paid off by february next year (the total cost was brutal, but worth it).
We don't think he'll ever be 100% as far as his legs are concerned… he still will occasionally knuckle over, but he is much quicker to correct it now, and he has gotten a LOT more confident walking on tile floors (good for him, bad for us... he can now do naughty things in the kitchen as well as living room).
Thanks again to everyone for their support and suggestions. He was a real trooper through the entire ordeal.
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I'm so glad to hear he's getting better. And it does seem a little strange to be so thankful for all the "naughty" behavoirs.
