Banshee Having Xrays On Monday

[yellowgirl]

Banshee's background story ... http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?show...194927&st=0

In the short time Banshee has been with me she's had a phantom pregnancy and also been diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis.

Temperament-wise, she is much more relaxed with people now and her fear-biting is pretty much just reserved for the vet these days :D . She is the most loving, gorgeous, kissable little thing and has fitted in with my current 'Crestie Crew' beautifully ;) .

There was something wrong with her back left leg from the beginning. A little while ago the vet put her on Previcox to see if it made a difference to her favouring it. The idea was that if there was improvement then it wasn't a cruciate injury but more likely arthritis related. Her leg did improve with the Previcox, so it's not a cruciate injury. I've had her on glucosamine/chondroitin powder since I first got her and after she finished the course of Previcox, her leg has continued to improve.

What hasn't improved is her hunching stance and walking on tippy toes. I didn't pay enough attention to it during the course of pain relief as our first vet had said she was tense because of her nervous nature and it would improve on its own. After Banshee was diagnosed with pancreatitis our second vet thought the hunching might have been related to internal pain and should improve, but it hasn't.

For the last week Banshee's been on Previcox again to see if pain relief would help with the hunching... and it has. The hunching has reduced and she is walking on the whole of her pads and not on tippy toes. I spoke to the vet this morning and she thinks it's most likely skeletal rather than internal, maybe ostoearthritis, and has booked Banshee in for xrays on Monday. She'll have 3 lots done to cover her neck, spine and back legs.

Banshee is only 18 months old. She's had quite a lot of emotional, behavoural and medical issues cope with in her short life so far. She seems so young to have osteoarthritis. The fact that the Previcox has made a difference means that the hunching and tippy toe walking must be due to some kind of pain or discomfort she's been in . Can it really be osteoarthritis in such a young dog? Because of the change in the last week, I'm thinking she may need to stay on pain medication.

Anyone have any thoughts, or been through a similar thing with a young dog?

Edited July 20, 2010 by yellowgirl

[poodlefan]

I'd be guessing Intervertebral Disk Disease (IVDD) or some other form of compression on her spinal cord rather than arthritis but you never know.

A quick Google search shows CCs as a breed that may be prone to IVDD.

Sorry to hear about her dramas. :D

Edited July 16, 2010 by poodlefan

[yellowgirl]

Thanks for taking the time to google it poodlefan. Info says that it more frequently effects young to middle aged dogs. I don't like what else I read ... I hope it's not IVDD :D

[CavsRcute]

Has she seen a chiro or physio( sorry if i missed this)?

I had the best experience today. We went to see a new vet who has just come back from the UK after doing her chiro training.

She picked up things that nobody else has ever mentioned. And my girl sees an acupuncturist, has trigger point therapy and also sees a physio for her HD.

When i got home about 15 minutes ago my girl ran around and greeted me by jumnping and play bowing. And she hasn't done this is years. It was great to see

So if anybody in Sydney is interested, PM and I will pass along the details

[yellowgirl]

Wow It's so great when something works to relieve pain for our dogs. I'm glad you've found the right treatment for your girl. It's wonderful when you see the change in them

I'll have to wait for the x-ray results on Monday before deciding what the next move is. I'm hoping for the best, but with Banshee's track record, kind of expecting the worst.

[yellowgirl]

Banshee had her xrays yesterday. The result is a perfect skeleton from neck & spine to her back legs. No sign of arthritis, bone damage or anything else. I'm happy to have these results but the vet and I are now confused as to what is causing her hunching. I think we were both expecting something to come up on the xray.

I've been over every single millimetre of Banshee's back and body, poking, pinching, prodding to see if she has any reaction, but she's fine wherever I touch her. I can't see her going to a chiro or physio as she's not going to let anyone else run their hands around her body without a fight.

At this stage, the vet and I have agreed to 'experiment' with previcox and tramal and keep meticulous notes on when she is hunching and her reactions to the medications. She'd been having previcox for the last week with her evening meal and this seemed to help reduce her hunching. I wasn't going to give her a previcox last night but by 9pm she was hunching. About an hour after the tablet the hunching had reduced. By this morning she wasn't hunching.

It's possible that her pancreatitis is causing her pain, but I just don't know. I might just have to work out which pain killers or anti inflammatories work best for her and treat the symptoms she has. I hate not knowing the cause though.

[dancinbcs]

Did they do a full blood count? One of mine recently had discospondylitis. She had a fever and back pain but no other symptoms. The blood count showed a nasty infection but X-rays showed nothing because we caught it so early. She needed 6 weeks of antibiotics to clear it up and acupuncture for the pain.

Pancreatitis could definitely cause enough abdominal pain to cause her to arch her back but I would keep looking for other causes in case it is something else.

[yellowgirl]

Hope your girl is feeling better now dancinbcs.

Yes, bloodwork was done last month and that's where they picked up the pancreatitis. Haematology was all fine.

I'm still keeping hour by hour notes on her. I have her in the shop with me today so I can keep an eye on her.