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My Poor Penny


Kirislin
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Yesterday morning I didn't notice anything unusual as the dogs ate their brekky but soon after I noticed Penny looking like she was in pain. Initially I thought she had a tummy ache but it soon became obvious she had some sort of pain in her neck, shoulder or back. I tried to get a vet appt in the morning but they were full and said they'd call me if they got a cancellation.

Penny was very quiet and subdued all day and occasionally would let out a little whimper if she moved a certain way.

By late afternoon I decided to take her to the vet in the next town 25ks away. The vet went over her but couldn't really pinpoint anything other than to say she's got a pain in her neck shoulder area, which was obvious to me by the trembling of the muscles in that spot anyway. She gave her a rimadyl injections and 5 tabs for me to give her over the next 5 days and recommended rest and quiet (of course).

I dont think the injection has helped at all. :confused: Penny is in alot of pain but very stoic, the brave girl. I am starting to suspect she might have a pinched nerve. How are such things treated? Would it be the same treatment, rest and rimadyl initially?

Edited by Kirislin
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Poor Penny, I hope she is feeling better, didn't she have a problem with her neck before, when you pulled her away from an attacking dog...................or am I dreaming again :eek:

Hugs to her anyway,

Trish

Funny you should mention that. She's never shown any problem with it since but I am going to mention it when I next take her to a vet, hopefully tomorrow.

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Since I last wrote I had a good look at Penny after Trish reminded me of the neck injury in July. I can see her neck is not symmetrical, but when I said it to the vet yesterday he couldn't see it. I've taken a pic of it, I can see it here, can anyone else? Penny has had xrays which showed nothing but he only took one from the side, I wish he'd taken one from above like this pic. I am tempted to take my camera in and get him to look at this photo. Maybe then he can see it.

5200679780_32a1ec90c5_z.jpg

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Since I last wrote I had a good look at Penny after Trish reminded me of the neck injury in July. I can see her neck is not symmetrical, but when I said it to the vet yesterday he couldn't see it. I've taken a pic of it, I can see it here, can anyone else? Penny has had xrays which showed nothing but he only took one from the side, I wish he'd taken one from above like this pic. I am tempted to take my camera in and get him to look at this photo. Maybe then he can see it.

5200679780_32a1ec90c5_z.jpg

I can see what you're talking about. My dog had a compressed nerve recenlty and metacam did nothing to relieve her pain. In the end we gave her steroids and it immediately helped. She wasn't able to get up for 2 days yet 20 mins after the cortisone injection she rose, very gingerly, and walked. It was a huge relief to me and I'm sure to her!

Looks like your dog could do with some more comprehensive x-rays?

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Poor Penny, Sadly I can say - YES been there done that with this problem! I believe that XRAYS do not show nerves therefore will not correctly identify pinched nerves as the problem. The anti-inflamatories or steroids / painkillers will not help long term as they only mask up the problem and do not do ANYTHING to address the CAUSE of the problem. If not addressed, by having an animal chiropractor release the pinched nerves (normally 3 or 4 treatments to get down into the lower layers where the long term problems are) then the problem will return. Symptoms will seem to disappear when inflamation goes away after rest but then your dog will make subtle changes to the way they walk to stop it from hurting. The only reason a dog stops walking normally is because it hurts them too much to walk normally! Once nerves are released pain instantly subsides and full movement can return. Being fooled by the disappearance of obvious symptoms will only mean your dog may end up with muscle wastage from months/years of walking with shorter steps (eg not reaching as far forward with front legs, not driving back as far with rear legs). I am amazed at the treatment I received and my dogs instant improvement - lots of info on the qld animal chiropractors site that I use doc jamieson. Best of luck, they are so precious!

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she's improving but I haven't been taking her for any walks, I take the others and she has to stay home. The other night she woke up crying so it happens even when she's doing nothing. I massaged her neck and it seemed to stop the spasms but I plan on taking her to a greyhound vet who also does manipulation, next week hopefully.

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  • 1 month later...
So - who did you see & is she all better now?

Annie

Timely that you should bring this up again, I was just about to see what others think I should do. I didn't take Penny to a Chiro at the time because it was sore and inflammed and I was scared it might be made worse. I kept her quiet and on the meds the vet gave and she seems absolutely fine now. So now my problem is I wonder if I should take her to a chiro, or perhaps Des Fegan the greyhound vet, but then I wonder, she is well at the moment, do I take healthy dog to the vet for a problem that might have resolved itself? I'm not sure what to do.

here she is since the flare up, back to her old self, look at her go. :)

5326334166_07312416e9_b.jpg

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Kirislin, she might have a disc that gets pinched from time to time.. you can't see that on x-ray and the symptoms would match.

I'd work on the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" principle and not worry too much. However if you've been thinking about regular chiro visits, Penny might profit from them. It helps keep my IVDD boy free of incidents. Chiros prefer to see dogs before they get to the "in pain" stage.

Edited by poodlefan
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