Wobbly Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 OK I'm a bit worried. Jarrah is under the weather. It's difficult to tell how sick she is because she can tend to hide lower grade malaise, she's a very stoic little creature by nature. The behaviour that's not normal: I have a friend visiting, normally when friends visit (especially this friend) they get a very effusive greeting. This time, although Jarrah got up to meet and greet it was a pretty lacksadaisical greeting. My friend bought her a toy, normally something that's greeted with a joyful game of tug and chase, but she just lay down on her side with it in her mouth. She's normally a dog who lives to play so this sluggishness is very unusual. She's walking when she'd normally run, or at least trot. Her gait is not quite stiff, but definitely not fluid like normal. She's still waggling and eating though (nothing would ever stop her waggling). I'm happy to note she still has her appetite, she's eating with less gusto than usual, but not turning down treats, which makes me think she's probably not feeling too dire. Definitely under the weather but I think (hope) not in distress. The stiff gait made me think ticks, although the freezing weather makes me wonder? We are in the Central Coast - I googled and found a thread here that says paralysis ticks are active in winter here, something I wasn't aware of. I can't find any ticks on her but I've put advantix on in case there's one hiding somewhere inaccessible. No swelling no obvious injury or tenderness anywhere as far as I can tell and she's all up to date with her vaccinations. She hasn't eaten anything weird today, the only thing I can think might be an issue is that she did a lot of swimming this afternoon and may have swallowed the dam water and perhaps that's made her unwell (although the dam water is pretty clean and never caused an issue before). Basically the fact she's eating eases my mind, but the lack of fluidity in her gait is cause for concern. Otherwise I'm just waiting to see what tommorrow brings, hopefully she's A-OK by morning, but if not I will ring the vet and take her in. Advice and suggestions most welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSoSwift Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Hmmmm could it possibly be she has hurt her back with all the swimming or pulled a muscle?? I know nothing about ticks Poor girl hope she is better soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobbly Posted July 6, 2012 Author Share Posted July 6, 2012 Hmmmm could it possibly be she has hurt her back with all the swimming or pulled a muscle?? I know nothing about ticks Poor girl hope she is better soon O that's a possibility, the water is very cold and she just leaps in and swims hard, that could defintiely pull a muscle or something. Thanks! Might be an idea to keep her calm tommorrow in case there is something like that I don't want exacerbated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 A trip to the vet for a good check over will definitely ease your mind... if she's still a bit off this morning, I'd take her to the vet just to make sure there's nothing nasty brewing. Better to check and know it's nothing, than to wait and end up with something to be concerned about. T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Showpony Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Hi, I'm in the Blue Mountain west of Sydney......and still getting ticks.....rotten things!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobbly Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 (edited) Just back from the vet. She isn't well at all. Very, very subdued this morning. I am very concerned. The vet thinks she's perhaps hurt her neck, she's very stiff in that area, and resistant to turning and especially to putting her head up. The walking problem being a result of the nerves going from the shoulder down her legs. He says usually tick poisoning starts in the back legs, when for her it seems to be her front legs she's having some trouble with. He said though that some dogs present differently so do keep checking her for ticks. He gave me some anti inflammatories/analgesics, which I drizzled in fish oil, so she gobbled that up. Appetite is still good at least. Prescription is to keep her quiet for the next 5 days and keep a very close eye on her. The vet has an emergency number which I won't hesitate to call if she takes a turn for the worse. Thanks for your support "D Hopefully that anti inflammatory makes her feel a bit better. Edited July 7, 2012 by Wobbly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 We have a little dog here who tweaks her neck/back (old injury) every so often..head down, can't move much ..very miserable . She sparks up now when she sees her hot water bottle :) , she rests up for a few days and then is ok. I hope your girl is feeling much better soon ..she may also appreciate a warm wheat bag/hot water bottle well wrapped .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobbly Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 O thats a good idea Persephone, I might get her one today. She's all wrapped up in a sleeping bag right now, looks quite cosy (but still so sad and miserable poor girl)but I bet she'd love a hot water bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HazyWal Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Oh no poor Jarrah Hope she's feeling better soon. Wobbly the Central Coast is tick heaven all year round.I hate the bloody things. Give Jarrah a hug from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytmate Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Keep checking for ticks. I pulled a tick off Woody two days ago. They are out there. I hope it's just a muscular injury and she recovers soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobbly Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 Thanks for your concern guys. I will convey all hugs and well wishes to her! She'll love that. My friend just happened to have a hot water bottle with her, so I've filled it and wrapped in my husbands bath towel (it smells like him, I thought she'd like that better than a freshly washed one that smells like detergent) she really seems to like it! Might have to keep an eye on it and check it every 10 mins or so since the sleeping bag she's also laying under will hold heat from the water bottle and I don't want it to get too hot. I need to keep away from googling her symptoms, it's way too worrying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marion 01 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Ticks are still definately around even though this is our coldest winter for a long time, we go over our dogs a few times a day, as we now have paralysis ticks which we haven't had up until last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobbly Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 She's feeling a lot better, the vet must be right with the anti-inflammatories. Now that she's feeling better the trick will be to keep her quiet, might need to go get more peanut butter XD OMG how the hell am I gonna keep her quiet for 5 days. Sedate isn't really in Jarrah's repertoire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trifecta Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 No wonder she's got a crook neck, I've just noticed the pic on the right of your signature :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Ticks are still well & truly about so keep checking. I would be letting a Vet have a look at her I think. Sorry not much help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Crazy Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 No wonder she's got a crook neck, I've just noticed the pic on the right of your signature :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Keep the warmth on the area and follow the full course of whatever the vet has given you. I've been known to use wheat bags on my dogs when they get achey - they mold to the area better than a water bottle. T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airedaler Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Maybe a trip to a doggy chiropractor would help. One of mine had a similar symptom and it was a pinched nerve in her neck. A couple of adjustments by the chiropractor worked wonders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobbly Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 No wonder she's got a crook neck, I've just noticed the pic on the right of your signature :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: Sri Yogi Jarrah. Ticks are still well & truly about so keep checking. I would be letting a Vet have a look at her I think. Sorry not much help. Yeah we went 1st thing this morning, the vet was great, he thinks its muscular (and he's right - the anti-inflammatories he gave us worked wonders), but he couldn't rule out ticks so he wants us to keep checking just in case. Maybe a trip to a doggy chiropractor would help. One of mine had a similar symptom and it was a pinched nerve in her neck. A couple of adjustments by the chiropractor worked wonders. Ooh I'm scared of chiros, one sent my husband into parasympathetic shock once, it was pretty horrific. You definitely need to know it's a GOOD chiro! The wheatbag idea is agood one Tdierikx The anti inflammatory has worn off a bit so she's not moving around now, I'm gonna have to do some digging around DOL to find some sedentary environmental enrichment activities for her for when the medication is making her feel sprightly. I know there's a fair bit of information on that in these forums. Peanut butter kongs, beef stock soaked chew toys and the like, she'll settle happily down to anything that involves chewing or licking so I should be able to keep her from moving about too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wobbly Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 (edited) Well, an update, this seems to be dragging on forever. I kept her quiet & without walks for five days, as per veterinary advice. On the 6th day, she seemed fine, full of beans & no evidence of pain or stiffness, so I took her for a short walk, on leash so no running, no excitement. She seemed fine after it, all good. On the seventh day my husband took her for a walk, he ran with her :/ Not good. Once the adrenaline gets going she ignores pain, which she obviously did here. Next day she was back to square 1 and so we went back to the vets for painkillers and more checks. This time I kept her quiet & with no walks for 7 days, as per veterinary advice. On the 8th day I took her for a small walk, which she enjoyed immensely and sniffed everything, no evidence of pain or stiffness, so all good. Since then I have been doing the same, small half hour walks, on leash so I can ensure no excitement or running. I'm going to keep this up for at least another 2 weeks and slowly increase the amount of time we walk for (providing her gait stays normal). I want to build her up to running again slowly, the one thing I don't want is this developing into any kind of recurrent sports injury, I had one of those as a kid from an ankle sprain (I bet parents wish they could leash children for this sort of thing) and it's no fun, so I want to spare her the pain. So we're just walking and sniffing everything for the next little while, and she gets a marrow bone half every day to keep her mind off the limited exercise. We are both getting fat from no long walks. XD Edited July 24, 2012 by Wobbly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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