Ongoing Issue - Scared About This

[sweetiesmom09]

Hi. My Sweetie is an Akita GSD mix that I rescued 2 1/2 years ago. She is now about 8 1/2 years old (give or take - it's hard to know for sure her exact age but when I got her in April 2009, I was told she was 6 y/o). Her name pre-dates the adoption and perfectly suits her.

Back in the beginning of August, I noticed she was favoring her left leg on stairs. The vet attributed it to age related arthritis, prescribed an NSAID and said let's see how she does. She responded to the NSAID (Deramaxx) but had a really bad reaction -- itching -- so I had to take her off of it. Since then, we've been seeing an accupuncturist every 2 weeks. She's been responding fairly well except every few weeks she'll continue to have these episodes where she'll be unable to put any weight down on the left back leg, she'll be limping around, and she is painful to the touch on her left back side hip region. They only lasted a few minutes, which is why none of the vets has actually observed these symptoms (although I now have a video of them). An X-ray of her hips showed no signs of displasia or degeneriation. Blood work all came back normal (she does have lymes, which she had when I got her, but her numbers are so low as to be, according to the vet, almost unreadable).

So after several of these episodes, notwithstanding the bi-weekly accupuncture, I took her to an orthopedic/surgical specialist, who gave a tentative diagnosis of a pinched sciatic nerve (again, not having actually seen the limping, etc) and prescribed another NSAID (Metacam). The specialist said if the episodes continue, we should do a CT scan to rule out (1) any soft tissue mass; or (2) lumbrosacral disease. Since her last accupuncture appointment on Tuesday, I've had to give her the Metacam every day, with moderate short term results. Overall, she has had nothing but bad days, i.e., she seems to be getting worse. So I've decided to call today and schedule the CT scan.

I'm really scared. I don't know what this is but even when she seems to work out the initial limping enough to go for a short walk, I can tell that she must still be in pain because I can see she isn't putting her full weight down on the left leg. But then it's weird because at other points, she'll put all of her weight on it to lift her right leg to pee (she pees like a male dog). I'm so confused. Has anyone else seen anything like this in any of their dogs? Does this sound like a tumor? I am so scared I'm going to lose her. Other than the limping, as of now, she is otherwise fine - her appetitie, energy level, etc. I am a wreck. I feel completely unprepapred to deal with this. Thanks for any help you can give. (Sorry for the length.)

[arycrest]

Have you asked your vet for a pain medication in addition to the Metacam. Several of my last crop of seniors took both Metacam and a pain reliever such as Tramadol and were kept quite comfortable up until the end.

[sweetiesmom09]

Thanks Arycrest -

Yes, Sweetie has both Tramadol and Methocarbomol in her aresenol, which I can give her as needed, in addition to the glucosamine and multi-vitamin she takes daily. I just orderd Dasuquinn (supposedly a really good glucosamine forumulation recommended by the accupuncurist) a few days ago and we're waiting for that to arrive to use in place of the glucos/choind/MSM Sweetie's currently taking. I don't think the Tramadol does much for her though, unfortunately, other than make her really loopy. When I've given it to her in the past, she still seems to be in pain, just spacey and in pain. I haven't tried combining it with the Metacam - I didn't know I could do that.

Aside from the pain relief issue, your past mentioned keeping her comfortable "up until the end." I don't want to read too much into your reply but do you think this sounds more serious than a pinched nerve?

[LisaT]

Originally Posted by sweetiesmom09

Blood work all came back normal (she does have lymes, which she had when I got her, but her numbers are so low as to be, according to the vet, almost unreadable)....

So I've decided to call today and schedule the CT scan.

Before you go through with the advanced diagnostics...

Was your dog every treated for Lyme with any antibiotics?