My almost 5 year old WGSL male has been a structural disaster for all of his life. He couldn't do stairs until 1.5 y/o, can't get in a low car. tires easily, has strange behavior with his tail and scuffs his rear feet on walks. These things have been evident since I got him at 9 weeks. Initially, I was told he would outgrow these things, but they only got worse. Hard lesson learned!!
Yesterday we got the diagnosis of spinal stenosis. It explained all of the things I have been seeing for so long. I have a hunch, he also has cervical stenosis due to his inability to raise his head. He was born with this. This plus, S shaped tibias, HD, ED.....a structural disaster! No wonder I could never do much with him.
I'm so sorry to hear he has all this. How blessed he is that he is with you who continued to work with him and love him and finally was able to find the problem.
Cervical stenosis will cause nerve pain radiating thru the body (depending on which nerve is affected) and can cause muscles to basically be paralyzed due to the signal from the brain not getting thru. It's very painful.
Well, I am only guessing on the cervical stenosis. He seems happy enough. But the lumbar stenosis is definite. It also explains why in spite of everything, he has always lacked proper muscular development in his hindquarters. It is bad because he is a really big dog.
Well, my poor boy has something going on with his neck for sure. He yelped in pain today and hung his head. He was nervous and panting obviously in pain. Got him to the vet. A quick gentle exam revealed severe tightness in his neck and not willing to turn his head to the left, or raise it, which he rarely did anyway. He ate most of his supper with Gabapebtin, tramadol and a Previcox. He won't leave my side. But at least he is not panting and anxious. But he is still moving very carefully. We will go back for more X-rays if the pills don't help. So sad for only a 5 year old dog. The vet said all his joints were super tight and his left hip was popping out. How much pain he must've been in????
Thank you. I too feel sorry for him. He is curled up under my stool. Very unlike him. He's actually been doing this for a while. I guess he's been sore longer than I knew. They can be so hard to read. He has always been kind of slow moving and acting, but now he seems really old.
I have been warned against any chiropractic for this. But acupuncture is an option. We'll see after the X-ray this afternoon.
The xrays were worse than I expected. The cervical problem is in the 2 uppermost bones. He mentioned the Axis and Atlas. Apparently, it is the stenosis plus sharp fragments ,bone spurs I guess, that are causing the pain . I can never use a collar again and so will switch to a harness. He still has the function in his front legs and feet, but neck movement is restricted.
The middle of his back is Ok. But the severe stenosis in the tail area will eventually lead to incontinence.
My vet said although he knew about the spine problem, he was shocked to see how bad it really was.
One plus to all this, thankfully the Previcox and Gabapentin are working nicely. They want me to try to keep him quiet as possible for a while. wonder how long that will last. LOL.
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