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spine/Neurological issue questions

1K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  squerly 
#1 ·
Hi Guys, I haven't been on for years, couldn't find my original account, but I need some help for my little boy.
A few months ago Shep started dragging his back feet, vet wanted to do a bunch of tests and xrays at the time we couldn't afford, but learned that smaller walks he was fine. On boxing day we went to the park like we do everyday to play ball, and on the third toss he came back limping, so went home. Next day was still limping so went to the vet. This time we had to do all the tests and xrays, discovered he had hip displacia, spondylosis on the vertebra, and liver values were high, and looked abnormal in the xray. So we had to go to a radiologist for an ultrasound on the liver, liver was fine, and the radiologist looked at the xrays, and gave his opinion that the spondylosis was not causing the problem with drag his feet. Vet wanted him to go to a neurologist, and as we had already invested this much trying to diagnose the problem, decided it was worth the couple hundred to have a neurologist take a look. Went to the neurologist today, she determined there is definitely an issue with the spine, but needs an MRI to diagnose further, which they wanted $3000 for. My heart sunk. I just spent $2k to this point, maxed out my credit card, and now this. So I say I can't afford that and she says if I cannot afford the mri, all we can do is treat what could be the issue with supplements/vitamins, and painkillers for the best quality of life. So she listed a couple vitamins, E, B complex and C, went to my pet food store when we got back to the city and they had a wide selection of different supplements. I'm still in a bit of a daze absorbing what I've been told today, basically felt to me I'm being told I'm a bad mother for not being able to afford this mri, and having to search for vitamins of all things to solve my boys problems. But I got my chin up, know we can get through this. They said this was common in german shepherds and that's when I remembered my friends on the gsd forum. I'm sure there are some of you that have been in my situation and can help me out with this. Here's my questions.

1. What kind of supplements did you buy, any specific brand? I picked up Pet Vitality and E Z mobility from Omega Alpha, what they recommended at the store. His meds are prednisone and gabapentin, so has to be ok to use with them.
2. Boots. We've been using his mutlukks on his back feet to protect them, but he's worn through two, going to wear there the second two. I've been researching on rugged boots, some with kevlar soles. The ones like running shoes look like they might be harder for him to walk as they might grip instead of sliding. Any recommendations?

I'm re-reading above and I'm missing a bunch of information/testing things from the last couple weeks, but I'm exhausted. Just a lot to take in. Forgot about a dna test they wanted to do as well for something, mylapathy. When I get some sleep, I'll update.

Thanks!
 
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#3 ·
I'm sorry that I don't have any advice for you, never dealt with this - but I will say that you shouldn't feel bad about not being able to afford a $3,000 MRI! We all want the best for our pups and you shouldn't be made to feel like you are in any way a lesser dog mom for not instantly dropping $5,000 on your dog.

Perhaps you could see if another hospital nearby can get you a lower quote for an MRI? Second opinion from a different neurologist? Is there a veterinary teaching hospital near you? If it's not an emergency, I find it's usually worth it to "shop around" ... Good luck and please let us know about any updates!
 
#4 ·
My heart breaks for you right now. You are not a bad mom to your Shep. Not everyone can afford the expensive tests. I couldn't and I get a discount. You are doing the very best you can. Do NOT feel bad.

I can't help with supplements sorry. Never been good with that sort of stuff. But you can also try looking into acupuncture.

Good luck with your boy!
 
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#5 ·
reduce your omega 6 content -- which would be grains .

increase your anti inflammatory omega 3s, fish oil, camelina oil are rich sources.
flax seed oil not recommended because it is an unstable bond which denatures , or oxidizes
rapidly with contact with air and changes from a good 3 to a don't want inflammatory 6.\\

Serrapeptase is an excellent enzyme for pain relief of arthritis .
 
#6 · (Edited)
You are not a bad parent for not being able to afford this so get that out of your head right now. I am not a vet, nor do I have any formal training but I've been down this road before and I can share with you what I've learned. First, how old is Shep? My dog, who ironically enough was named Shep as well, developed a herniated disc at around 8 years of age. I've learned that this is not all that uncommon in GSD's as they get older.

There's a lot to this story but the neurologist wanted us to try 6 weeks of tight confinement before moving on to something more extreme. We took Shep home and put him in a small room where he could not move around too much. Generally the neurologist would want him confined to a crate or something similar but this room was small enough that she approved it. No jumping around, no getting on beds, etc. We had strict supervised potty breaks and kept the other dog away from him. We also kept a spreadsheet from day and somewhere around week 3 he started to show improvement.

My Shep continued to improve and around week 6 he was doing so well we thought he was going to make a 90% recovery, which considering the alternative was fine with us. Shep went back to pretty much his normal life for the next several months but later he started exhibiting the same symptoms again. They continued to get worse so we put him back into confinement. Unfortunately this time it didn’t work. Further MRI’s indicated that Shep had a degenerative disc problem and while we could fight it we probably would always be at risk of further ruptures.

I would suggest you check with your neurologist and see if he/she agrees it's worth a try and if so then start with the strict confinement for a few weeks and see if Shep starts showing any improvement. Your neurologist will probably prescribe some good anti inflammatory drugs to aide in the recovery. It’s an inexpensive approach and you may find the results you are looking for.

If your Shep’s problem was caused by a fall or something that contributed to a physical rupturing of the disc then you may be able to get positive results from the confinement. Also, get a Degenerative Myelopathy test done and see if you can rule that out. As far as I know there is no DM test that will definitively tell you if the dog has DM, only that he is a carrier or not, but if the test comes back that he’s not even a carrier you can pretty much eliminate DM as the problem.
 
#7 ·
Quick followup. Your vet or neurologist can order and administer the DM test or you can order the kit and prepare the test swab yourself. Gensol will send you the testing kit and you swab the inside of your pups mouth 8-10 times, then send the swabs to the company where they will test for the disease. They then send the results to you.

More info on their page I believe the kit is under $50.00 if you order it direct and do the swab yourself.. GenSol Diagnostics ? Canine Genetic Testing
 
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