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!
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!