Tuuli Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Yikes, Our 4.5 year old girl Tuuli has developed neurotic behavior following a chronic injury. Call is in to the vet... Tuuli has had a limp for almost a year. Seems to be front-end. Sometimes there, sometimes not. It was hard to pin down. She bears weight on both front legs, very little limp. We ran her into the ground last week and finally got a yelp out of her in the left shoulder. The vet thinks bicep tendinitis. Our vet (who we love) is very active with her dogs, former racing kennel and Iditarod musher. She knows sports injuries well. She has a similar a BC that had the same problem. We are going with the AGGRESSIVE non-surgical treatment at this point. Our other vet at the same practice had her BC with the same ailement undergo the surgical route with a specialist in Colorado. They are pretty This means 3 5-minute walks per day, Rimadyl 50mg PO twice/day, acupuncture, a cortisone injection last Friday, and starting laser therapy and underwater treadmill next week. Since the general anesthesia and steroid injection she has gone nuts. Non-stop panting, pacing, her communication bark at bizarre and inappropriate times, CAN NOT eat enough, always looking for food, she will park on her food bowl and bark as well as suck up any old crumbs she can find on the floor. Thoughts? Could the increase food drive be steroid related from last Friday? Is she just nuts from going from totally active trail running dog to couch potatoe dog? Medication issue? We also have the 2 year old BC Rescue from the PNW Border Collie Rescue that is now getting all of the special attention (runs, etc) and we are trying to make sure we give Tuuli lots of special "non-active" dog attention. Thanks in advance, love to hear some of your thoughts. Hopefully I will hear from the vet soon! Jaime & Tuuli Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Some Border Collies don't react well to anesthesia. Only time can really help at this point, but I help the liver clear out the rest of it quickly using milk thistle. And the steroids might not be helping, plus the change. Ie, I think you might be right on, there. Is there any way you could excuse yourself from fostering until this is over with Tuuli? It would help if you could max out the attention and physical/mental stimulation that she's allowed. One thing that I've found helps, weirdly, with steroid food craziness, is switching temporarily to wet food - either fixing homemade food (I crockpot whole chicken and throw in potatoes and apples and stuff - after 24 hours the bones get squishy and safe to eat), or using canned food or both. Wet food is more filling and also helps satisfies the craving for liquids in a more natural way than tanking up on water. Swtich to as many small meals as you can fit in your schedule, so that her tummy doesn't get completely empty and trigger that frantic rush to eat and drink. Then obviously you will need lots of walks, whatever the vet will allow. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belleview Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Several years ago, I went the non-surgical route for treating bicep tendonitis in a 6.5 yo open level trial dog. She acted like she was on a seriously bad trip coming out of the anesthesia following the steroid injection-- pacing, barking, etc, but was pretty much back to normal personality-wise within a few hours. FWIW, the steriod injection & rest worked for us, even tho the rehap period was tough. While my bitch always had a slightly *different* gait afterwards, she was sound thereafter and ran competitively and successfully til age 11, and is still looking darn good at 13.5. Best of luck with your girl. Lori Cunningham Milton, PA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenajo Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 I don't know for sure in dogs, but that response is typical in humans given high dose steriods. Try to be patient with her and report her issues to the vet. Nasty injury. Hang in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 Some dogs do that with steroids, even with a reasonable dose. It's an unpredictable reaction and should be taken into account in the future if steroids are being considered for treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tuuli Posted April 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 Spoke with the vet. Concerned, but barely. Said that the behavior is easily attributed to the steroid injection. Typically a little gets out of the joint space, and Tuuli must be pretty sensitive. She mentioned if we did a steriod injection again we would take this into consideration. She said DO NOT give in to her food drive. Feed her all the veggie's she will eat, but not more kibble. We will probably go with the crock-pot chicken method, I like that, and she will LOVE that. More specifics on that? She seems better today. I took her flying and she just crashed (slept!) like a log, good sign. I wasn't very clear I see upon rereading the post. The other BC is our rescue, not a foster. We could never give her away! She has her issue's but is just coming to understand that this is her forever home. She just passed her Good Canine Citizen test! We are so proud of her. I'll let you all know how Tuuli progresses. This isn't going to be easy, I can tell you that. But we are committed to getting her ready for summer running and hiking. Cheers, Jaime, Eeva, Tuuli and Sisu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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