ness_bc Posted November 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2012 So the update seems to be that she will need spinal x-rays to see what may be going on. Will know more when the neurospecialist gets back to me next week. The physio found evidence of quite substantial back pain . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness_bc Posted June 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 Hmm haven't been on here awhile but I thought I would come back as I am really not sure what to do. The saga continued and she was subsequently diagnosed with having a luxating patella in her other hind leg. She is/was still having issues with the surgery leg as well. Back in February she went back to the specialist who regraded her surgery leg as the same grading MPL as before surgery. However she had such significant muscle wastage he wasn't sure if that wasn't the reason and so reluctant to put her back to surgery. In the last few weeks we decided to go ahead and try some underwater treadmill. She has been having two sessions a week for the last 3 and a bit weeks. Last Monday (session 6) she came up non-weight bearing while in the tank and was non-weight bearing after her session. The video of her session is here - Because of that her session on Thursday (session 7) was significantly shorter. She has been getting tramadol twice a day and carprofen twice a day for the last few months. She still has huge issues with doing stairs and all the things she use to. I have tentatively booked her in to the specialist this coming Tuesday because the person who I have been corresponding with over the hydrotherapy suggested it was worth taking her back to the specialist to make sure there wasn't anything more going on and to get a more current picture on the MPLs. Really not sure what to do with her but figured I'd post the video here and see if anybody else has any ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alchemist Posted June 1, 2013 Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 They put her back in the treadmill only a couple of days after coming up lame in it? Not sure what the general practice is, but at one ortho rehab practice I frequented, the mantra was "no lame dogs in the water". I'm sure someone more learned can chime in... Best of luck in sorting this out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness_bc Posted June 1, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 Hmmm well its run at a vet practice and because she does have grade 2 bilateral luxating patellas, a small amount of non-weight bearing lameness at times is somewhat inevitable. I was up front when I showed up for the appointment on Thursday. He asked how she had been. It wasn't lasting lameness as such. She was shifting weight off her right hind towards the end of the session above and by the time we went the 10m to the gate she was holding the leg up. It resolved by the time we got to the car (maybe another 100m away). She was fine in Thursdays session but each amount of treadmill time was cut by 30 seconds. Interesting comments though - its hard when you can only really be guided by the vets in charge of these places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted June 1, 2013 Report Share Posted June 1, 2013 I have not a clue other than to wonder if there could be some form of cramping going on, with her drawing her leg up as you left but "walking out of it" as you went to the car. The way we found out that Dan had an imbalance in his hind end was because he apparently would cramp on his good leg if he moved wrong (a turn and sideways step all at once) and then when he could relax as I massaged it, he would pop up and walk off like nothing had happened. This is such a puzzle and worry for you, and I feel for you both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness_bc Posted June 4, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 Specialist is happy there is nothing else going on but her right hind luxating patella has deteriorated since she last saw him in January. The left hind which had surgery still has a grade 1 patella luxation. No real suggestion or recommendation of further surgery at this stage - not that I could afford it anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness_bc Posted June 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 Hmm Kenz has now had 7 weeks of hydrotherapy/underwater treadmill twice a week. She had her last session yesterday and managed 3 reasonable sessions. Specialist has suggested repairing the RH MPL, then recheck x-rays at 4 weeks and then potentially starting underwater treadmill at 4 weeks post-op then have a follow up appointment at 6 and 8 weeks and then do a revision surgery on her LH MPL at the 8 week mark.She is struggling so much poor girl. Just not in a financial position to be able to go ahead for the moment so she is basically on pain meds as necessary and whatever exercise she can cope with (which isn't much). Life sucks - poor girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted June 29, 2013 Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 Is there any chance that a joint brace might help her? Avoid surgery, give support to the joint, and allow her to be moblie with less pain? I know they are not cheap but maybe less so than surgery and continuing treatment. My dogs' therapist has been using one on a large dog whose owner does not want to do surgery. Along with the brace, that dog does get some rehab/therapy to strengthen the hind end musculature. Good luck with Ness - this has been such a trial for the two of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness_bc Posted June 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 Not sure nobody has suggested it. The problem is the surgeon wants to do the RH first to give her a good leg and then maybe avoid doing the LH (which is the one she had surgery on already) but the LH bothers her just as much as the RH does. I was wondering about pushing to have the LH redone (it will be done cheaper because its considered a complication of the first surgery) and then worry about finding money to repair the other leg at some point in time. I really am not looking forward to trying to crate rest her for another 4 months either . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted June 29, 2013 Report Share Posted June 29, 2013 I sure hope you can figure out a plan that will work for you and Kenzie. I feel for both ot you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness_bc Posted July 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 Had a check-up appointment with the chiro vet - he didn't feel either medial luxating patella was to bad. She could tolerate a fair amount of pressure and while they aren't normal he didn't think they warranted surgery. However she has gone back to having some intermittent front end lameness so he checked out her front and is fairly convinced she has a medial shoulder instability in her right shoulder. What a frustrating saga this dog has turned out to be. Advice now is to manage her pain with meds as necessary and try and encourage a lower activity level lifestyle. Not happening unfortunately she is just becoming more feral with doing less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 So sorry to hear that there just isn't a "fix" for Kenzie. With lower activity, can you increase her mental activity in some way? Tricks training, perhaps? Intellectually-stimulating toys (I've seen some interesting ones on the internet)? You both have been through so much - I feel for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness_bc Posted July 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 She can do tracking if she does it at a low to moderate speed. Problem with doing to much in the way of tricks is she throws herself at everything with so much enthusiasm I am sure its making her issues worse anyway. She will literally throw herself at me. She isn't really into "food" or "puzzle" toys. Just isn't foodie and would rather a toy. I also have to be careful because if she gets mentally wound up then she is just as liable to a collapse episode. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alchemist Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 My dog had problems with medial shoulder instability in the fall of 2011. It presented as intermittent lameness. I took him to an ortho vet who diagnosed medial shoulder instability after first ascertaining that X-rays were normal. Problem was diagnosed because his abduction angle was outside the normal range. (It's actually not a hard thing to diagnose if you know what to look for). I opted for conservative therapy over surgery. We put him in something called 'hobbles' and strictly limited his physical activity. Two ten-minute leash walks per day. I took the hobbles off twice a day for passive range of motion exercises. Hobbles stayed on for six weeks, two months? When we took them off, I VERY gradually introduced activity (it was several months before he was back to off-leash hiking). Also did physical therapy and underwater treadmill. He's been fine since. (Except for the one time I overdid it on an off-leash hike, when he was lame for a day or two, first on one forelimb, then on another). But this worked because we REALLY limited his activity. I think he got into the hobbles in January, and wasn't back to off-leash hikes until late July. If I'd gone the surgical route, his physical activity would have been limited for an even longer time. Here's a link to the product we used so that you can get a sense of what it represents. It's pretty tricky to figure out how to fit it, and how to get it on and off correctly. He's enjoying a very active lifestyle right now - off-leash hikes most days (weather permitting), and lessons working sheep whenever we can manage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness_bc Posted July 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2013 Thanks yes I had read up on that and I am just not sure it hasn't been suggested. When I emailed the specialist to organise more pain meds to have on hand he asked if Kenz had been sedated to diagnosis it which she hadn't been. I didn't think it seemed like it would need sedating to diagnose. She was only at the ortho about 6 weeks ago but also when she saw him she had been doing restricted activity/UWTM twice a week so wondering if its emerged since I have her let go a little bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alchemist Posted July 27, 2013 Report Share Posted July 27, 2013 My dog was not sedated (nor was he on any sort of pain meds) when medial shoulder instability was diagnosed. I hope they get to the bottom of Kenz's problems... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushdoggie Posted July 27, 2013 Report Share Posted July 27, 2013 She can do tracking if she does it at a low to moderate speed. She would be on lead but pulling into her harness. Try on leash nosework, pick an odor (pick some non toxic essential oil or even extract), put it on a swab in a small container with holes and hide it. Pair it with something extra stinky or a toy she Sniffing can be very tiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ness_bc Posted July 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2013 Yeah I know nosework is about the only option - selfish desire to try and find something I can still compete with her in. We may still have to resort to playing things like that when her body finally gives up on her. As long as both the specialist and the chiro vet are ok with her tracking I will give it a go. If things continue to worsen I will restrict her further but since the advice provided is that we can see how she does I am loathed to give up everything until I absolutely have to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushdoggie Posted July 27, 2013 Report Share Posted July 27, 2013 Nosework is a sport...you can order the birch, anise and other scent online in a kit. Its what my 10 year old structurally crap dog is doing and she really seems to enjoy the hunt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.