Update on Bella's lameness - Does anyone know how long it takes to see improvement

[shebellbay]

Got Bella's last joint taps back with still no clear diagnosis of the problem. Pathologist report and vet still indicate that basically in a dog this young ( 1 1/2) the symptoms are hard to read as the symptoms don't match the diagnosis. Report comes back as a form of degenerative arthritis and given the count in the fluids (I forget the exact name) has risen from the last test that immune mediated disease must be considered. Her joint X-rays show no sign of arthritis. We are currently treating her with a strong dose of predinisone, an antibiotic and glycosomine.

She has now been on the steroids for a week.

I expected (hoped) to see a great deal of improvement after a week, but I haven't. Does anyone know how long it takes to see improvement. I keep hoping that this will help, but I think this may be something we have to deal with for a while. If that is the case we will have to find some other alternative to predinisone, but we will cross that bridge when the time comes.

Thanks!

Bella and Bayzli's mom

 

[Bar B]

If degenerative arthritis or immune mediated related it may be a life long treatment. The glucosamines I`m sure helped raise those fluid counts so that is something you will probably want to continue to keep from developing further damage.

How long before you see improvement??? Something I have fought with for years. I can tell a difference in Zeus (even though he has Spondylosis he shows the same signs that you speak of) when I change brands (joint meds). So I try to find products that agree with him and stick to them. It has been trial and error and Zeus does get help with steps so the easier I make it for him physically the better he seems to be. It also helps him to get messages and a warm comfy bedding. When winter months comes he wears sweat pants to keep his hind legs warmer and his bed is heated.

Sending mega healing vibes to your baby! I hope things don`t go for you as they have for me but Zeus is still a happy camper determined to do things for himself and when he has trouble I am there to help him. He by far is not a burden and can still have play sessions but he knows his limits and I have to make sure sometimes that he doesn`t over do it.

 

[shebellbay]

Thanks and I agree

Thanks for the good thoughts. I agree, I have come to the conclusion that this is going to be a lifelong thing. Like you, my doggies are my kids and we do whatever we can to make them happy and comfortable.

I think Bella and Zeus although their problems are different, they are pretty much the same. We too carry Bella up and down the stairs, off the bed, etc. Now that the cold is here, I have been worrying about her because I know her legs feel worse. With the sweat pants, how do you deal with the potty? Just take them on and off all of the time? I will give that a try. Now that she is on the steroids, she is drinking so much water that sometimes during the day while I am at work I find she is having accidents in the house so I will probably have to wait until she is off because I would hate for her to be wet until I get home.

Once she finishes her steroid treatment, and if she is still the same, I think we will probably put her back on pain medicine. She had to be off the pain medince 4 days before we could start her on the pred. I didn't really think the pain medicine had been helping her because she could hardly get up even on the meds. Once she was off, I realized just how much they really were helping her.

All in all, she is a trooper, she still wants to go for her walks although sometimes we have walked too far and she has paid for it later in the day. Now I really try to be extra careful and not go to far, try to avoid hills, etc. but still get her some exercise. She loves to chase a light, flash light, laser light, whatever and some days she just wants to play. We play for a while and then I stop, she has not yet learned her limits but I am sure she will.

I am happy to hear (not happy that Zeus is going through it) that you have been able to keep Zeus' pain under control because the vet indicated to me that if we couldn't get things under control that given the amount of pain Bella was in that it was only a matter of 6-12 months and I may need to start considering options that I cannot even talk about.

We will definately be able to work this out. I am going to try the sweat pants (where did you get yours?) and continue on the meds.

Thanks for all of the thoughts and give Zeus a big kiss for us!

By the way, my male is going crazy because Bella just does not play with him like she used to, he will just stand in front of her and bark, no matter what I do. He will play with me for a while, but then he just goes back to barking at her. When she gets tired of it, she jumps on him. Any suggestions.

 

[Bar B]

For the sweat pants idea, I went to the little boys section. Just cut a hole for the nub. I do take them off when it is time for potty breaks. I`m thinking about trying to modify a pair that will act like suspenders. The pants I can hook to a t-shirt to keep them from coming off. If too long, I just roll up. Measure her to get an approx. waist size and length so you can measure while at the store.

You can also purchase doggie diapers for the incontinence problem if she will wear. I have heard some folks say they use regular baby diapers and cut a hole out for the nub. Not sure what size you would need. Prednisone causes the problem alone with the excessive drinking. My vet also opted to put Zeus on this and I declined cause he may need that once he gets older. He is 4 and I don`t want him to go to that drastic a med (long term). I feel it would lessen his life expectancy.

As far as pain, he has aches daily and when they get a little too much, we either do Deramaxx (which he does really well with) or k9 aspirins. He takes those (crushed) in yogurt right after a meal (like a snack) which is easy on the tummy.

Now for the aggression: Zeus does guard his space. He doesn`t want any other dogs to crash into him, step on him, and he gets defensive when he feels they are about to injure him. He is still somewhat active with all of the dogs but he is now to the point the no outside chase games are safe for him. He will play tug of war in the house and he will trot with the girls (as fast as he can) but if they were to run into one another...the set back we could have!!! The walks we keep short (just around home... up the driveway to check the mail....explore the woods) but it doesn`t take him too long to tire and want to lie down. From my description you would think he sounds like an old man but he is very careful with himself, he does have his wild times, and I cherish every moment cause I don`t really know how long it may last. I know there will be a time when I will have to make a decision but as long as he has a good quality of life...I`ll give him all the time he needs and be there to help him every step of the way...but when he quits or (I learned this part from Brandy, my rescue girl) his body starts failing him completely then I will know it is time.

You may have to do some things different with your male. Play with him one on one to tire him somewhat and then teach him how to play with Bella (in an easy way). Boxers are s-u-p-p-o-s-e to learn how to handle themselves around older people and small children and it won`t be much different for Bella. She is going to have aches and pains (hopefully not severe) and my gang is learning to be easy around Zeus. They have done well but it does take some coaching.

Zeus says (being that the kiss is coming from you) "Thanks!" He gets tired of me giving him kisses all the time...if he could talk he would say "Mom, would you stop!"

Again, Good Luck! Zeus has been going through this for 2 years now. Hope your vet is wrong about the 6-12 months! Keep us posted.

 

[anbuh]

What exactly are your dog's symtoms? Is she unable to get up at all? Can she walk for awhile and then falls? Does she have excessive slobbering? Chaos was able to walk only a few steps, and wuold collapse. He was misdiagnosed by 2 or three vets. I too did not see the symptoms matching the diagnosis. Boxers are prone to Aquired myasthenia gravis, which after carrrying Chaos around and going nuts for about a month he was finally diagnosed with. He was tested with tensilon and that is what he has. He is on Medication and has been as normal as a boxer can be for the last 2 years. It couldn't hurt to ask your vet about it, although it is rare.
anbuh

 

[shebellbay]

Thanks for all the great ideas

Again, Good Luck! Zeus has been going through this for 2 years now. Hope your vet is wrong about the 6-12 months! Keep us posted.

Thanks for all of the great ideas and support. I do think the steroids are helping. Her front legs seem much better. Her back legs are still a problem, but not as bad as they were.

I will be so glad when she is off the steroids and will probably explore alternatives for future treatment. Bella is such a lover with her human family, but not so loving with her doggy brother. We are working on this and she is very good about backing off when told. The vet keeps telling me this will get better once she is off the steroids and I do know this is true.

I have started to take Bayzli running in the evening which does give him more one on one with us and tires him some, but he is in very good shape and after a 3-5 mile run, he is still ready to go.

Fortunately we seem to have adjusted to the changes and it no longer seems like the end of the world. Bella seems to be happy just laying beside us and we play lightly with her when she wants to play.

 

[shebellbay]

Symptoms

What exactly are your dog's symtoms? Is she unable to get up at all? Can she walk for awhile and then falls? Does she have excessive slobbering? Aquired myasthenia gravis

Thanks for the information. I have not heard of Aquired myasthenia gravis. I plan to do some research on it as soon as I am through here.

Bella's symptoms started out as what I thought were just growing pains. She experienced severe growing pains at six months and because the symptoms appeared similar, I just assumed this is what it was and that they would disappear in about 4-6 weeks. Unfortunately they were not getting better and, instead, were getting worse.

She has always drank a lot of water, way more than my male and is a slobberer so I don't think that her slobbering was any more than it normally was. What was happening with Bella was that when she sat or laid down, she could not get up. Once she got up, although her legs were sore, she would and could walk around. She didn't collapse, but she also didn't run and play, etc. as she used to. Then it got to the point where we had to carry her up and down the stairs, on and off the bed and couch, she didn't want to get up, etc. My first thought was that it was lyme disease, but two tests came back with no exposure. The pain also seemed to be isolated to all joints - she showed no pain in the long bones, etc. Her joint x-rays are beautiful. Her joint taps came back with maybes, but no 100% that this is what it is. We are treating her for autoimmune disease and degenerative arthritis. She is on a high dose of steroids, an antibiotic and glycosumine. We will see what happens when she is off the steroids.

Thanks for the ideas and information. Good luck with Chaos.

 

[sawcut64]

Spondylosis

hello,
I am writing because my dog has just been diagonsed with Spondylosis. He also never wanted to jump up on beds or down for that matter. He also has always drank alot of water. He is fine right now but I am worried for the future. Is there any advice you can give me. He doesn't jump on stuff and we are stopping him from standing over us and making sure he doesn't jump. My vet told us to give him cosequien. Is there anything else you can think of to help him. He hasn't show any pain and he is acting the same as usual. Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[shebellbay]

Spondylosis

sawcut64

I'm sorry to hear one of your dogs has been diagnosed with spondylosis. From my reading I understand it is more common than we would like to think.

We finally narrowed Bella's problem down to Rheumatoid Arthritis brought on by autoimmune disease. We have been treating her with high doses of prednisone and cytoxin. After 9 months of heavy treatment, we are finally weaning her off of her medicine and are hoping that she will be able to be off the medicine for a while to give her body a break. For Bella this will be a lifelong problem, her joint taps have not improved and in three joints have gotten worse even after heavy treatment. Her physical signs are much improved and back to normal - she is my wild little puppy again. We will continue to treat as her symptoms flare up, etc. For now she is feeling great, running around and back to her old self.


Good luck. If I hear any information on spondylosis I will pass it along to you.

Take care and good luck with your doggies