Hey CJ - I haven't been on here too much lately, but I'm very happy to read your updates on Vince - so glad that he's feeling much better!!

Thank you Mara.

Okay, we're off. I hope this all goes well.

Could the lump be the site of an injection? You could ask that. Sometimes injections given to a dog who is asleep or heavily medicated, perhaps lying on their back, end up more in the center than you had expected. Or, perhaps his pre-anaesthetic was given there.... just a thought, not a worry.

Maybe its one of those small sebaceous cysts?...Logan gets them, one he has had still pea sized on his ankle. He has one of the back of his neck but most of them go away or bust like zits on their own. I think his pores get clogged from rolling in dirt (his favorite thing).

Before I give an update on Vince I have to share, this had me giggling half way there.

Bob had a few things he needed to get done and he knows Vince is often better off with just me, so Vince and I did this one solo.

Bob's quite meticulous about the vehicles though so he did a quick oil check, made sure everything was in the emergency pack and hands me my .38 (yes, I'm licensed up the wazoo), double locked, in its case of course, for the stop I was making at the gun range a ways past this place.

I'd shared Dennis's "Old Lady" post with him the other day and a big grin came on my face as he's standing there, Vince loaded and I'm about to head out. I said.... What are you so worried about? Right on cue, like only a 24 year relationship and reading the same posts can do, he said...Not a ****ing thing.

We both burst out laughing and I thought OMG, I am that lady. Notice I omitted the "old". Had a big grin on my face for at least 50 miles. Thank you Dennis, for persevering to get that posted.

In any case, all went well. Our highways dept did a great job on the roads.

The vet I originally saw wasn't there, which was a bit unfortunate but I think they probably share a lot of information and the same expertise. He seemed kind of familiar with our situation and said he would make sure she got the results.

He checked his ears and said they look perfect. The hole has closed and it shouldn’t be causing him much further problems. I only noticed a couple of shakes today so it must just be the healing process that's irritating him.

He put a lot of pressure on the bump on his back and felt that it was probably just part of his vertebrae. He could certainly feel it though and compared what he felt to the x-rays. Said he couldn’t be exactly sure and they could do an x-ray with die injected but he really didn't feel that was necessary. With his back being so roached the last couple of weeks, and it still is just a little once in a while, it's probably just part of his vertebrae that wasn't as noticeable before. It is right in the center where he bends it so this kind of made sense to me.

I asked about the possibility of it being speargrass stuck in there. He said if that was the case, there would be a lot more sensitivity and it would feel different, not the boney hardness it is.

He had me walk him up and down the hallway and couldn’t see anything wrong with his gait. He said 100 percent improvement from the previous notes, where he could barely walk due to weakness from neurological issues.

The food consumption is definitely a side effect of the drugs and should decrease over the next week. Was almost sad to hear this but he clocked in at 109 lbs. Up 5 lbs from the last visit but the previous vet thought he might be "cheating" (her words).

He couldn't stand very well at that time so we had him sitting on the scale and his butt was just slightly off. We didn't move him around too much because of his condition. I think he may have gained a pound or two but you can still easily feel his ribs and spine.

He said the next week, off the prednisone, will tell more about the spine issues but he wasn't sure what the initial vet may recommend. He said she may contact me tomorrow.

So all in all, he got a pretty good report card for the time being. My mind is really at ease right now.

Vince and I had a long chat on the way home (hey, it was just him and I for hours and hours) about his behavior (not good but I know what went wrong there - every vet is different).

He promised that if we take it slow, he'll do his best but to only take him to those people when he really needs them. I told him that was a deal if he continues to get better.

We'll see if he keeps up his end of the bargain.

And Dr. Betty, they gave him the sedative in his back leg. I don't remember anything going into his spine area. That's a great thought though. All injections scare me.

There's something I've been thinking about in connection with Vince's head-shaking, so I'm just going to put this out there and hope it's doesn't sound too crazy.

I wonder if Vince is suffering from tinnitus after the eardrum perforation? If you're not familiar with it, tinnitus in humans is also known as ringing in the ears, but it can be any sound from ringing, to buzzing, to clicking, etc. It's very common in humans, and the cause is oftentimes unknown. I myself have suffered with it since I was a child. I think dogs' ears work pretty much the way ours do, so I don't see why they couldn't have such a condition, too.

I've never experienced a punctured eardrum, but it's not hard to imagine that such an injury might result in unusual sounds being perceived afterwards. Those sounds could be quite disturbing to a dog (I know they can be very annoying to humans), and perhaps the only way he can express his frustration and confusion about it is to try to "shake it out."

If it is tinnitus, maybe it's gradually going away as the eardrum heals and that's why he's shaking his head less, or perhaps the noises are still there but he's just becoming more used to it.

Anyway, I know you can't ask Vince if he's hearing funny noises, and unfortunately, there's no test that can be performed on a dog (or a human) to determine such a thing. It's strictly a subjective sensation that the sufferer has to be able to tell you about. Just a thought.....

Cheri, that's really interesting. I've heard about that. A lady at work a few years back said she was plagued with it. It really bothered her with some phone calls.

There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with his hearing. I mean he obeys commands quickly and doesn't seem disoriented in any way.

It is a strange shake though. Not the normal, there's snow on my head or something tickled my ear. He really shakes it hard, like he's trying to whip something out of there. His feet don't go anywhere near it, he doesn't feel the need to try and dig in there.

He did it again this morning, so it's still there, whatever it is.

I didn't realize your boy was that big! Here's hoping he keeps getting better. So the lump is just his spine then? Well that's good its not a tumor or something...so hopefully that rules out the worst possibility!

Logans spine gets like that when there is an injury (he lands wrong after catching a ball or tried to turn to fast, stuff like that...manic dog). He has had a few (less severe than your dog), the worst was when he nearly dislocated his right hip and I could feel his sacrum joint there sticking out weird and his mid back there was another "lump". He didn't like me touching it even after the initial trauma.

I called my chiropractor and asked her if she could look at it (vet was closed I was avoiding the emer-vet that killed my last duchie, otherwise he'd have been strait to the vet, I thought it was dislocated)

It took months for that hip to be right again, we had to go see the "bone doc" every week or so...initially I had to put a bag of frozen peas on his rear end...he hated that and I eventually gave up *sigh*

I was really worried about his hip being permanently damaged as it was really bad, he wouldn't put weight on it, screamed the most heart wrenching screams out of the blue (and he is normally tough about pain) would hobble up to me and stand there screaming but he bit if I touched him anywhere. Scared me to death when it first happened...though a tendon had been snapped or muscles torn or bone fractured.

I know your boy's injury is pretty bad (obviously) and its hard to imagine him well again. But we're all rooting for him here!

Thanks Tresa and yeah, he is a big boy. All muscle...really.

And he's also really long. I haven't measured him lately, I should. But maybe I'll wait till his back is completely straightened out.

And based on what your pup has been through and the experience of a few other folks here, this doesn't sound like that unusual of accident. The pinched nerve issue or whatever it is/was is sure a scary thing to see though. That crippled back end and the hobbling around of an otherwise extremely active dog just terrified me. I thought I'd damaged him for life.

And not that I wouldn't do everything in my power to get him the best treatment possible, it just seemed so unfair to him.

But, we're well on the road to recovery. His front pads have healed up nicely, just a bit of this ear thing left and he's pretty darn active again.

About 50 more days and we should be out of this winter weather. Can’t wait for all this ice to melt but in the mean time, we’ll be avoiding it and sticking to the wooded trails.

And something about this extra vertebrae, like the vet said, being long like he is could predispose him to this type of accident so that's really good for me know and I will be using a little more caution now when it comes to letting him be the maniac he can be.

 Quote: CJ Barrett

Bob's quite meticulous about the vehicles though so he did a quick oil check, made sure everything was in the emergency pack and hands me my .38 (yes, I'm licensed up the wazoo),

lmfao...yes I said lmFao!!!

that made me laugh....kind of like my BF handing me my coffee when im out the door...your's hands you a .38...just so casual about it.

anyhoo...soooo glad to hear things are looking up in the leg scenario. Hopefully that lump is nothing to be concerned with.
And well the ear thing, i would definately want to see if you could get them to take another look in there. A punctured ear drum is nothing to fool with. Did they tell you how long the ear would take to heal?