Quote: Joyce Salazar

Just wondering about nutritional supplements.
Kaia is already on 1500 mg of Ester C and gets 400 IU of Vitamin E
as well as therapeutic doses of salmon oil.
Alfalfa & kelp, with her raw meals.
In addition some veggie puree and several times a week, she gets frozen blueberries too.

Anyone hear of upping Vit E to 800 IU's?

How much salmon oil? The long-chain Omega 3s in the fish oil are powerful anti-inflammation agents.

She is getting three pumps per meal 2X a day.
It is the Bravo salmon oil, in the Grizzly 32 oz pump size.
I was doing this for her atopy.

We have some small encouraging signs happening.
Both last night and this morning while going out to do her business, Kaia is holding the lame leg up more as she walks. Even though her foot seems to drag a bit, it looks to me like she is showing more balance and even seems less wobbly.

She is also growing tired of laying down and whining to play, which I think is a bit encouraging too.
We "played" last night with her laying on her bed and I would toss her ball to her. She would drop it, it was like we were playing a game of lay down catch.

My hope is that with continued rest, that the steroids will help whatever inflammation that is going on in there, so she can return to normal if possible.

I am wondering about a possible herniated disk, while our regular vet did not see this on Xray, maybe the Radiologist will be able to have some insight.

We will see how our morning progresses and talk to our Vet to see about added tests this afternoon with a specialist.

While there are several clouds on our horizon, there are some streams of sun peeking through, enough to be encouraged.

 Quote: Joyce Salazar

While there are several clouds on our horizon, there are some streams of sun peeking through, enough to be encouraged.

Yay!

leih

All really encouraging signs!

How is she doing? What did the vet say?

More good signs today!!

Kaia is doing even better this afternoon and evening.
She is gaining more stability, and even uses her lame paw to balance on while standing, which seems a huge improvement. She has adapted a good hop to get around by herself although I am right behind to make sure I can support her when she does her squats for business.
It looks very positive because these are good improvements from Saturday morning.

Our Vet said that he thinks we should see the specialist for more tests. There in lies the problem of finances.
CT scan, myelogram, or MRI all start at $1000 to $2700

My question is this, can we see how she does for a few more days and is it possible she might recover without doing anything?....
Ok, well I know, that is the million dollar question isn't it?
Just laughing at myself here....
I understand that with neurological problems that we don't want to take any chances. But if she shows progress each day, will that be ok to see how she does for a couple days?

I know we are in for a long haul for recovery, providing that she continues to progress.
We have a tentative appointment for Wed, with a surgeon.
The neurologist doesn't have any openings until next week, but the surgeon could see us this Wed.
Anyone care to advise?

Joyce, why did your vet suggest seeing a surgeon? If you need to see a neurologist, and he can't see you until next week (assuming they know the medical situation and are fine with you waiting), I'm just thinking why wouldn't it be ok to wait until the neurologist appt. and then get an evaluation from him to decide on further testing. Just thinking out loud!

JMO, but I'd rather see a neurologist for a definitive diagnosis before I'd see a surgeon.

Surgeons cut. That's what they do. There are very ethical ones out there, but still...there are often alternatives to surgery that one may not hear about from surgeons...and besides, without a definitive diagnosis, s/he's gonna have to recommend further testing.

Good luck!

leih

My GSD had spinal problems when she was 4 (both hind legs with limping, crouching, knuckling and urine leakage). She is now almost 12 and doing pretty well for her age.

Our regular vet referred her directly to a neurosurgeon at a university veterinary school. I believe that the referral to the neurosurgeon was directly related to the myelogram. Since no answers were found (x-rays, MRI etc), the best diagnostic tool was the myelogram. You should be aware of the fact that the myleogram itself has risks. I was told that the myelogram is done under anesthesia (dye is injected into the spinal column). And if a surgical solution is found, the dog is taken DIRECTLY to surgery. They also said that there was no point in doing the myelogram unless we were fully committed to doing the surgery. You need to be prepared for the fact that this is very expensive. We left her for the procedure at the university after her initial appointment. They felt that if the answer was indeed surgical, waiting was not an option.

She was there for 3 days and evaluated by other services as well (eg., orthopedic and I have forgotten the rest). In her case, after the myelogram, there was no surgical solution found. They were happy to have us come and take her home (she's a difficult dog).

She was treated in a conservative manner with medication and a lot of rest. It was a slow process but she did get better. She has had occasional issues with this over the years but has had a good quality of life. They did discuss the fact that this could be DM but felt that she was young (4) at that point and it might become an issue later ... but that never happened. I am happy to hear that there have be positive signs and I hope that it continues. I don't know that this helps but in my dog's case the outcome was positive ... so there is hope.