NOT WOBBLER'S!!!
Whew. What a relief! Thank you to everyone for all the well wishes and crossed paws for good results!
We dropped Darwin off in the morning, and by 3:45 we got a call from the neurologist with the results. He said her spine looked totally fine and there was no evidence of compression, but the radiologist picked up on some abnormal tissue growth between her T10-T11 vertebrae... sometimes it's called a "kissing lesion" in horses.
So while it's NOT WOBBLER'S(!!!) it could be meningitis and he's running some tests on her spinal fluid to see if that's what's causing her pain. He'll be calling tomorrow with those results.
If it is meningitis (Wobbler's research stops here... meningitis research picks up) she'll be treated with 9 weeks of antibiotics and Prednisone. The vet tech also told us if the tests don't show meningitis, they may still treat her for it, because they weren't able to get a spinal tap on her lower back where the problem seems to be and they had to take it higher in her spine.
They she also may need physical therapy or water therapy.
When we went to pick her up, they took us to an exam room to go over the results of the MRI, then left to go get her. Once they got her out of the back, she bolted straight for the front door. The vet tech thought she was just skittish and "drunk" from the anesthesia and tried to carry Darwin's rear (she hates that) and eventually Darwin just squatted and peed in the lobby. Poor girl. She was whining and pulling to get outside, and all she wanted to do was use the bathroom!
Now that we're home she seems to be doing better. She ate dinner as soon as we came in (she couldn't eat anything after 10pm last night) and is now chewing away at a raw bone. She has waves of drunkenness and neediness from the drugs, but other than that she seems to be fine.
I'll post pictures tomorrow of all her new shaved spots... I may start calling her Patch... I just wanted to let you all know the results and say a big thank you for keeping her in your thoughts!
It's not wobblers!!!
Showing posts with label wobblers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wobblers. Show all posts
31 March 2010
24 March 2010
{23mar2010: update}
So today was Darwin's appointment with the neurologist and I was kind of nervous as to what he'd have to say. I was hoping I'd be able to do a "not Wobbler's" post today, but he wasn't able to totally rule it out based on his exam and her xrays.
Darwin has been hesitant to get in the car the last few times I've taken her places... Sunday, I went in to work and she seemed to be eager to go with me, but when we got to the car she didn't want to get in... she's usually quick to jump right in. I wasn't going to force her to go to work with me since I barely wanted to go myself so I took her back in and left her (where she whined at the door for me according to Jason). Last night we were going to meet Robin, BB and Friday at Norm's (a dog-friendly bar/pub in Fremont) and it took a good 5-10 minutes to get her to jump in, and even then I had to force her in the car. Then today to get to the neurologist, loading her into the car took at least 5 minutes, and I basically had to (try) and lift her in. I've been chocking it up to nerves... maybe she's worried we'll be leaving her again, maybe her last vet visit with the sedation and xrays made her nervous about going back, maybe she's just being difficult.
So we get to the neurologist's office and meet Dr. Sanders. He checks Darwin out, makes her walk down the hall, flexes her legs, tests her reflexes, and palpates her spine. At certain parts along her spine she would react with a jerk and a low growl. He then checked out her xrays, but said he didn't see anything that stood out to him as being anything to be too worried about.
He said based on her reaction to him pushing on her spine, he said it could be meningitis or polyarthritis, though he's pretty confident it's not meningitis as she doesn't present the typical symptoms of it. He also hasn't ruled out Wobbler's as the xrays that were taken were of her lower back and none show her neck which is where Wobbler's affects. But he also said that based on the exam today she's not showing any symptoms that stand out to him, her gait and posture are normal, that make him feel like we need to rush her to get an MRI and that it could just be something that could heal on its own. Our two options are to continue to limit her activity and slowly reintroduce her back to her normal activities and see if she reacts like she did on our walk on Saturday. Or we can do an MRI to see if there is (or isn't) something bigger (like Wobbler's). If it isn't Wobbler's we can have that peace of mind, and if it is we can treat it before it get's worse.
After I thought about it after our appointment and thinking back to Darwin and her not wanting to jump into the car, I am thinking now, maybe it hurts her back to jump up in the car and that's why she's so reluctant to get in and not that she's traumatized.
Jason and I currently are debating if we should do the MRI (we're leaning to yes at the moment), but we are also thinking about taking her to our chiropractor who does adjust dogs (including his own) to see if that would help her.
So while we have no definitive answers like I was hoping we'd get today, it was positive that her gait is back to normal and there wasn't anything that seriously alarmed the doctor.
Once we got home Darwin was quick to get out on the balcony and get some vitamin d.
Darwin has been hesitant to get in the car the last few times I've taken her places... Sunday, I went in to work and she seemed to be eager to go with me, but when we got to the car she didn't want to get in... she's usually quick to jump right in. I wasn't going to force her to go to work with me since I barely wanted to go myself so I took her back in and left her (where she whined at the door for me according to Jason). Last night we were going to meet Robin, BB and Friday at Norm's (a dog-friendly bar/pub in Fremont) and it took a good 5-10 minutes to get her to jump in, and even then I had to force her in the car. Then today to get to the neurologist, loading her into the car took at least 5 minutes, and I basically had to (try) and lift her in. I've been chocking it up to nerves... maybe she's worried we'll be leaving her again, maybe her last vet visit with the sedation and xrays made her nervous about going back, maybe she's just being difficult.
So we get to the neurologist's office and meet Dr. Sanders. He checks Darwin out, makes her walk down the hall, flexes her legs, tests her reflexes, and palpates her spine. At certain parts along her spine she would react with a jerk and a low growl. He then checked out her xrays, but said he didn't see anything that stood out to him as being anything to be too worried about.
He said based on her reaction to him pushing on her spine, he said it could be meningitis or polyarthritis, though he's pretty confident it's not meningitis as she doesn't present the typical symptoms of it. He also hasn't ruled out Wobbler's as the xrays that were taken were of her lower back and none show her neck which is where Wobbler's affects. But he also said that based on the exam today she's not showing any symptoms that stand out to him, her gait and posture are normal, that make him feel like we need to rush her to get an MRI and that it could just be something that could heal on its own. Our two options are to continue to limit her activity and slowly reintroduce her back to her normal activities and see if she reacts like she did on our walk on Saturday. Or we can do an MRI to see if there is (or isn't) something bigger (like Wobbler's). If it isn't Wobbler's we can have that peace of mind, and if it is we can treat it before it get's worse.
After I thought about it after our appointment and thinking back to Darwin and her not wanting to jump into the car, I am thinking now, maybe it hurts her back to jump up in the car and that's why she's so reluctant to get in and not that she's traumatized.
Jason and I currently are debating if we should do the MRI (we're leaning to yes at the moment), but we are also thinking about taking her to our chiropractor who does adjust dogs (including his own) to see if that would help her.
So while we have no definitive answers like I was hoping we'd get today, it was positive that her gait is back to normal and there wasn't anything that seriously alarmed the doctor.
Once we got home Darwin was quick to get out on the balcony and get some vitamin d.
16 March 2010
{15mar2010: update2}
Call from the vet at lunch today... not great news. Radiologist confirmed compressed disks on Darwin's spine (T-12 and T-13) and being that she's still walking funny (we're starting to call her gimpy butt) our vet recommends we go in for a consult with a neurologist to see if he thinks she needs an MRI and if it could be Wobblers (**shudder**). I'm really hoping it's not Wobblers and just out of line disks that can be fixed by rest, acupuncture or a chiropractor. Ugh. I'm waiting for a call back from the neurologist's office to see when we can get in to see the doc. We'll keep you posted.
To wrap things up on a more positive note here's a couple pictures from Jason and my vacation:
Bayon Temple - Siem Reap, Cambodia
Victory Gate - Siem Reap, Cambodia
To wrap things up on a more positive note here's a couple pictures from Jason and my vacation:
Bayon Temple - Siem Reap, Cambodia
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