Young dog stiff when getting up

Young dog stiff when getting up

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CAPP0

Original Poster:

19,533 posts

202 months

Saturday 10th June 2017
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Thought an update was in order.

We went to Fitzpatrick's on Thursday. We had a one hour consultation booked, and wondered what could take an hour, but the vet we saw (Anna) was fantastic. She really did spend an entire hour examining anything and everything which she could on Otis, and asking questions and taking notes. All that she could deduce "externally" was:

- raised temperature, which we knew about
- enlarged prostate, which we didn't
- infected anal glands, which we also weren't aware of.

However, she decided that a CT scan was in order, so Otis was booked in the the night. and we left, with Lola (other dog) who was MOST upset at leaving her brother behind!

We got a call later that evening (Thursday) to day that he'd been anaesthetised and had the CT scan, plus several other samples and a lumbar puncture (he has a large bald patch now at the base of his spine). He'd come through that fine and was having something to eat, and we could collect him the next day.

The CT scan was completely clear, from snout to tail, which is good news. The only visible thing was the enlarged prostate (benign, BPH). So where we are today is that he's home, with different drugs pending the outcome of the various tests and cultures they are working on from the samples taken. She has also recommended that we try chemical castration, which should reduce the prostate size, so he'll get an implant for that next week*. He's OK-ish, still a bit subdued, still having trouble getting up, and not running much, but he's home and safe so that's good.


  • re the castration. We haven't had him done yet, not because we have any intention of breeding from him, but because for every two times we ask the "should we/shouldn't we" question, we get two opposite answers. When he was younger he had very significant fear issues, culminating in him bolting from me three times and running up to 2 miles. A behaviourist we spoke to said don't castrate him, he needs all the courage he can handle. But since we got Lola (a confident little madam!) he is so much better with confidence. He can be a bit narky at first meeting now with other dogs unless introduced slowly and carefully (after which he's almost always completely fine), so the chemical option will really be the best bet for us, we can "test" how much it changes him without it being permanent - yet!

CAPP0

Original Poster:

19,533 posts

202 months

Friday 18th August 2017
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Hopefully the final update on this one! Sorry for the long delay since the last update. We had to wait and see how Otis was and lots of other things (life!) got in the way too.

Well, Otis is once again fit, well and happy! To cut a long story short, after CT & MRI scans and tests for pretty much every canine disease and condition known to man, there was nothing significant found. We stuck to the fact that it seemed related to his tail, which he couldn't hold up properly, and which was the one sole thing which he had complained about if anyone moved it too much - he had put up with every single other test without a murmur. Fitzpatrick's said that there was the slightest indication of a swollen disc in the spine near the tail, and whilst they wouldn't have thought it was significant had he not presented with any other conditions, they decided to try an epidural injection of steroid/cortisone. They knocked him out so that he didn't move during the procedure, carried it out, and sent him home, a little dopey but OK.

The next day - we had our dog back! He was up, bright, happy, lively, and most of all, he was wagging his tail! His appetite returned with a vengeance, and he was desperate to get going. We were told to limit his exercise (lead walks only) for 4 weeks, and during that time, he has put almost all his weight back on (he went from 34kg down to skin & bones at 29kg, and is now back at 33.8kg). We've just started him on off-lead walks again and he (and we) couldn't be happier. Still making sure he doesn't go mad, and still lifting him in & out of the car, but it is just lovely to have him back to normal.

Fitzpatrick put him on Gabapentin, which he finally finishes tomorrow, and have said that if he needs another epidural, he can have that. At present, no sign of needing it. At least if he does, we know that the problem is indeed around his lumbo-sacral area, so we can focus on that and if necessary look at surgical options, but we know where to look and we know there is nothing nastily disease-like lurking below.

Happy days smile

redback911

2,702 posts

265 months

Friday 18th August 2017
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Yay! Really glad everything worked out so well and thanks for the update.

CAPP0

Original Poster:

19,533 posts

202 months

Friday 18th August 2017
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Thanks! He's on particularly good (read: manic!) form tonight, he's charging around and generally behaving like a 6 month old, despite a long walk 2 hours ago!

Thevet

1,787 posts

232 months

Friday 18th August 2017
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That sounds like a very good outcome with hope that surgery won't be needed, hope it goes well from here on