We haven’t been doing too much with Cleo being under the weather and it being so hot. Cleo just doesn’t seem to have much energy to do much of anything. Going outside to do her business pretty much takes all her energy and she comes in the back door and lies on the cool kitchen floor. She just doesn’t look comfortable when she lies down, and you can see her start to think when she has to get up and move. She can’t jump into her favorite chair, so I help her. She can work her way on to her ottoman that she likes to sleep on. She doesn’t appear to have any more tummy issues right know. She is eating special dry and soft food that is really bland and easy on her tummy. She doesn’t mind this food and eats it all gone at every meal along with her meds.
Here she is sneaking some of the food Winston left in his bowl the other night. Her back legs appear to work really good when she wants them to. This was prior to her meals being increased. She was looking for food...give me Food...
But her other issues with her back have really got me worried and I am just not sure what to do. The vet says she is not in pain, but I can tell she obviously has some soreness/tenderness when she attempts to lie down or get up. I guess this is from the pressure on the nerves from the vertebrae out of alignment and the swelling.
The support that we have received from our blogville friends has been amazing and gives me great comfort while we try to figure out a course of action for our girl, Cleo. So I am going to reach out to each and every one of you for some guidance on how I should proceed.
For starts, I absolutely love my vet (Dr. T.). He has been my vet for almost 25 years and has helped me through so much when it comes to my fur-kids. I believe he has my fur-kids best interest at heart and believes in his heart he is doing everything for her best interest. But this time, I am just not sure if he understands exactly what is wrong with Cleo. I have talked to a lot of basset hound owners and the basset rescue and everyone is pretty surprised that Cleo was diagnosed with Wobbler’s Syndrome. She also has very low red blood count and low platelets with no known explanation. I really want to take her to the Vet in Chenoa that does acupuncture/chiropractor adjustments on animals. He just doesn’t seem to think that going up to her right know would be a good idea, because of her swelling. He doesn’t seem to think that she will be able to do much because of the paralysis (slow response from limbs) she has right now. He had mentioned to me that he knows her and that he would call her and forward Cleo’s x-rays to her, just not this week.
• Well, just how many weeks do I just wait for him to decide to call and send the x-rays?
• Should I just call her myself and explain it to her and set up my own appointment?
• Should I talk to him again about making the call, or do it behind his back?
I am very aware of how Chiropractor care works in humans and my friend had great success with the lady with her dog. I would like to believe that if she doesn’t feel the time is right to adjust Cleo then she would tell me. But, it just seems like there should be something more I can be doing to get her the relief she needs. I am afraid the longer the nerves are pinched and compressed the more damage will be done to them. Has anyone every had their fur-kid treated with this type of treatment? Have you been in the situation where you might question the care your current vet is giving your fur-kid?
I realize that this type of injury can take some time to heal especially when it involves nerve damage. I just don't know what to do and I just want my girl Cleo to get to feeling better again real soon.
Your thoughts on how you would proceed?
HoundDogMom and Cleo
- Well, just how many weeks do I just wait for him to decide to call and send the x-rays? I got my xrays right away so not sure why you didnt get them immediatly if you paid for them.
ReplyDelete- Should I just call her myself and explain it to her and set up my own appointment? I would
- Should I talk to him again about making the call, or do it behind his back? I would do it on my own.
I had this simular situation with Haylie being diagnosed with stage 4 hip displasia.
I felt that my vet maybe wasnt taking it as serious as I thought it should be, maybe his diagnosis was a little over kill, maybe his method of not wanting surgery was not right etc... so I sought a 2nd opnion. I do that for my own health as well. I love my vet but there isnt anything wrong with a 2nd opinion. Once I saw both vets then I made my decision of treatment.
Haylie will be trying accupuncture next time she is in pain with her hips. Accupuncture has tremendous relief and that is the first thing I thought of you when I read about Cleo.
I am here if you need to talk :) We send our love.
I agree with Hound Girl. I always believe in a 2nd opinion for humans, so why not our fur-babies too.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't bare to watch my Beauford in pain, so I know this must be hard on you.
You do what you feel is right in your heart, and it sounds like you already know what the right thing is, getting Cleo the relief she needs no matter what that means.
We are the only ones are babies have; we have to look out for them.
Hound Dog Mom,
ReplyDeleteI sent you an article I read in Dog Fancy a month or so ago...just recently got to reading them. Anywho? It is about a treatment that the holistic vets could do for Cleo. I mailed it the other day so it should get to you by the weekend. I understand not wanting to upset your vet that you have a connection to...I have the best vets in the world in my own town (aren't we all a bit bias when it comes to our furkids doctors with so many years of care) but I find it silly that he won't give you the X-rays...if he truly believes he has Cleo's best interest in heart, he'll know that giving you the X-rays is for the best...and who knows...his diagnosis might be right...and besides...I have been to a human chiropractor and they will not work on your back or anything if they think it is something that would cause more pain than good...so I think he is being silly and not openminded at all.
Much love,
Mama Mindy of The Slimmer Puggums
We think a 2nd opinion would be a good idea, too.....we send our love and purrayers to y'all.
ReplyDeleteI also love my long time vet, but a few years ago my dog developed back trouble, my vet was out of town (not sure if things might have been different if I had seen him) but the other vet in the practice kept recommending crate rest and anti inflammatories. She seemed fine when I took her in to see the vet (I think some dogs are good at hiding pain because they are supposed to for survival)but didn’t seem to be getting better – but he said give it time… We have a 24 hour vet specialty practice in the area which only sees dogs on referral. I basically demanded a referral and took the first available appointment. It turns out that my dog was getting worse not better. Long story short and an expensive emergency surgery and a few months of recovery, she is fine. I don’t know you or your circumstances, but what I tell friends who ask is what I learned from that experience is that my vet practice is like a family physician or GP for us but I can’t expect them to have special expertise in everything! There are actually board certified specialty vets just like for humans in the USA.
ReplyDeleteI looked on the map but can’t tell how far you really are from the U of Ill vet school. I worry about taking Cleo to a chiropractor, because again – do they have professional training for treating dogs or are they just using their personal experience (I would want to know about training on dogs and how many dogs they have treated)
Best wishes for a quick and easy recovery for Cleo and no more worries for you!
I feel that you should go with your gut. I really like our vet, too, but there is one vet in his practice who is newer, and I don't have the confidence in her that I do in the others. I learned the very hard way that sometimes, you have to be willing to go somewhere else when you feel that things aren't right with your dog and the diagnosis.
ReplyDeleteFirst, our first Greyhound, Treat, went through something very similar to what sounds like Cleo went through, and it wasn't Wobbler's. From the onset of her problems to the time we lost her was about five and a half weeks. It was an emotional roller coaster that I still occasionally find myself reeling from three years later. We would get the IV steroids, she'd get better, and then a bit later, she'd have the problem again. The third time it repeated itself, there were other complications, and I knew I had to let her go. We spent so much money trying to keep her alive that we didn't have a necropsy done to see what it was for sure, but I am pretty sure it was a spinal tumor. If money had been unlimited, I would DEFINITELY have taken her to U of I to try to find out what was wrong, but given the options that we had about what it was, I didn't think that knowing was going to help us much. We were told it was either a tumor, or one of two degenerative diseases. There wasn't going to be anything we could do no matter what it was. I'm not saying this to scare you, but just please know that it could be something very serious. Time might definitely make a lot of difference! Heck, when I had nerve damage in my hand, the surgeon told me that time was definitely of the essence when we were trying to repair it, because of how the nerves heal.
Second, I think if you are having doubts about your vet, pursue the answers you need. Be a pit bull if you have to be, but get those x-rays and go see that vet in Chenoa. You are Cleo's advocate! I had an opportunity for a world renowned vet to help us with Blueberry's treatment, at a place that treats Greyhounds for free, but because the newer, less experienced vet in the practice wouldn't get in contact with him, we lost our opportunity. I wasn't nasty when we went in and saw that vet again, but I didn't hold back on letting her know what a valuable opportunity she'd blown for us. But all of that doesn't get the opportunity back. I should have been a lot more persistent! Fortunately, the course of action we chose for Blueberry has been successful. We pray every day that there's not a recurrence.
This has been really long-winded! I'm sorry! I just don't want to see you facing regrets about not doing what you think you need to do. We are still pulling for your Cleo!
Personally I would skip the chiro and go with acupuncture. I've had such spotty success on myself with chiro and dogs can't tell you if it is not feeling right. I hear great things about acupuncture and am actually trying to schedule some for Mango. She seems to be in good spirits. The hot weather is making dogs and humans alike feel less active. Keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteMango Momma
hello evrywun its dennis the vizsla dog hay thank yoo for the nice note for trouble the kitty we appreesheyayt it!!! my brother tucker goes to the kiropraktor that is the bilding ware the infamus room wot moovs is i wil see if my mama has enny advice she can giv!!! ok bye
ReplyDeleteThis is Dennis's mama here. Tucker has seen a chiropractor for at least two years now. He sees her weekly, because that is how often he gets stiff. She has been amazing for him. She makes a huge difference in his comfort level, and without her, he would've been on daily pain meds a long time ago. She will let people know if she does not feel chiropractic would be in their pet's best interest. We also have a different vet who does acupuncture for Tuck. There is no doubt in my mind, that Tuck has benefitted the most from the chiropractic. The change in his gait is very noticeable. When we go too long between adjustments, we see him walk stiffly again, and he sits crooked.
ReplyDelete