Caryn's Caspian 1/20 Syringomyelia NECK Chihuahaua

I was doing the double dose of Gabapentin while I was at work and he had a longer time between doses. But after last night / this morning, decided to do double Gabapentin at each dose. Will look again at the crate training page for ideas.

I now have a special front support harness that I will use tonight. It wasn't useful at all when he was unable to stand on all four legs but it should be helpful now.

Caspian was switched to one .5 ML dose of ▼prednisolone a day on Saturday. I decreased his ▼pain medicines from every 8 hours to every 12 hours. He seems to be doing okay. His walking (when he goes potty) is better than when the meds were too high and he acted sedated. But it is wobblier than before this episode. I hope that is still due to the medicine side effects.

He was shaking a little bit this morning just before it was time for the morning dose but he may have been cold. That was the first possible pain sign I saw since the decreases. So we're still keeping a close watch. And he is still crated.

I wonder, do any dogs with IVDD stay on continuous low doses of pain medicine? Caspian has been on .5 mg of tramadol and a small dose of rimadyl, both twice a day, since 2011 when he was diagnosed with IVDD and syringomyelia. I assume when we get him back to "normal" that he will be back to those doses. Is that unusual?

Caryn, we can't speak to what is necessary long term for syringomyelia because our only area of expertise is IVDD. Best is to do the same as you did about self education with disc disease….read, read all you can about syringomyelia so you can discuss things with the vet based on your prepared understanding of the disease.

If this were soley a disc problem, then if there is no pain on the taper from Pred, then there is no more need of Pred nor any pain meds.

Being wobbly can be due to muscle weakness during crate rest or it can be an increased neuro diminishment. Please do touch base with your vet today. On a taper it is important to give feedback to your vet, you are his eyes and ears so he can adjust his treatment if necessary.

Let us and your vet know your observations of any other signs that would confirm pain along with shivers nearing a dose…tight tummy, yelps, refrains from moving much or moves slowly/gingerly.

It does sound to me as though there are signs of pain. Dogs can be so good at hiding their pain. Even if there is just a little pain, it would mean that there is still swelling. Grunting and discomfort, especially when appearing shortly before the pain meds, indicates that pain is arising before the next dose of meds. I would this morning notify the vet of your observations and have the vet return Caspian to the original dose of the steroid. And bring the pain meds back up to every 8 hours. Pain = swelling = more time on meds. It's not unusual for a taper to show signs of pain so don't be concerned.

Please let us know what the vet says after speaking to him.

Caryn, an aprox. $1200 MRI can be used to diagnose something else that can mimic a disc episode. So, yes to an MRI, if there is a question whether this really is a disc episode or something else that mimics a disc problem. Yes, to an MRI when the vet has been aggressive with pain meds, has been aggressive and comfortable in using prednisone but yet after several pred courses and attempts to taper Pred the pain still resurfaces. A different diagnosis than a disc episode could mean a different treatment is needed. Caspian's situation with syringomyelia also can contribute to a challenge in his care, meds, etc. So it might be that your vet is trying to tell you about her expertise and comfort zone. Often our own physicians know what they don't know..and so they will also refer us to a specialist.

An xray would show the hard tissue to rule out things like vertebrae fracture, a tumor, a intervertebral disc space infection. MRIs are the gold standard of advanced imaging because they show both hard tissue and the soft tissue of the disc and the spinal cord for best diagnosing.

If this is indeed a disc problem confirmed by an MRI, conservative treatment might even be still continued. The indicators for considering a surgical consultation with conservative treatment for a disc episode are:
- If your dog can't walk OR with STRICT crate rest, neurological functions worsen and are lost (legs and bladder control)
- STRICT crate rest is employed and after several attempts to go off of the anti-inflammatory, the pain returns
- If 100% STRICT crate rest has been employed and pain medications have been adjusted (dose, frequency, and mix of pain relievers) yet the pain can’t be brought under control
- if a dog is experiencing similar signs of neck or back pain, or mild neurological deficits for the 3rd or 4th time, meaning it may be the same disc is involved each time.

For how many days (how long a course) was Pred Rx'd for before another taper? Was it Pred at 0.5 ml twice a day?

Caspian had an ultrasound and x-rays yesterday and is having an MRI today. My husband was explaining the x-ray to me (I haven't seen it yet) and he said it looked as if the vertebrae were completely touching. There were no spaces between the vertebrae. The vet was unable to go over the tests yesterday, due to an emergency, and the vet tech who showed them to my husband didn't seem to have much explanation.

I've been researching online and I don't know that what my husband thinks he saw is even possible. If he saw calcification, even that would have some spaces between calcified discs and the vertebrae, wouldn't it?

I hope the MRI helps us determine what is happening and that we can talk to the vet today.

Caspian started the▼ pred taper last Thursday [2/13], when we switched to .5 ml once a day (for 7 days). I did not taper the pain medicines, though. I have not seen any change since last Thursday. His front leg wobbliness is the same, too. He wags his tail a lot, even twirls within the smaller crate when it is meal time. So overall, he remains stable.

I did research fused vertebrae which do not sound bad, either, in the scheme of things. But I need to hear what the vet thinks and if that is even what is happening.

Caryn, I'm glad you now know what you are dealing with and what focus of care should be--syringomyelia.

Anything outside of IVDD is out of our range of expertise, so we won't feel comfortable in making comments on meds or treatment. We do know alot about making crate rest go smoother, behavior during crate rest, etc and things like that if we can be of any help there.

Glad to hear you are ready to do more research for Caspian on this issue. The acupuncture and laser therapies can be very helpful with pain..hope to hear that is the case for Caspian.