[Original subject line: 2 year 11 month old French Bulldog, Hitchens]
Hi, I'm Beth, I'm a stay at home mom, prior I
was a vet tech for 10 yrs. Five years at an ER & the other 5 at a vet clinic. When I worked for the ER we had a neurologist that came in to do surgeries there & I would tech for him after hours so I have some back ground in this area. However, I was a young adult & it was almost 20 yrs ago.
Our 2 yr 11 month old French Bulldog (
26 lbs), jumped up at our gate yesterday Feb 16th @ 12:30 PM. My hubby proceeded to yell oh no, Hitchens so I ran out & he told me he was dragging one of his legs. I proceeded to look him over, he was wobbly but was bearing weight. I manipulated his legs & checked his response when I turned his toes under, his left rear responded quickly & the
right responded slowly. I suspected partial ACL tear or spine injury. I called our vet who I worked with at the last vet clinic to find out what ER he recc if he could not see us. I was of course freaking out.
Side not VERY relevant... Hitchens
freaks out in the car and at the vet. Pants, barks non stop at every passing car passing or person coming or going. Temperature is usually 105 by time we get to our vet wgo is 10 mins away. He is not aggressive just anxious & reactive. Last appointment I actually got an rx for Trazodone for future use, never used it. Also, last appt we did blood work & needed to recheck due to slightly elevated Liver
function ALT. I actually had drawn his blood & dropped it off for his
recheck Friday Feb 14th. Vet called to let me know his
ALT had actually increased to 240 & he wanted to start him on Denamarin Chewables Med dose, 1 tab daily. We had planned to try Prozac after blood work but our vet preferred not doing it due to ALT elevation.
So, our vet directed us to where to go & to inform them about his ALT being high
therefore no Rimadyl. We left immediately & arrived a little after 1 pm Feb 16th, yesterday. He was VERY worked up but we carried him, only putting him down in the grass to urinate. Our vet also informed us to be prepared to wait due to ER on weekend. We were not seen until close to 2:30 PM. By this time, Hitchens was off the charts. We actually held him outside to try to help his reactiveness & to not stress other patients & pawrents. His temperature was on;y 102, I attribute this to use having him outside most of that time. Not freezing but chilly. Well, he was of course ramped up for the vet, barking, wanting to jump etc. We put him on the floor and he was acting like nothing was wrong. Upon palpation of spine, limps, etc. She found nothing. She said she did not think she needed to xrays that he prob just twisted or sprained it... She prescribed
Gabapentin 100mg 1-2 capsules every 12 hrs & advised this could act as a sedative too as well as for pain but not affecting the liver.
As well, she said no stairs, jumping, playing & leash walk which we already do. The craze in the car to & from of course concerned me as I did not want him to irritate anything further. As soon as we got home I researched the Gabapentin & texted my vet to let him know what happened & ask the safety of the drug.
We walked Hitchens, he urinated & had a BM with no difficulty and seemed fine. He ate & I gave him 1 100mg capsule Gabapentin. About 5:30 when we settled we expected he would pass out with all the excitement, well he was restless, laying but kept moving, we thought maybe the medication was making him feel funny. But I became concerned & started to mess with his spine & had a reaction 3 times in a row in the same spot. I immediately called my vet. I explained what I just said and he said I could try another half of a capsule. I asked if with him being worked up if adrenaline could mask his pain or response to the er vet's manipulation of spine & limbs.
He said yes it was possible. He told me to keep checking his knuckle response & give him a call in the AM either way & he would be happy to see him. During the call his
Left rear knuckle response was quick but the right slow. I also had told him I thought I would go ahead and do cage rest. So I immediately came here as directed by your FB page. I followed the crate guide. We did our final walk but of course we carried him & as my hubby picked him up more urine drizzled to the ground. He always empties his bladder well so this concerned me. He was walking the little we would allow him to walk, slightly wobbly but was this the medication. I slept on the couch right beside the crate. We got a few separated hours of sleep.
This AM, his left rear was responsive &
right [hind knuckling] improved but slow. Hitchens urinated & had a BM but had a harder time being in position. He ate well & I gave another 1 1/2 caps of the 100mg Gabapentin. I texted my vet & told him I wanted to be seen that my gut told me things were not right. Knowing the same could of happened with his anxiety his adrenaline could mask his responses. At least we knew it was less of a wait. So we had a
11:30 appt. We waited a little but Hitchens was still very worked up. Upon manipulation our vet did see what I was talking about with his rear being weaker & knuckles not as responsive as they should be. Definitely not a torn ACL. So he
discussed with me conservative treatment with steroids & cont cage rest (I said 8 wks, he said 4-6 wks). He also, recc the neurologists he works with, one of them being the one I use to tech for at the ER. He said that if I wanted to go ahead to one he would contact them for me.
I was really unsure if I should just do the steroids & go from there as I did not want to chance anything... Our vet said let me call the neurologist I had worked with and see what his schedule was, that that may make the choice for us for the moment.
So he called & spoke with his tech. He had no openings today Feb 17th but we could go for a consult tomorrow Feb 18th &/or an MRI if we wanted to jump to it on Weds Feb 19th. I still was not sure what the right choice was...
I asked our vet if it were his choice what would he do.
He said, steroids & possibly as consult but not the MRI yet. He offered to do some xrays as the neurologist would want them & blood work which we already had done last week. So we opted for xrays which he was actually cooperative for, I of course could not assist. My hubby is also very busy this week which stresses things because I can not drive with him alone & really have no one else to rely on &
crating him is not an option as he may hurt himself even further. We of course are willing to do what is best.
The
xrays showed nothing obvious to cause his symptoms, he has one disc (t9) that is shaped a little different but he thinks it is
more just his spine not problematic, some arthritis & something that
looks like a growth plate which for his age is a little 'weird'. So he said it may be worth just a consult & he would send over his blood work & xrays. Said he would have the tech call me to set up a time for Tues Feb 18th. Which I really wasnt going to have a someone to drive me... We were so stressed & over Hitchens being so STRESSED 2 days in a row on top of the current issues. Our vet gave Hitchens an
injection of Dexamethasone 2mg/ml, 1.3 mls in left front tricep/bicep area muscle. Prescribed
Prednisolone 5mg, to be started tomorrow Feb 18th, 5mg twice a day for 3 days, then 5 mg once a day for 4 days, then 5mg every other day until gone, 14 pills total. He gave me the neurologists phone number & address.
[Moderator's Note. Please do not edit
26 lbs
no NSAID on 2/16 due to Liver
Dex inj 2mg/mL on 2/17
Prednisolne as of 2/18: 5mgs for 3days, then begin Pred test for _pain/_neuro
gabapeintin 150 mgs dose 2x/day
Damarin
needs GI tract protector, Pepcid AC, on board w/Dex and pred! ]He urinated fine after appointment. Then the car ride home we could tell he was wiped out. He ate & had a BM with no issue. The more we thought on going for just a consult after what he had already been through the last 2 days when he was suppose to have limited activity which would be fine with a calm patient but he is not. I was concerned with how he flails around in the car when even being held that we may be risking exacerbating what was going on. Not that I did not want the consult but it is 20 mins one way if no traffic. If he was severe & it was an obvious get a MRI than heck yea, it would need to be done. So I waited for the tech to call me and asked I asked what she thought & she said she wasn't sure waiting for it to get worse was good either (not that it will but of course possible). I asked if the neurologist would consult with our vet, look at the xrays and do a phone consult and she said no he wants his hands on the dogs which I understand. Our vet would not give anything more than the
Gabapentin 100mg, which even 2 cap would not touch his anxiety but the tech said they also do not want him so sedated they don't get a response which they may not with his adrenaline like at the ER & really with my vet if he didn't know me being experienced and really paying attention although Hitchens was acting like a mad man. So the tech said you can contact me in the AM & if you want we can try to make the appt for Weds that way if the neurologist wants to move ahead it is the day they do
MRIs at Johns Hopkins rather than another trip. So I took that option to see how he is in the AM. As well, my hubby & I spoke and if Hitchens seems better, I can ask what other days they do MRIs, not to wait long but if no improve have it next week.
So this is where I need you experienced folks input... Sorry for the novel but I hope it is specific & informative enough. Other than the times I mentioned wobbly & the knuckle responses from yesterday Feb 16th & this AM the 17th. He is walking fine to potty,
no issues in crate, been getting comfy easily, no groaning since last night, no shaking, no whining when picked up & perky. Our vet said he
did not think Pepcid is needed at this point.
Thank you so much!
~Beth
I'm to call the tech after 11AM tomorrow 2/18.
