by lockett Wed Jun 23, 2010 6:21 pm
Bullymason wrote:hello!!!!!!!! Nice to see you and the gorgeous Archie here. Is he feeliong better now?
Hi Jo, His tummy issues seem to have subsided (for the time being) and as regards the limping We saw an orthopaedic specialist on our vets referral who examined Archie and had a look at the xrays that our vets had done on spine, pelvis and hocks. He seems to think Archie has got something called Degenerative Lumbosacral stenosis. Before we went, our vet seemed to think the specialist would want to do an MRI scan but after chatting with the specialist he sort of put the decision with us as to whether or not we wanted to scan him. Basically what he was saying was that without scanning he was pretty certain what the issue is and by scanning Archie all we would be doing would be to confirm his suspicions. Even if his suspicions were confirmed he said he still wouldn't be doing anything different to what he'll do now. Ie he wouldn't want to operate on Archie because it would be such a serious and pretty high risk operation on the spine which they don't like doing unless the dog is having major problems, very regularly with walking. He said there would be a benefit of doing the MRI in that when this 'flared up' again, if he were to scan him again he would have something to compare the results to.
Even with scanning him he said he wouldn't be able to give us a definate answer as to how quickly this could deteriorate, that would all be done by monitoring him. Ie keep a diary of dates when it happens and for how many days he's bad and treat him with anti inflammatory/pain relief like Metacam.
The condition he described (from my understanding of it) is to do with where his nerve roots pass through his lumbosacral spinal canal in his lower back. He said there is some pressure on the nerves that are causing the pain and also when he tried the 'knuckling test' on Archie he didn't put his feet back into position as he should have done which indicates again a problem with the nerves. He said that the Metacam will help to reduce the inflammation that's causing the pressure on the nerve roots and relieve the pain.
We had to give him a ring last week to tell him if we'd wanted to go ahead with the scan or not but he sort of said that if it was him in this situation he wouldn't scan him at this stage. He would monitor and see when it happens again. He's said he'd be happy to scan him if we want a definate diagnosis but wasn't saying it was urgent that he scanned him as it wouldn't change his view on what to do with Archie. He was also talking about the cost (even though we're insured). He said it was an awful lot of money and if they scanned again at a later date it would mean paying out for it twice. Approx £1600 for a MRI scan, plus the £170 for the 40 min consultation. Me and OH were sort of differing in our opinions, I wanted to scan him now so at least we had a definate diagnosis but OH said he tends to agree with specialist about waiting and monitoring. I know that no treatment can be given as such other than pain relief but I just think I'd like a definate answer. The only niggling thing in my mind is when Archie had the reaction last time to the anaesthetic and I don't want him to keep having to be put to sleep unnecessarily. We had a long chat about this and I have agreed to hold off with the MRI and monitor Archie but when this flares up again we can get straight back onto specialist rather than going through our own vets again.
(Bet you're sorry you asked now aren't you Jo after that essay Lol!)
X
