Urgent Advice Needed

[jinnyfizz]

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Please can anyone offer any advice or experience on the following situation?? The lady who owns the whippet in question is absolutely distraught and has emailed to ask for advice from us at Scruples ................

"I am now very shocked that although he has always been a very healthy and lively dog, since Friday evening he has become very ill. It started with him retching a bit last week, then on Friday evening he did not eat dinner, so I took him to the vet first thing Sat (yesterday). The vet thinks he has a structural problem, and put him on anti-inflammatories. He has been sleeping all weekend, and is now paralysed and cannot move his back legs. The vet has been to visit today, and thinks he may have lumbar collapse. He says the only option is to send him for an MRI scan in Bristol and see a Back Surgeon (cost around £5,000, which unfortunately I don't have). Moreover, the vet tells me time is of the essence.

 

My whippet is just 3 years old, and glowing with health. He has not had any injuries. I am really puzzled and not sure what to do. I understand that there is a neurological disease that whippets can get when they are about 3 years old, which strikes very suddenly, and I wonder if you know anything about this?"

Many thanks everyone.

 

[masta]

get the vet to perform or refer for a spinal tap to rule out meningitis i lost a bitch who was 2years old and my vet was saying exactly the same thing ie back problem chipped spine etc

 

[Whippets Rule]

my first reaction was meningitis too.

 

[Suerose]

No ideas at all I'm afraid but sending love and healing thoughts :luck: :luck: :luck:

 

[ingsay2000]

I dont think there would be any point doing a spinal tap if the dog has been given anti inflammitories.

One of mine became unwell VERY suddenly back in the spring. She started off looking really tucked up and stiff at the back and the vet initially thought it was a back problem and gave her an injection of anti inflammitories. Within a day she could not walk at all.

But because she had been given the anti inflammitory injection it took 6 WEEKS!!! to find out what the problem was. This was because the anti inflams masked all the problems that they tested for.

She had 2 lots of spinal taps, numerous scans, numerous xrays and every test known.

She was eventually diagnosed with immune mediated poly-arthritis (fluid in all her joints attacking the immune system). This was secondry to endimitrits (extremely slight womb infection).

She was 3 years old at the time.

She was eventually put on a huge dose of steriods (which took effect afetr 3 hours) and I have been slowly weaning her dose down for the past 10 months.

I wish this wee dog all the best.

 

[ingsay2000]

She was eventually diagnosed with immune mediated poly-arthritis (fluid in all her joints attacking the immune system).

 

This should read 'immune system attacking fluid in her joints' ...not the other way round :b

 

[AnnSa]

How awful hope all goes well for him :luck: :luck:

 

[wild whippies]

Don't suppose the owner has found any ticks on the dog recently?

With no history of injury in a relatively young dog, I presume the vet has come to this conclusion AFTER doing a full blood panel to rule our bacterial / viral causes. If so then referral to a veterinary hospital would be my favoured port of call, providing all others have been ruled out. Ask the vet can he exclude meningitis / viral / bacterial infections and what makes them certain it is lumbar collapse.

From what I've read about lumbar collapse and repairing the spine, this needs to be done asap (as in within hours) after that the chances of saving the spinal cord become less. Clarify this with the vet because if this is correct, pursuing surgery days later could be pointless.

If she gets no reasonable explanation or the owners got the slightest doubt in her mind about the vet, get another opinion from another vet asap.

If she's happy with everything the vet is doing and has faith in them then pursue the referral. However I would favour a veterinary university hospital over a private specialist for reasons of experience, cost and the availability of other specialists in other fields being available.

I've had a dog have MRI, ultrasound and chest x-rays as well as seeing a leading european consultant in soft tissue surgery at a veterinary hospital, they was very ammeniable to how we settled our bill and it didn't come to the figure being quoted. Additionally, a consultation without investigations will be considerably less but at least after the consult, the owner can then know what investigations the vet wants to do, why and the expected costs. What I'm saying is it most definately shouldn't be a situation of £5K being paid up front before you even see someone.

 

[Dotty&Duke]

Nothing very helpful to say except sending healing wishes from Dots and Duke :luck:

 

[Esty]

Horrible situation and feel so sorry for her As well as what people above have said, may be worth making sure the vet is a sighthound specialist? Am sure no decent vet would expect her to have that kind of money upfront, either.

Keep us updated. :luck:

 

[ingsay2000]

Don't suppose the owner has found any ticks on the dog recently?

 

Good question. The vet hospital that treated my girl were convinced for weeks that her illness was caused by a tick bite prior to the eventual diagnosis.

 

[masta]

Please can anyone offer any advice or experience on the following situation?? The lady who owns the whippet in question is absolutely distraught and has emailed to ask for advice from us at Scruples ................
"I am now very shocked that although he has always been a very healthy and lively dog, since Friday evening he has become very ill. It started with him retching a bit last week, then on Friday evening he did not eat dinner, so I took him to the vet first thing Sat (yesterday). The vet thinks he has a structural problem, and put him on anti-inflammatories. He has been sleeping all weekend, and is now paralysed and cannot move his back legs. The vet has been to visit today, and thinks he may have lumbar collapse. He says the only option is to send him for an MRI scan in Bristol and see a Back Surgeon (cost around £5,000, which unfortunately I don't have). Moreover, the vet tells me time is of the essence.

 

My whippet is just 3 years old, and glowing with health. He has not had any injuries. I am really puzzled and not sure what to do. I understand that there is a neurological disease that whippets can get when they are about 3 years old, which strikes very suddenly, and I wonder if you know anything about this?"

Many thanks everyone.

go back to the vets and ask for him to be put on prednisolone if it is Steroid Responsive Meningitis you will see an immediate result certainly better than paying 5k look round the dog forums and you will find loads of people that have been in your position with vets telling them the same ie structural probs slipped disks etc whippets will go form perfectly health to very ill with SRM a classic sign is raising their eys to look at you whilst keeping their head still my dog would eat if i hand fed here but wouldnt bend her head down into the bowl. go back to the vets and discuss what you have read and push for him to be started on the steroids

 

[TillynPip]

What a terrible situation and my best wishes go to the poor dog and her owners. I can't make any comment on the condition but having had a dog in Leahurst Small Animal Hospital (the vet section of Liverpool University), although expensive, the bill didn't come to the amount initially quoted and certainly no money was asked for up front. We were insured but perhaps any uni hospital used would come to an agreement about payment facilities. The best of luck :luck:

 

[jinnyfizz]

Thank you everyone

The update this morning is that this whippet is much brighter and is moving, albeit on 3 legs. The owner has a 2nd opinion arraged with a specialist sighthound vet and is also using homeopathic remedies to assist with any conventional medication which is prescribed.

I do hope he recovers well and they find out exactly what is ailing him - fingers crossed!

 

[jinnyfizz]

Thanks, Patrick and I completely agree with you having experienced this with one of my own whippets and also knowing about other whippets with varying symptoms who have responded to prednisolone within hours!

SRM seems to be fairly common in whippets and the symptoms are so diverse that many vets discount it just because of lack of temperature, lack of joint stiffness etc :blink:

Generally speaking, it seems that if bloods don't show any raised white cell count or obvious problem then SRM should be a real concern.

 

[jinnyfizz]

Please can anyone offer any advice or experience on the following situation?? The lady who owns the whippet in question is absolutely distraught and has emailed to ask for advice from us at Scruples ................
"I am now very shocked that although he has always been a very healthy and lively dog, since Friday evening he has become very ill. It started with him retching a bit last week, then on Friday evening he did not eat dinner, so I took him to the vet first thing Sat (yesterday). The vet thinks he has a structural problem, and put him on anti-inflammatories. He has been sleeping all weekend, and is now paralysed and cannot move his back legs. The vet has been to visit today, and thinks he may have lumbar collapse. He says the only option is to send him for an MRI scan in Bristol and see a Back Surgeon (cost around £5,000, which unfortunately I don't have). Moreover, the vet tells me time is of the essence.

 

My whippet is just 3 years old, and glowing with health. He has not had any injuries. I am really puzzled and not sure what to do. I understand that there is a neurological disease that whippets can get when they are about 3 years old, which strikes very suddenly, and I wonder if you know anything about this?"

Many thanks everyone.

go back to the vets and ask for him to be put on prednisolone if it is Steroid Responsive Meningitis you will see an immediate result certainly better than paying 5k look round the dog forums and you will find loads of people that have been in your position with vets telling them the same ie structural probs slipped disks etc whippets will go form perfectly health to very ill with SRM a classic sign is raising their eys to look at you whilst keeping their head still my dog would eat if i hand fed here but wouldnt bend her head down into the bowl. go back to the vets and discuss what you have read and push for him to be started on the steroids

Thanks, Patrick and I completely agree with you having experienced this with one of my own whippets and also knowing about other whippets with varying symptoms who have responded to prednisolone within hours!

SRM seems to be fairly common in whippets and the symptoms are so diverse that many vets discount it just because of lack of temperature, lack of joint stiffness etc :blink:

Generally speaking, it seems that if bloods don't show any raised white cell count or obvious problem then SRM should be a real concern.

 

[masta]

Thank you everyone
The update this morning is that this whippet is much brighter and is moving, albeit on 3 legs. The owner has a 2nd opinion arraged with a specialist sighthound vet and is also using homeopathic remedies to assist with any conventional medication which is prescribed.

I do hope he recovers well and they find out exactly what is ailing him - fingers crossed!

The worrying thing is that with SRM they do rally and you then fall into the trap of thinking that they are picking up, the specialist i saw was seeing more sighthounds with SRM was an adovocate for getting them on steriods ASAP

 

[jayp]

I know many have had to wait for a diagnosis BUT and its a big BUT if the dog has some infection of any kind then steroids will be the worst thing you could do

They will suppress an immune system trying to fight the infection and the results could be dire

I have recently been involved with a similar case , it turned out that even after extensive tests and a diagnosis of polyarthritis the whippet actually had an abcess on a damaged disc.

The steroids he was prescribed didnt work which led to further tests and the eventual discovery of the problem

If the dog does indeed have an immune mediated disease then steroids will usually work wonders but they cant be prescribed without first ruling out infections

All I would say is make sure your vet is aware of the possibility of these diseases in whippets which im sure will be taken seriously and considered.

I would also agree that some vets may miss the diagnosis completely which is why its such a help to have those on here that have experience

I hope all goes well

Jan

 

[jinnyfizz]

Luckily for this little whippet, he is in remission from what is probably SRM. He is almost back to normal and a homeopathic vet visited him today and has agreed that SRM is the most probable cause.

Now it is down to watching and waiting to see if he has a relapse, which might happen fairly quickly if my experience of the disease is anything to go by. Now, however, his owner knows what to watch for and is also going to use another vet who we know has experience with whippets and SRM and will run full blood tests before coming to any diagnosis :thumbsup:

 

[masta]

I know many have had to wait for a diagnosis BUT and its a big BUT if the dog has some infection of any kind then steroids will be the worst thing you could do
They will suppress an immune system trying to fight the infection and the results could be dire

I have recently been involved with a similar case , it turned out that even after extensive tests and a diagnosis of polyarthritis the whippet actually had an abcess on a damaged disc.

The steroids he was prescribed didnt work which led to further tests and the eventual discovery of the problem

If the dog does indeed have an immune mediated disease then steroids will usually work wonders but they cant be prescribed without first ruling out infections

All I would say is make sure your vet is aware of the possibility of these diseases in whippets which im sure will be taken seriously and considered.

I would also agree that some vets may miss the diagnosis completely which is why its such a help to have those on here that have experience

I hope all goes well

Jan

and how hard is ruling out infection? run bloods a matter of hours 24 at worst i worked many years managing a very large intensive pig unit, a big problem is meningitis (probably due to the close breeding) and you become very adept at spotting the signs, when i took my bitch in i mentioned that i thought it was neurological, the vet rebuked it and insisted it was a spinal injury kass rallied and then went down hill very quickly i got her to a specialist 2 hours away who i had telephoned and given a run down of symptoms he agreed and the rest is history if you look back at my posts you will see i gave the same advice to another member and if i remeber rightly she too'd and thro'd to different vets for over a week till the dog was finally diagnosed with SRM

btw Kass relapsed every time she came in season