monty is a little over 4 1/2 years and this past sunday, he lost a lot of strength in his back legs. the neurologist thought he had a ruptured disc that could warrant surgery, so we had an MRI done to make sure.
the disc was actually very mildly ruptured (no surgery needed) but the MRI did show a large number of syrinxes in monty's spine. obviously, we are just devastated.
i think we were too shell-shocked with the news (as we would've much preferred a ruptured disc that could be fixed by surgery vs SM) so we didn't ask a lot of questions (although subsequently, we have put in a call to the neurologist to ask him some follow-up questions).
in the meantime, if anyone has any insight, that would be greatly appreciated:
1) are there stages of SM? if so, is losing strength in the limbs, combined with ataxia, towards the beginning, middle or end?
2) monty has had some other signs of SM, such as lip-licking, the scratching of neck, screaming for no reason. do these usually indicate stresses or that he's in pain? other than the screaming, he is a very happy little dog. for those who have dogs with SM, are there any other indications that the dog is in a lot of pain?
3) is SM usually treated with medication or surgery or combination of both? right now, monty is on prednisone (5mg a day). i've read some of the other posts and am not familiar with the drugs that other owners are giving their pups. all they all types of steroids?
those are about all the questions that we can deal with right now; thanks so much for reading.
the disc was actually very mildly ruptured (no surgery needed) but the MRI did show a large number of syrinxes in monty's spine. obviously, we are just devastated.
i think we were too shell-shocked with the news (as we would've much preferred a ruptured disc that could be fixed by surgery vs SM) so we didn't ask a lot of questions (although subsequently, we have put in a call to the neurologist to ask him some follow-up questions).
in the meantime, if anyone has any insight, that would be greatly appreciated:
1) are there stages of SM? if so, is losing strength in the limbs, combined with ataxia, towards the beginning, middle or end?
2) monty has had some other signs of SM, such as lip-licking, the scratching of neck, screaming for no reason. do these usually indicate stresses or that he's in pain? other than the screaming, he is a very happy little dog. for those who have dogs with SM, are there any other indications that the dog is in a lot of pain?
3) is SM usually treated with medication or surgery or combination of both? right now, monty is on prednisone (5mg a day). i've read some of the other posts and am not familiar with the drugs that other owners are giving their pups. all they all types of steroids?
those are about all the questions that we can deal with right now; thanks so much for reading.