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Foot thumping

rubles

Well-known member
From time to time during the day Charlie will thump his back foot against the floor several times.
He has gabapentin at 6 a.m., 1 p.m. and 10 p.m.
The foot thumping is more severe prior to his 6 a.m. meds.
It also occurs when we are getting ready to take him out.

In the morning I will wait (an hour) and if he still thumps give him tramadol. I also consult the barometer--we're low pressure right now.

Presently he's sleeping beside me and his head is lower than his body. I thought they preferred to elevate their heads.

Should I be concerned about this thumping?
 
Air scratching while sitting down, because he needs his medication? Oliver does it sometimes, and also sleeps beside me with his head hanging over the edge of the settee. Doing it before he goes out is probably because Charlie is excited, his heart rate increases and that affects the CSF in the brain. Oliver sits and scratches like mad when I produce his harness.

I think it's just part and parcel of living with CM/SM and there's not much we can do about it. If Charlie's thumping is worst before his first gabapentin, you might ask your vet or neuro if you can give him an extra one on his bad days/low pressure days - not a double dose, but four times a day instead of three, so that the level in the body increases slightly and the gap between doses is reduced to roughly every 6 hours (6, 12, 6 and midnight - but it doesn't need to be dead on if you want to go to bed earlier!). I do this with Oliver - not regularly but just occasionally as needed, and it does seem to help.

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
Hi Kate,
He's just started foot thumping while moving around (bunny hopping?) and I thought things were under control.
So you prefer increasing gabapentin over including a pain killer?
 
Yes and no! If it's neurological pain, then gabapentin is likely to be more effective than a general painkiller - if the thumping is getting more frequent you might have to consult about increasing all the dosage. It just sounded from your initial description as if he thumped especially when he needed his next lot of gabapentin, so keeping the level up in the body seems to make sense.

The No bit is that Oliver also has osteo-arthritis in his spine so he's on Carprieve as a painkiller anyway. It's sometimes very difficult to decide whether it's his CM/SM or his arthritis that's causing a problem!

Kate, Oliver and Aled
 
These little dogs surely keep our brains involved while caring for them.
Your comments about pain control make sense.
Thanks again.
 
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