Vets that have knowledge on SM in the Solihull area?

[ZigsBro]

Hate to say it but this may be an effect of lowering the dose of steroids. With luck his body will adjust to the lower dose, but steroids are always a matter of balancing good effect on pain with bad side effects. Hope he's better today and you can enjoy your holiday!

Kate, Oliver and Aled

Yeah thats what we thought, Kate! We came back a few days, I think we might have stayed a little longer as my Dad could have commuted but I ended up falling ill at the end anyway, so we ended up going back. Oh the joys of winter!

Anyway, since the runs, he has had several solid bowel movements, all back to normal! The SM symptoms are still crawling back in, but atleast the latter has gone. We rang up Stephanie today to see what to do from here and she said to put him back up to half a steroid a day rather than what we are doing now which is every other day.
He has been pretty bad today aswell in the morning, he was sitting there and just being perfectly normal then all of a sudden his head jolted (really violently) to his back left leg and started really violently biting his back legs repeatedly and you could see him shaking and everything as he did it. This particular episode lasted about 5+ seconds. Then later on in the afternoon he did it again but worse and for slightly longer.

Also more footage of the "fly catching" caught last night after him limping quite badly then face rubbing: (this is just for researchers or anyone that might be interested in this kind of footage for diagnosis)

[Kate H]

Are Ziggy's anal glands OK? Oliver was yelping this morning and biting at his rear end. He had an anal gland infection a few weeks ago and we thought it had cleared up after a course of antibiotics but obviously we should have kept on with them because now he has a really severe infection and he is not a happy dog. Odd, really, because before this year he's never had anal gland problems, just had them emptied twice a year, so it may be an old age thing.

Sorry your holiday wasn't a great success!

Kate, Oliver and Aled

[ZigsBro]

Yeah Ziggy had a thourghal examination of his anal glands to ensure they weren't infected and she drained them too so it does appear to be ok at the moment but I suppose that may still be a possibility!
Its a bit sad really that it could be the steroids as he was so so good on the 1 a day tablet dosage. He just seems very down, just a bit morbid really, just not himself. When we rang Stephanie she didnt seem all that hopeful as to other alternatives on medication etc. Although she can be a little brief on the phone sometimes so maybe she might be able to pull something out the bag on our next appointment (which hasnt been booked yet, so wel see how he goes on the half every day one again) as a few others on this thread have suggested, maybe some NSAIDS might be good? I suppose every dog reacts differently to meds. She did say we could higher up the Gabapentin up by 1 at some point in the day but it seems the Gabapentin doesnt do too much for him and just takes a select few symptoms away and then just makes him sleep more. Today when we got in the house, he didnt even wake up he was in that much of a deep sleep, so it wouldnt be ideal as he does already spend a lot of his time sleeping now as a result of the meds hes on. Stephanie also said that highering the Gabapentin dose wouldnt be ideal due to it doping him up a bit too much which it already does a bit. Anyway, wel see how he goes on the current dose of steroids and Gabapentin and if things start to decline or stay similar to how they have been wel book an appointment with Stephanie and see what can be done.

Anyway, wel let you know of any updates!

[ByFloSin]

Personally I would suggest to Stephanie that Gabapentin should be changed to Lyrica, which is often much more effective for those dogs not suited to Gabapentin. Rebel is a dog who does well with Gabapentin. He is awake and fully alert for a good proportion of the day, bearing in mind that he will be 12 in November and should be expected to be less active and sleep more than a much younger dog like Ziggy. Rebel also has his mind in the right place, illustrated by his total control over policing the activities of the 3 younger dogs, so I feel we are right in using the Gabapentin.

[ZigsBro]

I have just been looking up Lyrica and it sounds like it might work but what about Ziggys heart? I know his murmor has gotten worse since we had him diagnosed with heart condition. So Im not sure thats an option as I do remember Stephanie mentioning an alternate gabapentin and saying that we couldnt put him on it because of his heart whether she meant lyrica im not sure. The extra dose of steroids dont seem to being doing all that much either which isnt very good and a little worrying. Hes also starting to show new symptoms which seem to be sticking with him. For the past 3 days hes been doing this limping walk around the house which seems to be every day . Followed by paw licking and such. Hes still doing his limping now, its been an hour now and its starting to ease up:


I suppose we do need a bit more time yet for the steroids to kick in. I do hope they start to do something soon as he looks so fed up :c

[Kate H]

That looks more like a pulled muscle that Ziggy doesn't want to put weight on. Oliver's SM related lameness (in the same front leg) was more lack of nerve power that made him stumble when he tried to put weight on it - Ziggy's looks quite different. Oliver does still occasionally limp but it's almost always because he has a hard lump of mud, a conifer seed or a small stone caught right up between his pads. What grade heart murmur has Ziggy got?

Kate, Oliver and Aled

[ZigsBro]

That looks more like a pulled muscle that Ziggy doesn't want to put weight on. Oliver's SM related lameness (in the same front leg) was more lack of nerve power that made him stumble when he tried to put weight on it - Ziggy's looks quite different. Oliver does still occasionally limp but it's almost always because he has a hard lump of mud, a conifer seed or a small stone caught right up between his pads. What grade heart murmur has Ziggy got?

Kate, Oliver and Aled

Hi Kate! His heart murmor is grade 3 (might be 3-4, she diagnosed him with a heart murmur in December and then I *think* It got worse since, not entirely sure though) so im not sure exactly where we stand from that point of view but il definitely suggest it none the less. As to the possibility of being a pulled muscle, I had never thought of that! but one thing though, hes been doing it on and off over a peroid of a few days which is kind of weird for a pulled muscle. Not sure what that means? But you do certainly make a good point about the fact that it would be more weakness rather than what hes experiencing.

[Love my Cavaliers]

I agree with Kate about Ziggy's limp. It doesn't look at all like Riley's weakness from SM either. Ziggy looks like he has a sprained ankle. Riley's is more of a collapsing when her SM is affecting her. Hopefully he's a bit better by now. Have you tried resting him - no jumping, no walks, etc?

[ByFloSin]

Try a few days cage rest, i.e. out for meals and toileting and resting in the cage for the remainder. Not easy but it may solve the problem.

[ZigsBro]

Hi both! Hes quite a bit better today! He limped a tiny bit yesterday but he seems a bit better today which makes a nice change. Must have been a dodgey ankle or something. What puzzles me is that he doesnt go out for walks anymore as he just cant walk for more than around a minute without crying and just stopping (I think its to do with both the heart and SM). One thing however he does do, is we have quite a long hall... And our road is cat city, Ziggy isnt fond of cats so he just throws himself (literally) all the way down the hall and puts his breaks on just before the door! So maybe he did that when we were out and sprained something by crashing into the door because of his poor judgement now? I suppose anything around the likes of that is possible.

Just weird that it lasted for around an hour at a time. Anyways, all is good at the moment! We went up in the loft to sort something out and discovered a nice big foam bed we bought for a foster greyhound we had a while back, so we folded it in half and put it in the kitchen where he now sleeps and he seems to be sleeping better which is good to see!
Il let you folks know of any more.