Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

Neurological Disorders Resources. Treatment and care for pets having pain or trouble walking or standing due to spinal injuries or neurological disorders like IVDD, FCE and DM.
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CarolC
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

Post by CarolC »

Yesterday Pip got his sample taken for the AChR test. Results will be in around a week.

We are doing Wall Treats, but I'm only putting the treats 3' in front of him instead of 8'. Yesterday and today he only did 5 treats, then got tired, but at least we are doing something. I'm pretty sure he's not holding his head up as well as he was, but at times he seems normal.
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critters
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

Post by critters »

I dunno that test...
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CarolC
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

Post by CarolC »

It's new to me, too. Supposed to give the right result 98% of the time. Here's a link.
https://tvmdl.tamu.edu/tests/acetylchol ... -referral/
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

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Today it's been a week since he got his AChR test, but I read it could take a couple of weeks to receive results.

For what it's worth, these are little things I've been noticing.

He is not holding his head up as well part of the time now. It will loll over to the right like when I first got him, though not as much as it did July 2021. Part of the day he's holding it up, then at times I'll see he has it leaning to the right.

In the morning if I lay him in the grass to urinate, he will twist his waist and angle his stream down into the grass. The rest of the day he has been spraying his abdomen, chest, front leg.

He used to scarf down his breakfast kibble in water, but then he started pushing it away. I'm adding Thick-It, softening the kibble longer, and hand feeding, but it's quite a difference from when I was just giving him his bowl and he hoovered it up. It isn't that he doesn't want the kibble. He does. I think it's something about getting the kibbles into his mouth. He does better if I tip his bowl, and best if I hand feed. You can tell he's hungry and eager to eat it if I hand feed so he doesn't have to chase it. He does fine with his dinner which is more of a thick gravy.

He's basically lost his walking. He's about to the place where he can't even do it leaning against the wall. A week ago he could do 5 treats on his Wall Treats exercise, then he did 4 treats a couple of days and tired. I was making the number of steps shorter to reach the treat as well. Yesterday he did 2 treats. He really wanted that third treat but he just couldn't do it. Couldn't walk 18" to reach it. It seems to be fatigue. It isn't strength because if I do resistance on his front legs he's still good. I don't think we'll do any Wall Treats today.

July 6 was when I first noted he was not walking as well. By then it had been going for several days and was confusing. I thought it was the heat.
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critters
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

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Oh wow. I hope he gets better soon!
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CarolC
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

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:thankyou:
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

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His AChR test came back negative. That's good. But now I am back to wondering what it is. The vet is talking about trying 2 weeks of steroids in case it's something steroid responsive.
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critters
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

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Probably worth a shot...
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

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Thanks. Interesting small things.

He started doxycycline 2x/day. Yesterday he got 2 doses of pred and then is on 1x/day for 2 weeks.

Yesterday I gave the pills at 11 am in a little meatball of canned food. He then spit up his Knox blox 4 hrs later. I read it's better to give doxy with food so I gave it with meals last night and this morning. So far so good.

I also discovered :idea: he can and will drink soy milk. I looked up soy milk for dogs, also looked up the ingredients (they vary) and tried 1/8c. He drank it well yesterday. Today he drank it eagerly. Lap, lap, lap, lap, gone. Could be the pred makes him thirsty. Soy milk isn't that much thicker than water, but it's kind of creamy or oily? He had no problem with it. He drank like a normal dog. I thought if it didn't work I could add Thick-It, but no need. Calories in 1/8c are 16.

This morning he had formed, soft stools. It took him a lot less kicking to pass them. It never even occurred to me (duh) that maybe the reason he kicks his feet so hard when he's doing his number two (lying on his side) is he has dry stools from the raw diet, the Science Diet w/d, and not as much fluids as normal. All that kicking is one of the ways he scratches his armpit. HIs stools are a lot harder than Dolly's and she's on 100% w/d. So isn't that interesting...
:thinking:
Glad to know it is possible to pill him with the swallowing problem. I always wondered about that.
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critters
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

Post by critters »

You're SO right about fake milks having so many different ingredients, etc. from each other. Funny that he likes it so much!! I can't think of the brand name fake milk we get here that really is very much like moo milk in taste and texture...
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

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He has 2 more days of pred and doxy and I haven't seen a change other than hunger, thirst, and soft stools.

Twice this week he's done his Two during the night and I found flattened stools in the playpen, meaning he accidebtally sat or rolled in them. Don't want that. Blanket change both mornings and one morning he needed a bath. I need to express his bowel.

I don't know if the soft stools will continue after the meds, or if the soy milk or blox are to blame. He was having soft stools before the meds when I was giving him Knox blox made with broth, but they are made without broth now. It could just be the extra water he's getting now. At least we have that problem solved.
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

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He finished his doxy and pred last night and I don't see any change. I guess that rules out steroid-responsive neuropathy.
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critters
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

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:?
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CarolC
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

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I don't know either. That scratching he was doing that I described back in August could be syringomyelia, but he did it for a week or 10 days and hasn't had any episodes since. There are times when he looks like he wants to kick his neck but he doesn't go into the frantic scratching.

Today we tried wall exercises again after not doing them for weeks. He did 3 treats for about 3 feet of walking each, with quite a bit of knuckling, then he couldn't do the next one. He gets a look on his face, don't know if it might be discomfort or something else. Maybe I should just accept that this is what his best life looks like right now. Everything else is going pretty well.

There is a new development. He now seems to be asking for his soy milk and blox. I would give the soy milk at 11, but he seems to be asking for it at 10:30. Same thing happened today with the blox. It was about time for them and he started barking. That's pretty cool. 8-)
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critters
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Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome

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When time changes he'll be asking all the time. :lol:
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