Axle's taken a turn *update*

[schelmischekitty]

axle has been symptom free for over a year now as far as his hip dysplasia goes.  it's been great.  no running, or long walks but he's good enough he can go up the stairs to sleep at the foot of my bed at night and back down in the morning.  today, all of a sudden he just starts screaming in the middle of the floor and can't stand.  no kids around him, achilles (the dog i'm working with from home) hasn't had any contact with him, nothing.  he's been limping and using his tail overly for balance and whining / screaming with every step (his tail goes everywhere when he walks) ever since.  he has a pathetic look in his eyes that just screams "make it stop mom."  it brings tears to my eye every time i think about it or even look at him.  he's stopped hiking his leg to potty again, and just lays there all day.  he's still eating, and drinking, but it still upsets me, as he's just as important as my skin kids to me.  we're bringing him to the vet asap.  i've given him aspirin, and trying to get him to sleep on his firm but fluffy poppason (sp?) cushion "bed" (he prefers sleeping on the cold tile???) but i am still worried.  are the chances of them successfully doing surgery on him good?  he's over 5 years of age now, but is still good on his weight.  i think he's about 135-140 right now, and 32" at the shoulder so he is weight / size proportionate.  i'm so upset and i can't even think about having to put him to sleep ever, much less while brandon is deployed and unable to help support me    our old vet always told me i'd be lucky to have him around for 5 years with his health and i can't imagine that it would be over now, with no indication that it was getting worst (my vet said they'd have a hard time w the surgery on him)

[GoldenPyrs]

Oh gosh Steffanie, I'm so sorry for you and Axle.    I think that your doing the right things though with the asprin, soft bed & a speedy trip to the vet, other than that I wouldn't know what to suggest.  Please let us know what you find out.  I'll be thinking of you both.

[schelmischekitty]

thanks for your help, you have no idea how much better it made me feel that this can be fixed!  axle has never been so bad that supplements and aspirin haven't been able to make him comfortable. 

i'm so confused.  this morning he's fine again, no limping, and he's hiking his leg to pee.  no crying, i can even touch his rear end again, though right between his hips is sore i can tell b/c he starts panting and puts his ears at a weird angle.  i couldn't get in touch with my new vet last night, so i just sat up and watched him and it got better as the night went by.  i am starting to wonder if it is HD this time.  last night he couldn't stand up (had a friend have to help me get him up) and today he's fine, in just a 5 hour gap literally.  he's never done that, when he's sore (as long as it's not b/c of a car ride) it's been for days.  not hours??  we have a doctors appt. this afternoon, i guess we'll find out more then.

[Icerotti]

AWww poor Axle. In the past we have always had great results with Metacam for pain control.
Good luck with everything and I hope you find some answers soon.

[schelmischekitty]

thanks for the well wishes.  i sure hope to get some answers today, too.  it kills me when he isn't feeling well.  maybe it'll be something stupid, that can be fixed real easy *wishful thinking*

[schelmischekitty]

i hope that's all it is.  i've been home with him every second the past week, so i don't think he has though.  maybe it's just having achille's here is making him tense and the muscles are starting to feel it.  that doesn't really make sense, but i hope whoever has a dog with HP knows what i'm trying to say.

i do have a heating pad for him, and a soft bed.  he'd prefer to sleep on the cold tile though.  or on the concrete outside.  he won't even sit down in the grass.  well, actually he hasn't sat at all since yesterday, just either stood there with his head down or laid down real sad.

with the rice pads, how do you get yours to lay on them or keep them on?  axle thinks i'm crazy and forgot where to put the laundry and nicely gets up and walks off after a few minutes.  if i try to put something under him he lays his head on it instead of his butt.

[schelmischekitty]

right now he can't make it up the stairs to my bedroom, he can't put enough weight on his rear to even get on the couch, which is usually where he lives when he hurts.  i do have the worlds BEST dog bed (papason chair cushion) though, and i'm sure i could fit on there with him...  somewhere.  thanks for the info on the rice pack i'd have never thought of that!

now that you mention the weather, it has been fairly mild here and yesterday was the first time since we've been here that it got fairly warm (90).  maybe that's what's caused this.

[schelmischekitty]

SO we didn't get any answers.  they gave him a pain shot and they said his HD doesn't look bad enough to cause the problems he's having.  basically, they're clueless.  the newby vet told me about something he had read and said i should look into it more.  he read an article by a man and gave me a print off of it and it sounds EXACTLY what axle is going through.  it also has a link for those of you interested (can i post it on here?)  according to the the newby vet's theory, axle *sounds like* he has subluxation of the of the sacrum ( lower back alignment in human talk).  all of his symptoms go along with the new vets theory, now if i can just find someone who specializes in things like that it *might* be able to be fixed relatively cheaply WITHOUT surgery...  if that's even what it is?  i'm relieved, but not.  i know it's not as bad as it seemed but at the same time i wish i would know for certain if this is what is causing 5 years worth of problems.  with axle being diagnosed at 6 months with HD, it makes sense since this is something that causes a lot of the same problems but is caused at birth if a puppy has a mother with hips that are too narrow.