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Good Day!

I have a 10yr old mn fit Weimaraner that has very recently started to literally sink in his rears while he is standing still. It is intermittent and non painful. His muscle tone is beautiful, decreased cp in both rears, but only slightly diminished (remaining neuro exam normal). I am unable to elicit any neck pain and he has good range of motion there as well. His xrays of spine and pelvis were clear. He exercises daily with his mom and has endurance for a 2 mile run with no evidence of the impact worsening his condition. Client has declined travelling for an MRI/CT so I feel if I take this on, I will be stabbing in the dark. I reviewed the weak/ataxic dog info and it almost seems to fit, but there is no ataxia during his gait. I would love to offer some assistance and the client is willing to try anything to help, knowing we would be stabbing in the dark.

My thoughts are to teach traction, provide massage and laser to cervical spine and lumbar spine.

Thank you for any thoughts you have.
Missi

Hi Missi,

So I have seen enough of these over the last 3 - 4 years that I feel like I can say Treat the Neck (and check upper thoracic spine) rather confidently. And, well, just as I type this I guess I should say, keep Degenerative Myelopathy in the back of your brain as a differential diagnosis.

However, I have seen so many older dogs with precisely this history. And just a couple of times, when the dog had a flare up, was I able to find the neck (or upper T/S) pain. Otherwise, it wasn't there. BUT, if you treat the neck, laser, mobs, traction, they improve. So use THAT as your diagnostic test as well as treatment protocol. It's a pretty good stab in the dark.

Sounds like you are just catching it early. Go for it! Focus on the neck (and T1-3) and I think you'll be pleased! And please keep us posted!

Cheers,

Laurie

Update:

You nailed it! It has taken 3 visits to gain this nervous guy's trust but we have been able to progress nicely. I have found pain with lateral glides on C5-6. We are already seeing progress where he is more playful (than he has been in 2 years), and his sinking is still there, but much much less. I am soooooo excited and grateful!

Thank you!

Right on! Good job Missi!!

Thank you Laurie. Do you have general expectations for these cases in regards to time frame for 100% improvement? He is doing very well and the client is overly thrilled with where we are. However, I do see some sinking still (much less dramatic, and not consistently present). I am struggling with what expectations to provide to the client with. We have reduced our visits to weekly (we were seeing each other twice weekly) and I am concerned we have hit a plateau.

Missi

With a 10 year old dog, this is degenerative. I would counsel the client that maintenance could be needed forever. 100% might not be possible!

So you might get to a point of plateau and then figure out what sort of time between appointments maintains the status quo.

It boils down to function and quality of life from here on in... not perfection.

I hope this helps!

Laurie