Waffle Update: IVDD
I tried looking up IVDD in previous discussions, but all the search brings up is specific comments. It would be super cool if the search brought up thread titles instead.
That said, they suspect Waffle has IVDD. The X-ray they took was inconclusive (as they often are) but they don't want to do any more X-rays/tests until next week when he does not have a GI upset. My concern is that maybe he DOESN'T have GI upset, and he just has first stage IVDD mimicking GI upset. :[ Of course, I'm BEGGING that Waffle doesn't have it at all.
They did a full set of neurologic tests (yay for being at one of 28 vet schools in the country) and his neurologic functions are all good. The only thing that tipped them off to IVDD is his breed, pain when you press on his thoracolumbar vertebra (the vertebrae that connects his rib cage vertebrae to his lumbar vertebrae) and his reluctance to move. The thoracolumbar vertebrae is the one most often impacted by IVDD. Great.
They didn't tell me this yesterday, but I called them today and she said I should be keeping him in strict confinement. No movement except a 10 min walk on a short leash every day and potty breaks. She says the movement prevents him from becoming stiffer, otherwise no extra movement at all.
I joined the yahoo group, Orthodogs, and am slowly gathering info on IVDD. I want to know if any of you have had experiences with IVDD, and if so, how are your dogs doing now? I don't want a crippled dog for the next 15 years. He's so young. He's not even 2. :[
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Marie O'Bryan on
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you and waffle are in our thoughts. i pray he will be ok
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Permalink Reply by Rachael & Waffle on
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Updated my blog about Waffle. He's doing better now and is back to his usual bratty self. Thank you so, so much for your prayers and well-wishes, guys. I think they really helped to speed Waffle to recovery.
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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on
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Hi Rachel***So glad to hear from you, we were all getting worried, since we havn't heard anything. So glad to hear Waffle is so much better. Did you get word on what it actually was.
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No word on what it was/what caused it. I'm going back into the vet Wednesday for a final check-up and I suppose we'll discuss the results of his fecal screen then. The vet is insistent that he got a bacterial infection from feeding raw, which I think is just bullcrap because he's had the same raw meal from the same batch of meat 13 times. I think he had too much superbowl food or ingested some parts of his new toys that we got for him last week, or he ate something weird outside. We'll see on Wednesday!
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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I'm confused. In your first post, you said he had, among other things, a duck wing and a chicken foot. Never met a chicken with 13 feet. :)
It's quite possible that one bird in the batch was contaminated and the rest weren't. Dogs can get salmonella.
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Haha, I didn't think of that. That is a possibility I suppose. He didn't have any serious salmonella symptoms though. He had runny poop once and was just nauseous except for vomiting that one time, though maybe salmonella affects dogs differently.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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you will find out for sure Wed. If he had a bacterial infection it likely would show up on the fecal. Since the antibiotics seemed to do their job, it is pretty conclusive that it was bacterial in nature, where he got that bacteria is anybody's guess. Hopefully you will get some conclusive answers when the fecals come back, including what type of bacteria it was so you know (if it was caused by the raw feeding) which meat may have been affected. I know most raw feeders are convinced dogs don't get bacterial infections from raw, but from working in a specialty vet practice for 3 years I have seen more cases than I can count of Campylobacter, Salmonella, E. Coli, etc and they always run the same course of dog is really sick, hospitalized in many cases, and after a few days starts to improve and is back to normal within a week. The fecal cultures usually are positive for Campylobacter, especially when feeding raw chicken as something like 90% of chickens are infected with this particular bacteria. I would not feed any raw meat from that particular batch of meat until tests come back. Actually if it were me I'd probably toss the whole batch bc even fecal cultures aren't 100%.
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I had salmonella once. No vomiting at all, just fatigue, total loss of appetite, stomach pains and some not-so-bad intestinal symptoms. I was in bed sick for two days. On the third day, I turned on the radio to hear that dozens of people were sickened at a food festival I'd visited, eating exactly what I'd eaten on the night I'd eaten it. So it does not always cause severe vomiting. In my case, I had half a sandwich with the affected chicken, so I probably got a low dose.
My father had food poisoning once from seafood with the more typical severe symptoms.
I looked online and typical symptoms in dogs include loss of appetite, lethargy, temp of as high as 104. Can include vomiting and diarrhea.
The fecals will tell you more. Regardless, I'm SO relieved the little guy is feeling better. I was very concerned.
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I agree on the chicken, most are full of bacteria. If anyone has seen the documentary called Food Inc. you probably would never eat chicken again. in that case any meat, especially raw. Everyone should watch it if they havn't. You can rent it , or catch a little bit of it on you tube. It would change the way you eat. its called FOOD INC. All cows.pigs, chicken, are full of anibiotics and hormones along with disease. Unless you by organic, any raw meat is not safe.
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