Discospondolosis

EquineAlberta · 09-07-2008, 01:40 PM

Does anyone have any experience dealing with/treating a dog with discospondolosis? Our 12 year old rotti/doberman cross shows evidence of it on x-rays taken by our horse vet and we are now waiting to see a small animal vet, but want to be armed with info and ideas before hand.

Karen

A J · 09-07-2008, 03:54 PM

What is it in lay-men's terms?

EquineAlberta · 09-07-2008, 06:52 PM

It is an issue with the spine. Some of his disks are compressed and/or the space between them is darker than it should be on the x-ray. He also has a LOT of bone spurs on his spine. THe horse vet thinks a section near his hips is almost fused.

He has trouble sitting on firm ground, his hind legs shake sometimes, he has lost a lot of muscle tone on his hind end even though he is a fairly active dog. He has trouble going up or down stairs, or getting on and off the couch. Sometimes when he and our other dog play he will yelp and sort of loose his back end.

We had thought it was his hips, but the one hip looked good, and the other only showed minor roughening, so she doesn't think that is much of an issue yet.

She thought we should look into a long lasting injectable pain killer but didn't have much info on it.

Karen

chukker4 · 09-19-2008, 05:22 PM

Metacam is a NSAID medication used to treat the pain of muskuloskeletal issues in dogs. I believe it is safe for long term use and relatively inexpensive. There are probably also some herbal medications that I do not know much about. You can also look into massage or acupuncture therapies.

09-07-2008, 01:40 PM
EquineAlberta Seasoned Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 4,489	Discospondolosis Does anyone have any experience dealing with/treating a dog with discospondolosis? Our 12 year old rotti/doberman cross shows evidence of it on x-rays taken by our horse vet and we are now waiting to see a small animal vet, but want to be armed with info and ideas before hand. Karen __________________ Hillside Stable, Ardrossan, AB Do unto others as you would have them do unto you...is it really that hard?

09-07-2008, 03:54 PM
A J Greenbroke Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Vallejo, CA Posts: 3,358	What is it in lay-men's terms? __________________ Try not, do. Do or do not. There is no try.

09-07-2008, 06:52 PM
EquineAlberta Seasoned Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 4,489	It is an issue with the spine. Some of his disks are compressed and/or the space between them is darker than it should be on the x-ray. He also has a LOT of bone spurs on his spine. THe horse vet thinks a section near his hips is almost fused. He has trouble sitting on firm ground, his hind legs shake sometimes, he has lost a lot of muscle tone on his hind end even though he is a fairly active dog. He has trouble going up or down stairs, or getting on and off the couch. Sometimes when he and our other dog play he will yelp and sort of loose his back end. We had thought it was his hips, but the one hip looked good, and the other only showed minor roughening, so she doesn't think that is much of an issue yet. She thought we should look into a long lasting injectable pain killer but didn't have much info on it. Karen __________________ Hillside Stable, Ardrossan, AB Do unto others as you would have them do unto you...is it really that hard?

09-19-2008, 05:22 PM
chukker4 Halter broke Join Date: May 2008 Location: Edmonton, Alberts Posts: 60	Metacam is a NSAID medication used to treat the pain of muskuloskeletal issues in dogs. I believe it is safe for long term use and relatively inexpensive. There are probably also some herbal medications that I do not know much about. You can also look into massage or acupuncture therapies. Last edited by chukker4 : 09-19-2008 at 05:25 PM.