Mystery Illness

[maltimamma]

I have a 10 month old rottie, he has fcp in both elbows. Recently he hurt his hind leg doing who knows what. He is on leash walk only. This is for another 2 weeks. He is also getting Adequan Injections. Now he is going through bouts of anexeria. He has also lost muscle mass in his head. We have run tick panel as well as total body function blood work on him. He is going through bouts of severe depresion. No one know what is wrong. I love this dog. I just want to find out what is going on with him. He walks like an old man. What are we going to face when he gets old. He is also on Synovi granules. HELP

[Anne]

What does the vet say about him.

[maltimamma]

Well they think it may be an autimune problem. We are really getting fustrated. I have spent alot of money on him. But thats not the problem. He hurts every day and he is on pain meds everyday. The want to put him on pred but I really don't want to put him on it. I have been to two specialists for his elbows.

[fbkeays]

Originally Posted by maltimamma

Well they think it may be an autimune problem. We are really getting fustrated. I have spent alot of money on him. But thats not the problem. He hurts every day and he is on pain meds everyday. The want to put him on pred but I really don't want to put him on it. I have been to two specialists for his elbows.

I consider pred to be a miracle drug. I know some people are set against it. But if you can work down to a very small dose ( like 2-7 mg) daily, you can use it long term very safely. It is hard on a number of body parts for long term, high dose, but not for the low dosages.

[maltimamma]

They don't want to put him on a low dose. If it is an autoimune problem they will have to blast him with pred. He is crated when I am gone to work. It makes them pee like a raging river. I don't know if the pred will take care of the depression. I have also ran tick titers on him. He has also lost muscle in the head.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by maltimamma

I have a 10 month old rottie, he has fcp in both elbows. Recently he hurt his hind leg doing who knows what. He is on leash walk only. This is for another 2 weeks. He is also getting Adequan Injections. Now he is going through bouts of anexeria. He has also lost muscle mass in his head. We have run tick panel as well as total body function blood work on him. He is going through bouts of severe depresion. No one know what is wrong. I love this dog. I just want to find out what is going on with him. He walks like an old man. What are we going to face when he gets old. He is also on Synovi granules. HELP

Are you sure he's anorexic or could it be that it hurts to eat, or he simply can't eat? The reason I ask is that there is an auto immune condition called masticatory myositis that causes temporal muscle wasting and an inability to open their jaw. Ask your vet if that's a possibility.

If it is this, prednisone is NEEDED, and they will start him off on high doses and then wean him back as soon as possible. I've heard of a few Rottie's with this condition that have recovered completely after the steroid treatment. Prednisone is a powerful drug, and can truly be a lifesaver. When warranted, you'd be hardpressed to find a more appropriate treatment.

If there's any chance this is tick related, however, you do NOT want him on prednisone. It is an immune suppressant and will make a tick borne disease worse.

[maltimamma]

Ok this is getting scary, the breeder just told me the two puppies she kept from this litter which are Mojo's brother and sister just died. No symptoms. Just died. The only thing she noticed was a little black stool in one. Of course she doesn't have the money to do a necropsy to see why they died. I am very upset that this might happen to my sweet boy. My boy also has been started on pred. The problem is no one knows what we are treating. This breeder tells me how upset it makes her when I call, how does she think I feel. Is there any thing out there that runs in rotties that would make them just drop dead??? Thanks

[brunie's mom]

WOW!!!
I am so sorry to hear this about your pup and the breeder's pups. This breeder does not sound like a good breeder to me.
She should find the money to do a neocropsy....how is she going to find out what the problem is otherwise???

I hope she stops breeding till she finds out what is going on?

Have the sire and dam of these pups had their hearts certified by a cardiologist? Dropping dead like that sounds like bad hearts (SAS?).

I hope you get to the bottom of your pup's problems soon.

Gina

[Dugganmom]

Originally Posted by maltimamma

Ok this is getting scary, the breeder just told me the two puppies she kept from this litter which are Mojo's brother and sister just died. No symptoms. Just died. The only thing she noticed was a little black stool in one. Of course she doesn't have the money to do a necropsy to see why they died. I am very upset that this might happen to my sweet boy. My boy also has been started on pred. The problem is no one knows what we are treating. This breeder tells me how upset it makes her when I call, how does she think I feel. Is there any thing out there that runs in rotties that would make them just drop dead??? Thanks

The breeder does not sound that great...it makes her upset when you call? how does she think you feel!!!! I hope that some vet can figure out what is wrong with your pup...if your vet cant you might want to seek out a couple different opinions. I did that when duggan hurt him self

[maltimamma]

Well my sweet Mojo had to go to the er yesterday, he collapased in the back yard and couldn't get up. He has lost muscle mass in his head and also in his neck and shoulders. He also hurts very badly in his back. There is nothing showing up on x-ray. He is now on a muscle relaxer every 8 hours. No one seems to know what is going on. These start with severe depression, not eating. Now he is having trouble with his hind legs. The er vet thinks he may have some kind of muscular dystrophy. Any ideas would be welcomed. I am at the end of my rope. The breeder is no help. THANK YOU

[MARYDVM]

Did the bloodwork show any abnormalities at all? It is possible to have a tick-borne disease that shows a negative titer in the acute, early phase. Out here in AZ when a dog might have immune mediated joint disease due to a tick borne illness, they always start high dose doxycycline for the infection, along with the high dose pred to stop the out of control immune reaction.

[maltimamma]

Thanks I have run two tick titer on him. All are neg. His total body blood work was neg. I am at a loss as are all the vets I work with. Thank you for you reply.

[nkh219]

I am no expert, but my dog was just diagnosed with Hypertrophic Osteodystropy, it is a pretty rare disease so it can be hard to diagnose. I am studying everything I can about it right now. Some of your dog's symptoms sound like symptoms of HOD. It is a bone disease in large/giant breed puppies. Some symptoms are lameness, to the point they can't walk or stand, severe pain in their joints, anorexia (usually b/c they are in too much pain to eat). I would have your vet look in to it, to at least rule it out. The recovery rate is fairly good for this disease, and puppies usually grow out of it, but it can cause deformities in their limbs or in severe cases it can cause the dog to be crippled. I am taking my puppy to an internal medicine/orthopedic specialist, b/c as great as my vet is, he has only seen one case, and does not know that much about it!

[maltimamma]

He has been to an orthapedic doctor. They are testing him for Hepatooonosis. Also Toxo. He has been x-rayed from head to toe. No one can find anything. We are putting him on a new food for sick dogs called PD. We are starting the new batch of tests tomorrow. THANKS

[CaffineADD]

Has your vet ruled out Addison's disease? My 7 year old Rottie was diagnosed five years ago. He had a lot of the symptoms you described and it took us weeks and several vets to get him diagnosed properly. The anorexia and hind end weakness are typical of the disease, as is the muscle wasting. The indicators in primary Addison's are high potassium and low sodium in the bloodwork. They can still be very sick and have potassium at the high end of normal and the sodium at the low end. Also, IV's for hydration can make the bloodwork look more normal and the dog feel better, and then after the dog is off the IV they seem worse again. Also, dogs can have secondary Addison's and have normal bloodwork but still be very ill. The treatment for secondary Addison's is pred.

Lastly, if you feel that your vet doesn't know what is going on, get a second opinion. I had two vets tell me to put my guy down before I found a third that was able to correctly treat him. Can you find an ACVIM vet or go through a vet school? If you do get a second opinion, take ALL of the tests they have run so far to the new vet, hand deliver them, don't let the old vet fax them over.

I'm sorry your guy is sick. I hope he feels better soon.