Chiropractor - Ongoing Chloe saga

Thanks Melissa...I would be very interested to see your video of Sadie running.

I think you all hit the nail on the head with her hop is because she is not extending her legs all they way.....from the hip.

Hopefully this is something that she can heal from and is not something that is permanent. I know that the Lyme can settle in some joints and I am wondering if it did not settle in her hip joints since that is where she originally had her problems when she was a pup.

Fingers crossed that I get some answers next week.
 
danisgoat said:
IWhen we first got Chloe, she picked up some type of virus, that the vet was never able to fully diagnose. She was 9 weeks old when she picked it up (which I assume was from our drive home from Florida with her, and she got it while we were walking her). The virus temporarily paralyzed her hind end, and made her incontinent. It was a rough start for my baby, but after spending a week in the vet office (where the staff fell in love with my baby) she recovered. The only thing that we notice that is different about her is that when she has to go to the bathroom, it is an emergency. She cannot hold it for long. And her hind legs are not as strong as they should be. We do a lot of exercises for her hind legs to strengthen them.
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OK...so I looked back through my records of what was wrong with Chloe as a pup.

What I found out was that we had a Non conclusive diagnosis of Neosporosis which is a type of protozoan infection.

She was treated with Clindamycin and recovered, except for some residual incontinence issues, as well as some weakness in her hindquarters.

The diagnosis was not affirmative because the test came back as inconclusive. My vet really felt that this was what she had based on her symptoms and reaction to the treatment. I remember him saying it could have been a virus, but he didn't think so since she got better with the Clindamycin.

So..not she is battling yet another protozoan infection. I really hope that we can get her better. And I really need to work on building up her immune system so she can better fight off these things.
 
Based on the hopping, I would have her hips x-rayed. Dogs who have hip pain will not extend the rear legs out all the way, and will hop as a way to keep the weight and pressure off the bad hip. You see the same thing in dogs with bad fronts. When they land a jump, they very quickly bring the rear legs down to take the pressure off the front. So they don't do a nice stretch jump, it's more like a hop.

OFA doesn't mean much to me. All it does is weed out the affected dogs, and make pet buyers feel better. Any dog who is doing agility should have their hips x-rayed. They don't have to be OFA'd, just have your vet do good x-rays to see what you are dealing with. At least it's a baseline.
 
ClantyreSheltie said:
Based on the hopping, I would have her hips x-rayed. Dogs who have hip pain will not extend the rear legs out all the way, and will hop as a way to keep the weight and pressure off the bad hip. You see the same thing in dogs with bad fronts. When they land a jump, they very quickly bring the rear legs down to take the pressure off the front. So they don't do a nice stretch jump, it's more like a hop.

OFA doesn't mean much to me. All it does is weed out the affected dogs, and make pet buyers feel better. Any dog who is doing agility should have their hips x-rayed. They don't have to be OFA'd, just have your vet do good x-rays to see what you are dealing with. At least it's a baseline.
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I will see what the chiropractor/DVM recommends, and most certainly do what they say.

She has not always hopped, hence why I suspected the Lyme was coming back. I strongly believe that the Lyme is settling in her hip joints, possible because that is where she had problems when she was a puppy. From what I am reading, Lymes often settles in areas that previously had issues.

Thx :wink2:
 
danisgoat said:
What I found out was that we had a Non conclusive diagnosis of Neosporosis which is a type of protozoan infection.
So..not she is battling yet another protozoan infection. I really hope that we can get her better. And I really need to work on building up her immune system so she can better fight off these things.
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danisgoat said:
I will see what the chiropractor/DVM recommends, and most certainly do what they say.

She has not always hopped, hence why I suspected the Lyme was coming back. I strongly believe that the Lyme is settling in her hip joints, possible because that is where she had problems when she was a puppy. From what I am reading, Lymes often settles in areas that previously had issues.

Thx :wink2:
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So sorry to hear that Chloe is fighting yet another virus. It seems like we've had so many sick shelties lately!

I've had Sadie on the VP joint and muscle, which is supposed to help with pain and inflammation. I'm not positive that its helped because of the other supplements I've been giving her, but it certainly hasn't done any harm. I thought it might give her some relief for her aching joints.

I did notice a huge difference immediately when I started giving Sadie fish oil, which can also help with inflammation. The next day she had a lot more energy and seemed to have less trouble walking. I'd highly recommend putting her on a high quality fish oil if you haven't already.

I've also been giving her glucosamine, again not sure if its made a difference but it doesn't hurt. My vet said that it takes about a month to notice if glucosamine is helping.

To help with her immune system it also wouldn't hurt to feet her yogurt (again, you're probably already doing this) or even consider buying some probiotic capsules and breaking them open over her food.

I've gotten so much advise about Sadie in the last month or so that I can't remember who told me what, so if I've just repeated anything you've told me, I'm sorry!

Good luck with Chloe, praying for a quick and full recovery. Keep us posted as to how she's doing!
 
We had our visit with the chiropractor this morning.

LOVED HER. She was fantastic.

She did a full adjustment on Chloe. She said that Chloe's hips are great. She has full rotation in her hip joints, as well as the muscles are really soft in that area. She suspected no problems with her hips. She did think that the sacro-iliac joints were a little stiff, and she did some adjustments there, and also did some to her pelvis. She is confident that this is where Chloe is having some stiffness causing her little bunny hop. Chloe also had some stiffness in her neck, when moving her head around to her left side. She gave me some exercises to do with Chloe.

Overall, she approved of my vets approach to handling her Lymes Disease, and told me that she was a very well put together dog. She said that Chloe was a good example of the breed, and how their personality and body should be. That was a nice compliment to get.

I have another appointment with her in three weeks, which will be 4 days after her last Lyme treatment. We are hoping that she will be doing much better by then.

Danielle
 
Danielle this is excellent news. You must be relieved to hear it's not a problem with her hips. Chloe you must be prancing with your head held high knowing your an excellent example of the breed....But you probably already knew that.:wink2: I hope she is feeling ok through her Lymes treatment and will be 100% soon. Gypsy and Chandler send their love.
 
dawns2shelties said:
Danielle this is excellent news. You must be relieved to hear it's not a problem with her hips. Chloe you must be prancing with your head held high knowing your an excellent example of the breed....But you probably already knew that.:wink2: I hope she is feeling ok through her Lymes treatment and will be 100% soon. Gypsy and Chandler send their love.
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Thanks Dawn...I appreciate that.

She actually is prancing around. It is great. Her facial expressions during the adjustment were priceless. She looked like she was going "aahhh....ahhh....this feels so good." I am so glad that we went.
 
danisgoat said:
She actually is prancing around. It is great. Her facial expressions during the adjustment were priceless. She looked like she was going "aahhh....ahhh....this feels so good." I am so glad that we went.
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Yay! I'm happy to hear that.

It's always nice when you meet a professional that knows the breed!
 
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