Joint tap?

[sherry512lea]

I posted a few weeks about about my 6 1/2 yr old rescued Sheltie and her lameness. She has improved to the extent she can walk slowly for long distances without limping. She is not taking any drugs. I started her on a glucosamine supplement 3 wks ago. I live in a rural area in Wi. My vet wants to do a joint tap to make sure she has RA. She sent the xrays on to the Ortho Dept of University of Wi vet school who said it was one of three things RA, Lupus, or some other joint issue (I can't remember or pronounce the name!). They think it is most likely RA. They could do a work up or she suggested she do a joint tap here and she could tell if it was RA or Lupus. She said they have a done a few here in town.

I am concerned a joint tap would be painful. She said she would be sedating her. But I am am still concerned it would be painful and I was wondering if you need quite a bit of experience in doing a joint tap or does anyone know if it is pretty basic? I didn't mention that my Sheltie came from this badly run county dog pound with lots of issues mentally. She is very neurotic, not only terrified of loud noises like gun shots and thunder, but also cell phones, certain kitchen drawers, door bells, whistles, etc. She panics when birds fly by the window and car rides are torture. Unfamiliar situations are terrible, etc. So this issue with the UW vet school is huge. As is the money situation in my home. Having said all that we maintain a environment at home that she really does enjoy life for the most part. So my question is for the kind women that answered me before. Do you think going to do a joint tap is the right thing to do? or is just making life the best we can for her like we are doing is the thing to do. I realize she will not have the long life I envisioned.

Thanks for any responses.

 

[Caro]

What makes them think it is lupus or RA and not osteoarthritis? Have they done an ordinary blood test for rheumatoid factor?

I guess you need to know whether the treatment would be any different with the different diagnosis. About a year ago I noticed my male with elbow arthritis was sore in the rear and had trouble jumping. I was advised they needed to do an x-ray to diagnose. I had the same concerns as you - he's had surgeries and sedation before and was so stressed. In the end I asked the vet, depending on the diagnoses would the treatment be any different to what he currently gets and the answer was no. So I didn't get the x-ray.

 

[sherry512lea]

Thanks for the reply. She said the only way to diagnose rheumatoid vs osteoarthritis is a joint tap. She said the only treatment for rheumatoid is Predisone or a similar class of drug. Predisone slows the progression of arthritis, but only in rheumatoid, so if the joint tap showed it was not RA then she would not use Pred. That is what she told me. So you are saying a simple blood test can tell if a dog has RA?

What makes them think it is lupus or RA and not osteoarthritis? Have they done an ordinary blood test for rheumatoid factor?

I guess you need to know whether the treatment would be any different with the different diagnosis. About a year ago I noticed my male with elbow arthritis was sore in the rear and had trouble jumping. I was advised they needed to do an x-ray to diagnose. I had the same concerns as you - he's had surgeries and sedation before and was so stressed. In the end I asked the vet, depending on the diagnoses would the treatment be any different to what he currently gets and the answer was no. So I didn't get the x-ray.