We still love Lucy

A week after Lucinda the dog's trip to the emergency vet and her diagnosis of Degenerative Myelopath (DM), she'd had no second episode of paralysis. So I wrote the emergency vet and told her this, told her she seemed fine. I got this from one of the vet techs: 

I am so happy to hear that Lucy is doing well at home. Dr. Schwindt thought that Degenerative Myelopathy was a possibility, but it is more likely that Lucy has that Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD). Since she is improving with the medications sent home, IVDD does seem to be the most likely culprit. Dr. Schwindt recommends finishing out the prednisone as prescribed and keeping Lucy on her gabapentin. It is okay to give the lower dose of the muscle relaxant as long as she is continuing to do well. Here is an article with more information about IVDD: 

Intervertebral Disk Disease (IVDD) in Dogs - Veterinary Partner - VIN

My regular vet, Dr. Syd, was booked solid, and according to the online scheduler, I couldn't get her in to see him until October. I schedule the appointment for mid October, then pleaded via email for something earlier. And I got it - for today. And here's the 411 from today:

Dr. Syd thinks it still might be DM, but maybe not - he just can’t tell. He said that it’s very strange, if it’s IVDD, that she was paralyzed for 6 hours a full day after playing with a year old puppers but then got better, but that there certain are cases of dogs being injured while playing and the injury showing up later - he just thinks it’s weird that it got better, if she's injured, that the paralysis did show up later and then got better on its own in just a few hours. 

He curled each of Lucy's feet, and her back left paw didn’t snap back the way it should - it oh-so-slowly uncurled. I could see it so obviously and I gasped at what I saw. The emergency vet also said that her left leg was especially bad during the paralysis. But it did, slowly, curl back into place. It's the most definite sign that something is still very wrong. 

I told him that she'd snapped at a couple of dogs in the last six months, and I'd been shocked, because she NEVER does that. She has snapped at Kobe twice when all he did was walk up to her and put his head over her back shoulder blades - not even on them. But she will let me and any human pet her on her shoulder blades. I had decided the snapping was because she was protective of her back - she knows dogs can be unpredictable. She has NEVER let Bishop, her very best dog buddy ever, do anything on her backside, not even lay his head. They play VERY rough - but she has let him know lately she has an absolute limit (thank goodness that sweet boy takes "no" for an answer).  

Dr. Syd had me walk Lucy outside while he watched, walking her back and forth and in a circle. I, of course, spoke in a high-pitched voice to her as we walked back and forth, making references to Best in Show because, even in a moment of crisis I shall always be a total dork. He watched her and after a whiel, he remarked how she was just as spry and normal as could be and he saw NOTHING wrong. And back in the exam room, when it was time to leave, she did a downward dog.

So he’s as confused as we are. 

He says: let’s wait a month and see. She’s out of all of her meds except the muscle relaxant. He says: no more meds. Not for now. Keep her in this low activity mode, no playing with other dogs, no walking long distances, for 30 days. Maybe after just a week or whenever I think it’s best, I could walk her a bit. And after a month, bring her back to him for another exam. 

He said we should do the genetic test for DM just to eliminate DM as a possibility (and even if she carries the gene, it doesn’t mean she has it). But he said the only way we are going to know absolutely, positively, if it’s an injury that needs surgery is to do an MRI - there is no other way. It’s at least $3000. He had his dog scanned that way, they found the problem disk, he had surgery, and he’s fine now and he says he’s got 5 or so years ahead of him now. Yes, I will pay $3000 if it means I get my girl for 5 or more years. 

But there’s no rush at all for an MRI and there may NEVER be a need, and another month of no surgery, if it’s a disc issue, isn’t going to hurt her. 

So, another month of this low activity. And now, we try with no meds, to see how she does. No playing with Bishop, her very best buddy in the universe, which breaks my heart. No playing with other dogs at all, except Kobe, which is just a lot of posturing for 5 minutes after supper. Otherwise, they just hang out together and talk shit about me. 

I’m going to wait until Stefan is home from his vacation and then we are going to walk her together for a little bit, each Saturday and Sunday.

Time will tell, I hope.