35 replies to this topic

[gable]

My 9 1/2 female (80lbs) just had an MRI and was diagonosed with wobblers at the C5-C6 area. The MRI showed that the "disc protrusion at C5-6 with associated ligamentous hypertrophy. Also apparant mild dorsal displacement of C6 with relation to C5". My "Noonie" is having trouble with dragging her back toes and has fallen a few times. They started her on predisone today, but wants to do surgery within a month. The surgery scares me! The Dr.s are giving her a 75% chance of gradual improvement with a 25% chance of complications or no improvement.

I do not want to do surgery and was wondering if anyone else had luck with supplements (Nzymes) long term use of predisone, accupuncture, chrioprac., etc. Although my dobie is 9 1/2, I don't think she would be a good aftercare patient as she is very active and hyper. Even the Dr. commented that she acted like a 2 -3 year old. So I think it would be very difficult to keep her calm/quite for 1-2 months.

Any thought and sharing of your experience will me most helpful. I have had dobies since 1983 and this is my first experience with Wobblers.

Thank you,

Pam

[Daisy]

Wobblers is a bad thing that happens to many
dobes of different ages. We have had some over
30 yrs we have had dobes. Ive never done surgery.
Some dogs are helped by chiropractic treatments or
acupuncture but not many from surgery that Ive heard.
A friend had a large red girl whose rear just went out, she had
a strong front & was able to pull herself around for several months.
She tryed the chiropractor but it did no good, so she had her PTS.
We have a large girl almost 7 that has had it for 15 mons
now, I think hers started from a fall on the ice. Last yr she was
real bad when it started, we had her on pred,aspirin,artharmine
vit C & other stuff. As the weather got better so did she & had a pretty
good summer/fall. But the winter has taken a toll on her again & she
is as bad/worse as over a yr ago. We are now having to make the
decision to have her PTS very soon. Its not fair to her to live her life
being carried around. She was always a very active character into so
much & to see her not be able to do anything is hard on her & us.
I wish you luck with her.. Whatever you choose to do.

Daisy

[bumpster]

We had a Dobe named Rex, years ago, that was diagnosed with Wobbler's. He never got really bad from it. He was a little 'tipsy' at times, but he never became paralyzed from it. I think it affects each dog differently, some have a milder case and others have a severe case and there are those that are in-between. Rex was diagnosed when he was about 7, he lived to be about 11 and was pts due to bone cancer.

Good luck with Noonie, please keep us posted on how she is doing.

[gable]

What about a neck brace? I saw on another website where a woman had her dobie wear a next brace for 4-6 weeks to stabalize her neck. The brace did not prevent the dobie from normal movement, it just stabilized his neck. Does anyone know where I could find such a brace?

Also if the Predison is effective, when would I start seeing results??? How many days after she starts taking the pills?

[bumpster]

http://www.valleyvet...G...&ccd=INK002

This is one similar to the one Arda has for Jeanie.

http://mickiesplace....ness-XXS-Black/
This is a harness that works good too. It has a handle on the back so you can help 'steer' them if need be. Arda uses one like this on Jeanie too.

[gable]

The neck brace, do they wear it indefinetly?

[bumpster]

I believe Jeanie only wears it when she has bad days. Same with the harness.

[Arda]

Wow....Sorry i have not been around to help on this. I guess with as many Dobes as I have had, I would have had a bunch with this problem. The latest and greatest is Jean. She has a Rescue harness that she wears all the time. Handle right in thr middle of her back. I think everyone that owns a Dobe should have one of these. We have one ready for Gidget also. Her spine is bridging at this point but is very managable with medicam. Then there was Max. We went to Oklahoma last summer to bring him home. Nothing seemed to help him and we had to put him down after many months of trying. Back to Jean...the predisone really helps her and I use it very sparingly. But it really gets her up and going. She also has a ridgid neck brace. Those are very expensive and Jean will not walk when it is on her. I also have used beach towels folded and wrapped around the neck to keep the neck secure. That helps a lot. 30 years ago I used a human cervical collar with a lot of success for an over riding vertabrae in the neck of one of my old show dogs. Start with the cheapest fixes and work your way up to whatever works. Remember....they are just like us. What works for one will not work for the next one. Start with a towell but get a harness. When she falls or slips, it is just so easy to give them a hand up without getting bit because we hurt them. Cathie Renee sent Jean hers.

[LuvmydobeApollo]

My Eva has it and she had an episode, oh i dont remember how long ago... anyway,, we gave her a whopping dose of pred and she came around in a day or 2. surgery is wayyyyy to expensive for me and they didnt give all that great a rate of her being better. and her age,, she didnt recover well after she had mammary tumor surgery. I have heard of gold ball implants, and then they wear a neck brace,, but that is expensive too. I would try a neck brace, like arda said, it cant hurt! also,, NO collars on the neck, only a harness. Pulling on the neck makes it worse. I dont know if i would jump into surgery right away,,,, give her some time to see what she can do on her own.
Good luck!
sharen

[bumpster]

Pam,
Could you post a picture of Noonie? We LOVE pictures!!

[gable]

UPDATE.....

My Noonie is in surgery as we speak. She had been on the predisone with not much improvement. I talked to a friend with Doberman Rescue of North Texas and she said that she went through with the operation and had great sucess. I am using the same Dr. she used he comes with high recommendation and all the info I found on him on the internet speaks very highly of him. I have the upmost confidence that Noonie is in the best hands possible. She is also at the same Sugery Center that operated on her 4 years ago when she ate a piece of the sofa slip cover and it got lodged in her intestins. They did an excellent job with her back then so I am very hopeful this time!!!

Bumpers...Thanks for the email!

I will update everyone when I get more info from the Dr. after surgery.

Also the Dr. said after the mini-mylogram before the surgery that they found slight movement above the C5C6 area, so there is a slighter chance she could have a domonio effect; however, he didn't seem to concerned and said as long as she does not do anything crazy it should not cause a problem in the future.

I will post a picture as soon as I can get one scanned!

[Javaluva]

Prayers and healing thoughts coming your way that the surgery and recovery go well! Fingers crossed that it makes an improvement in Noonie's condition.

[bumpster]

Thanks for the update on Noonie. Our fingers and paws are crossed here for her recovery!!

[Arda]

And we are all praying for her.

[gable]

UPDATE>>>>>UPDATE

The Dr. called me and said the surgery went well. They were able to get 3 screws into each area and the "distraction" went from a 5-6 millimeter to a .5 millimeter. The Dr. said, based on his experience, this is good news because the more distraction the better results. I don't know when I can get Noonie as I will call the Dr. tomorrow for an update. All in all he was very please with the surgery!!!


Thank you for all your good prayers and thoughts!!!

I will continue to keep you posted.

Pam (Noonie's mom)

[ella]

I am so glad that everything looks good. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

[bumpster]

Glad to hear that the Dr. was pleased with the surgery, that is a good sign!

[gable]

UPDATE for Friday 3-28


I talked to the Dr. this moring and he said that Noonie is no worst than when she came in (that is a good sign) and that they are taking her out to use the bathroom by using a towel to support her....she is also on heavy pain meds (morphine) so the Dr. said it makes it a little more dificult to access her at this point. All in all, the Dr. seems to remain positive and said that I could visit her tomorrow and that she should be able to come home on Monday.

Thank you for all you prayers and support.

I will give you an update after my visit tomorrow.

[doberpagegirl]

So glad everything looks good! I'll bet you can't wait to bring her home.

[bumpster]

Thanks for the update. We're glad to hear that she is doing so well! Give her a hug from all of us when you see her tomorrow!!