Wobblers Syndrome in Dogs...any experience?

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Originally Posted by stevo68

Hey mate, until I found out this was something else, I was pretty set on it being dysplasia and did a lot of research on the topic. I don't know if you have/ haven't, if not google it as dependant on the degree of dysplasia there are medical and surgical options. Of course, there can also be financial considerations as well. Good luck your way too. How old is your dog?

Regards

Stevo

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Its def hip dysplasia, been diagnosed twice and it is also fairly common amongst labs / retrievers.
He is now 12 - was first diagnosed when he was 6, and recovered fairly well. He had a relapse when he was 10 and from then on has been OK.
He doesn't seem to suffer from much pain, but he has arthritis now and is developing a a trachea problem (also common) and with the change in temperature down here recently has taken a turn.

Not much we can do, he's had a good life thats for sure.

Dave.

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Its def hip dysplasia, been diagnosed twice and it is also fairly common amongst labs / retrievers.
He is now 12 - was first diagnosed when he was 6, and recovered fairly well. He had a relapse when he was 10 and from then on has been OK.
He doesn't seem to suffer from much pain, but he has arthritis now and is developing a a trachea problem (also common) and with the change in temperature down here recently has taken a turn.

Not much we can do, he's had a good life thats for sure.

Dave.

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Hmm still tough, the dog I lost to dysplasia as a boy was only a pup. My previous shepherd who I had for 8 yrs was killed in a car accident and this young fella came from my previous dogs 1/2 sister and the grand mother was the mother of another shepherd I lost to all things...a grass seed that got into her blood system and took out her spine and legs :(. Again, good luck with it all, I thought he may have been a pup,

Regards

Stevo

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Originally Posted by stevo68

With Diesel he already had the wobblies and at 6mths old not worth the risk, interesting to know though.

Great stuff, was just watching Diesel outside with my 4 yr old, where ever he goes, Diesel goes with him. When he saw me, he came running in his own current special way :eek: to say g'day then back off to "look" after my son :D. I have had some good advice from another member here ( a vet) so hopefully soon will know some outcomes. My main fear was if it were dysplasia, back when I was a child I had a shepherd who had it and in those days, the answer was the needle :(.

Regards

Stevo

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Stevo, just to clarify, as I said wait till your dog is fully developed, maybe 2 years, and it requires you thoroughly check the dog for ticks EVERY day. I started by leaving the first found tick for 24 hours, with close monitoring, then check the dog regularly and remove any ticks in the first week after that. After a week the next tick can stay on for say 36 hours, then go 2 weeks removing all ticks as found each day. then you can go to 48 hours, eventually the dog will become immune. When I worked at Mary Kathleen up near Mt. Isa there was a red Kelpie that was the Camp dog, every couple of days he'd come up to our Donga and we would pull 20 to 30 or more ticks off him, some were as round as a 10c piece, he was totally immune, good Luck with your Mate, hope he recovers OK, Regards Frank.
P.S. CHECK WITH YOUR VET FIRST, SEEMS MONGREL DOGS FARE BETTER THAN PEDIGREE DOGS, ALL MY DOGS WERE BLUE CATTLE X KELPIE X TERRIER, MAY BE A FACTOR.

Stevo
I would have thought by now the resident vet would have come on, he must be off the site.
Having worked them for years never heard of wobblers syndrome. I guess you had your HD xray done when you bought the dog. One of my work mates had a shepherd that had grade 4 hips, the dog was not expected to get past the training course. Grade 4 for a police dog is a no no. Anyway Anzac got through the training course and worked for many years, then saw his retired days out quite well and mobile, he died early last year at 12.
The secret, as told to me by an by a vet, was to keep the muscle mass up, ie the dog needs to be fit and healthy and have regular exercise. This tightens the muscles which reduce the amount of slack in the joint.
While your suburban pets have a different exercise regime to the working dog, you can accomplish the same by regular, regular walks of a good duration.
My first dog made it to 12 years old he succumbed to the complications of myelopathy,( sort of had a massive stroke) where the myelin sheath around the nerves fails to produce adequate signal to the hind legs.
Here is a link for that, that explains it.( thats what could be wobblers???)

http://www.balgownievet.com.au/1_com_deg_myelopathy.htm

When my dog first went down, the best he could do was drag himself around the back end didn;t work at all, in 8 weeks he taught himself to walk again, how, by balancing on his front legs and the back legs moved due to muscle memory. I was already fitting him out for a sled. My vet was not as surprised as me,she told me that very fit dogs can do it.

Now that you live in paradise, as tank said daily checking should be the norm till your dogs develop some sort of immunity. At the start of the season last year, I was averaging 30 ticks off each dog per day and that was in august.( for the sceptics, I have them all in a jar of metho)
Seeing you only an hour up from me, you may benefit from using these ,i have used these particular collars for years now and know they work, I have 4 doggies so vigilance sometimes takes a holiday.

http://www.petshed.com/articles/all-...ic-collar.html

when you search the active component,


The TICK Detach collar contains Amitraz! Amitraz is a powerful compound that inhibits the tick from "feeding" on your dog. The tick's sharp barbed mouth parts become paralyzed and cannot pierce the skin. For attached ticks, they detach! In both cases, Amitraz is lethal to ticks.

It takes approximately three days from the start of the "feeding" before a disease is transferred. If the tick detaches or dies before this time, Lyme Disease or other infections are not contracted. TICK Detach will remove 95% of ticks after 24 hours and 100% within 48 hours so your dog is safe from Lyme Disease. Amitraz mixes with the natural oils of your dog's skin and spreads from head to tail. Amitraz remains on the outside of the dog and penetrates the ticks ectoskeleton. The tick does not need to bite your dog to be killed.

I know this may be a bit long winded but i hope it helps you and your mutts.
Just to add what tank said, the easiest way, when you find the first tick, is wait for about 3 hrs, then kill it with fly spray,use a tick hook and remove it, for each successive tick you find leave it on for an extra hour and so on. A suggestion don't go over 24 hrs.
I have done the same with our cat and he is fine.


john

Awww How cute is the Puppy :D. Hope everything works out. I adore our boys. :D

Hi JohnE and Tank,

Thanks for that excellent information, I will definately take on board and look up those collars, and remember info re: Ticks. They never actually found the tick on Diesel, hence why he was shaved head to toe, to try and find it. Oh and resident vet has been PMing me with some great stuff/ information in respect to Wobblers Syndrome,

Regards

Stevo

For any interested in ticks here is a good site: Tick Alert
For Paralysis Tick (same site).

Paralysis Ticks by petalia

This probably should be under a separate title. If you live in a non paralysis tick area and have never taken your dogs (or in fact cats or other pets - including chooks - I kid you not) into tick country - ie especially coastal bush areas of queensland and SE Australia, but intend doing so this summer - beware :exclam::exclam:- you need to be fully conversant with ticks BEFORE you leave your Paddington terrace, or your Yarralumla mansion and hop into your D3HSE or any LR, and head bush. Consult your vet!