ex Racer Neck & Back Pain

Hi Lindsay,

Mate I’m sorry but I don’t really have much of an answer that is going to be of any use to you in this situation.

In my experience a “trapped nerve” in the neck severe enough to cause the type of pain that would cause the dog to yelp intermittently is also going to cause some sort of lameness to the walking gait in the front limbs.

The pain during the night was more than likely caused by pain in the gut, kidney, or a muscle spasm.

Your Vet has done what is the normal procedure if a satisfactory diagnoses is difficult to achieve, and that is to relieve the pain ASAP and put the animal on anti-inflammatory medication, generally Prednisolone, for five days.

If there was a trapped nerve causing the pain, the anti-inflammatory medication would relieve this by reducing any muscle spasms or inflammation that placed pressure on the nerve.

I certainly do not see any need at this point in time to have expensive investigations undertaken involving either X-rays or anaesthesia.

Cheers,
Tom

Edit - If your boy seems well enough in himself I see no problems with taking him for a half hour walk everyday. As far as free running is concerned, I would wait three days after completion of tablets to see if any symptoms return, and then take it from there.

Hi Lindsay,

I know I have been slow in getting back to you in regard to the problem you are having with your boy, and to be quite honest it’s because of Fletcher’s age and simply not knowing what would be best way to proceed for a greyhound that starts having physical problems due to having been a racing greyhound at a younger age.

If he was three or even four years of age my advice would have been; hot packs to the lower neck and in the area of the upper spine between the shoulder blades, followed by firm massage to both sides of the neck and upper spine, with particular attention to the area where the lower neck meets the top of the shoulder blades.

After three or four days of this twice daily massage, which unfortunately is quite uncomfortable for the dog to have massaged, then gentle manipulation and stretching as per To Adjust C7 – 8 With Pain On The Left Side followed by more massage untill the problem resolved itself.

However once ex-racing greyhounds get to over four or five years of age, far too often the areas of their skeleton stressed during their training and racing career becomes arthritic.
Under those circumstances it is often best to leave it alone, and to manage the pain and discomfort whenever it flares up with anti-inflammatory pain relievers, and to also limit the type of exercise the greyhound is allowed to minimise further irritating the affected areas of the body.

In regard to an MRI; this requires a full anaesthetic which often have undesirable side effects, more so on greyhounds than any other breed of canine, and the MRI procedure is extremely expensive, and again only in my opinion, is not going to show much more than what is visible on a correctly taken X-ray if it is known how to interpret an X-ray.

Injections into the spine are used at various times by some Veterinarians to deposit a long acting cortisone such as Depo-Medrol (worth Googling) at the joint where it is suspected the major problem is, and to reduce the inflammation and pain for a longer period.

Again I’m not really in favour of this method as even when it is successful, it generally only gets you a further 6 to 8 months down the track before the problems reoccur, and again far too often has undesirable side effects.

Cheers,
Tom

I didn't mention that Lucky is a greyhound.... and was run until he could no longer do so on the track.

Thanks again for your posts....
Arlene

Hello, I have a greyhound with arthritic back legs, I adopted her when she was 10yrs, she is now 13yrs and for the last year she has had monthly
injections of cartrophen (a disease modifying drug), this has been really really good, she no longer yelps when getting off her bed in the
evening, I also keep rimadyl for when she has had a run and may have some pain. She completed 86 races between age 2 - 5.

Ann

Finally some advice that sounds useful. My son adopted an ex racing greyhound. He's only 4 years old. He yelps in pain when he gets up & favours his left leg when he walks and stands. Steroids seemed to work to start with but don't seem to be now. I'm worried about keeping him on them for too long. When I massage his neck & shoulder area but it seems to make it worse. I don't want to hurt him. Should I persist with this and heat packs?

Hi Tom,
Have taken him to 2 vets and had X-ray's. First vet said there was something but wasn't sure. Second vet said the discs in his neck are misaligned. Both said to use anti inflammatory tablets. He's been on these for over a month & he's getting worse. Problem is we live in the mid north and are 6 hours from the city. It makes it hard to manage & when I ring for advice they make me feel like a bother. Have an appointment with another vet in Adelaide this week. Hope this is more productive. Thankyou so much for your reply. It's such a relief to have someone listen.
Thanks again.
Shaz

Hi Tom,
Took your advice and found a greyhound vet & took Huey. He thought it might be radial nerve damage. The new X-ray's have shown lesions on his spine in his neck and the vertebrae has been eaten away. He compared it to the first X-ray we got done about 3 months ago which only showed something but no one knew what it was. It got worse so quickly. He said nothing can be done for him. We have decided to euthanize him. He said nothing could be done even if we found out earlier. I just wanted to thank you again and hope this post is helpful for someone else. He is part of our family and will be terribly missed.
Thanks,
Shaz

Hi Tom,

Sorry I did my previous post incorrectly.

I quoted Shaz's post because I am not sure but I think I may have the same similar issue for my Penny.

I thought she injured her shoulder/neck area at the dog Park Thursday night while playing with another dog. She did a weird twist/pivot and looked as if she may start limping after it happened, but she didn't so I didn't give it a second thought. Late that night/early morning she woke me up yelping in pain. It lasted off and on throughout the night and into the next morning until I took her to the vet. The vet took X-rays and really didn't find anything, but did note a "grey" area at the top of the spine and at the top of her shoulder too.

Of course I can't help but think worse case scenario, but the Vet thinks she has a tissue injury due to the dog park incident having happened the day before. She prescribed Rimidyl, Methocarbamol, and Tramadol (the latter to be used if she reacted to the Rimidyl with diarrhea). The first 24 hours have passed and she did really well on the Rimidyl and Methocarbamol. She was no longer in pain and seemed to be improving most of the day today. However, she did react to the Rimidyl by getting diarrhea, so I called Vet they said to discontinue Rimidyl and use Tramadol if needed. Well, tonight it has started all over again, I just gave her the Tramadol about a half hour or so ago. She seems to be resting now and the drug is taking affect. With Vet advice I also have her on over the counter Imodium to get the diarrhea under control.

How likely is it that a younger retired track hound (3 years old) has Osteosarcoma? I keep going back to the conversation the Vet and I had about the "grey" spots. At the time she didn't think it necessary yet, but she said if necessary we could send the x-ray to a radiologist. She is going with the tissue injury theory first and treating with anti-inflammatory, pain meds, and rest.

Thank you any thoughts you have on my situation.

Hi Tom
I rehome retired greyhounds.Approx 2 years ago, I got a little 3yr old who had a limp.
The limp was sporadic in her right leg and her wrist couldn't be flexed as well as her left.
I have taken her to 5 different vets, including a greyhound vets. Diagnosis ranged from ligament damage, wrist problems or my favourite she is faking it. X-ray's on shoulder, wrist have come up with nothing.
Recently I took her off all pain meds carprophen and carprophen and the limp has gotten worse, plus on not sure if it's my imagination but I believe her right foot is kicking out slightly.
Also instead of growing calmer as she is getting older she is getting stupider, especially when it comes to going for walks,she piddles. This year she is piddling when you put her coat on. There are no other symptoms.
A week ago I pressed slowly but firmly on her neck with my fingers, wondering if that could be her problem. I received a yelp and a piddle. Same thing happened the next time.
I've been researching neck problems in greyhounds. I feel this is what is wrong with her, referred pain?
My question is how do I communicate this to the vet? And get them to listen? I did mention neck problems to the first 2 vets but was basically dismissed. Really appreciate any advice. Appointment with a orthopedic vet next wedsnday. Being part of a rescue group, I only have access to certain vets