Progressive Lameness in Puppy

[Nleach2010]

Hello!

My just turned 1 female GSD has been having progressive weakness, migrating lameness, and appears to have a lot of soreness throughout her muscles and whole body. This has been going on for about 3-4 weeks progressing to the point where she is now not wanting to walk more than a handful of steps at a time. She did develop diarrhea last Thursday that is now not liquid but very soft.

I have been to multiple vets trying to figure out what could be the cause of this as she seems to continue to have difficulty.

I went to one vet that found Sarcocystis spp. bacteria in her stool and said that it was there from feeding raw meat that wasn’t frozen and causing Myositis. After researching online, I found that any symptoms from that parasite is very rare.

I just went to another vet who gave the diagnosis of Lyme’s disease even though her SNAP test was negative because of her migrating lameness and fever that she has. I also live in PA which is Lyme central.

I’m not sure which to believe and if it could be possible that I gave my dog this parasite with my switch to raw having usually fed not frozen meats.

Raw feeding is new to me and I’m terrified I am going to hurt her trying to help heal her.

Sorry for the long posts but really any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Hi!

Lyme is certainly a possibility, but not very likely if her Snap remains negative.

This test is uber-sensitive and accurately reflects exposure (not Lyme disease).

The biggest problem with the Snap is false positives. Not negatives.

Has she had any other tests other than the fecal and Snap?

Do you know if she was running a fever during any of her exams?

No matter what else you do, here are 3 simple ways to help her re-balance internally:

1. Fresh and Vital (raw and lightly cooked meats, pureed veggies especially te blueberry-kale smoothie (search the forum for "kale" to get the recipe)
   
   
2. Sunshine and being outside and engaged with her environment
   
   
3. Pranayama for Pets which really just means promoting her sniffing during walks, playing nose work games, exercising in other ways, etc.

Raw feeding definitely can be scary at first (especially when you give her that first raw chicken wing and see her happily crunch on the bones).

However, raw food is safe and is the most Vital and will help her heal more quickly than processed foods.

The intro. course has much more about this.

Please let us know what other testing has been done.

 

[Nleach2010]

She only had one snap test done Thursday night. She did not have a fever then; however, the visit today she did present with a fever and the vet diagnosed off of her presentation.

She has had a complete panel done twice that was mostly normal besides slightly elevated monocytes. Her eosinophils were high the first time but normal the second.

She also had an x-day done of her back leg that was normal.

I’ve been working my way through the intro course to continue gathering information on how to help her be healthy.

Thank you!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

What did your vet recommend for the fever and do you know what your pup's temp. was?

Great that you are working your way through the Vitality-based info and intro course!

Please let me know if I can help in any way. ?

 

[Nleach2010]

They gave her an anti-inflammatory injection and an anti-inflammatory to take home. Her fever was 103.8 I believe.

Thank you for the feedback and help! It is much appreciated! And also encouraging to know that the raw feeding isn’t the cause.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

You're welcome!

 

[Dr. Christina]

You are doing a great job! Where do you live in Pennsylvania? There are some great holistic veterinarians there.

Also, as a member, you can become a client of Dr. Jeff by phone using homeopathy. Go to www.homevet.com and click on the top tab that says: start here.

Dr. Christina

 

[Nleach2010]

I live in central Southern, PA close to the Maryland border.

And I definitely will be looking into other options! I’m trying to wade through all of the information to make sense of it, but it can be a little overwhelming.

Thanks for the help!

 

[beccak]

I've been thinking about you and your girl! How is she doing?
Do you mind if I add one thing in on this conversation?
Becca

 

[Nleach2010]

Please do!

She was doing well until I started to give her a supplement the holistic vet I went to gave her. Then she got diarrhea again which we’ve been working to clear up. Have been using Paxxin and Vibactra plus to try and get her gut better.

I still feel like I’m missing something though. Her attitude has been good except for a little restlessness.

I feel like I get one thing starting to get better only to have another symptom pop up.

Thanks for asking about her!
Nicki

 

[beccak]

Hang in there Nicki, you are doing a great job, everything will line up. I'm so glad you are using all the resources here, they are invaluable! Are you singed up for the seminar this weekend?
thank you for allowing me to try to clear something up, I'm not sure of the answer myself and it has bothered me.

Drs Feinman and Chambreau, this dog has had a Lyme's vaccine, should it have tested positive on it's snap test?
Becca

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Great question Becca!

Usually no, but it may depend on the degree of immune hyper-sensitivity and balance of the individual.

I have seen some clinical patients, often with other allergic symptoms that can be see with immune imbalance, test pos. after a vaccine.

However, this "should" not happen. Here is an excerpt from the ACVIM update to their 2006 consensus statement on Lyme:

"Antibodies against C6, VlsE (variable major protein-like sequence, expressed), and OspF indicate natural exposure because these antigens are not present in any Bb vaccines".

Here's the link to the full update (it's also in your HMDM folder under "lyme"):

Error - Cookies Turned Off

onlinelibrary.wiley.com