Fibro Cartilaginous Emboli

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=82 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Greyhound Pets of America - Emerald Pacific Chapter</B></FONT><B>     |   </B><B>  </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Greyhound Pets of America Emerald Pacif"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id2.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Greyhound Information"><U>Greyhound Information</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Adoption Information"><U>Adoption Information</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id5.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Available Dogs"><U>Available Dogs</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id12.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Events"><U>Events</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id9.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Pictures"><U>Pictures</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stories"><U>Stories</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rainbow Bridge"><U>Rainbow Bridge</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id7.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contacts"><U>Contacts</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Privacy"><U>Privacy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id11.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Related Links"><U>Related Links</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=170 BGCOLOR="#003333" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <IMG SRC="05f91910.jpg" border=0 width="145" height="145" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=398 BGCOLOR="#006633" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <I>Fibro Cartilaginous Emboli</I></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="630" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#999980 HEIGHT= 108 WIDTH="618"><div> Fibro Cartilaginous Emboli </div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> - Frightening Canine Events!</div> <div>  Christine M. Rose, Seattle WA</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 HEIGHT= 1771 WIDTH="618"><div>      My nearly-3 yr. old greyhound Ava and I had a great time at the off-leash park. It was late morning, the park wasn't crowded, and she dashed around, pleased to be out in the sun with me. When we got home, she jumped out of the car happy as a lark, although as usual she bumped the car door, and I teased her for being clumsy. She sprinted down the stairs into the kitchen from the garage. Then things started to shift from happy to scary. As I put away her leash and went up the stairs to change my clothes, Ava came after me, but was shaky and not herself. As the minutes ticked by and she followed me around, it was clear she was NOT well at all. She began staggering and panting and I tried to calm her down. This was not the joyful dog of 5 minutes ago, but a very sick puppy! Having never seen 'bloat' before, but having read all the warnings in the dog-care books about it, that was the first thing I thought of. And, I knew it could be fatal if left too long, so I immediately called the vet's office and described Ava's symptoms. While the nurse did not think it was bloat, they told me to bring her right in. She got worse and worse.</div> <div>       She was able to get into the car by herself, but during the ride, her distress was severe, and she shifted around endlessly in the back seat, and finally fell to the car floor, and got stuck. Now I was <U>really </U>frightened. When I stopped briefly to check on her, I decided not to move her, but to just rush to the vet. So far, I had done everything right, as it turned out. By the time we reached the vet's office, only 18 minutes after I had phoned them, Ava could not move her back end. I had to phone the office from the parking lot, and my beautiful Ava had to be carried by the nurses into the examining room. She was by then in so much distress that they had to sedate her, and on examining her, the vet thought poison, or a neurological event of some kind. While I went home to be sure there was nothing in my yard or house she could possibly have eaten to poison her (there wasn't), Dr. Spencer kept her under observation for about an hour. At that point he phoned me and advised me to take her to a specialist, a neurologist, in Lynnwood, WA, as this seemed serious and connected to her spine and timely care was essential. So, within 3 hours of her 'event' we were at the Veterinary Specialty Center of Sean Sanders DVM, and desperate, as Ava still was paralyzed in her back end, although she now seemed to be able to stand with some help. Our luck held, as it was mid-afternoon and Dr. Sanders examined her right away.</div> <div>       After x-rays, more sedation, and finally an MRI (this was all VERY expensive), Dr. Sanders's diagnosis was that she had suffered a fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE). This is a stroke to the spinal cord, caused by some tissue from the spinal disc entering the spine's veins and putting pressure on nerves along the spinal cord where the nerves leave the spinal cord for the limbs, damaging them. The damage is immediate and there is often permanent dysfunction, but the event seems to be painless.</div> <div>       This is a mysterious syndrome, only known finally with an MRI, not diagnosable with x-rays or neurologic exam, as its symptoms resemble a damaged disc. The good news was that whatever damage there was had already been done, and she would not get worse, but might with time recover some use of the impaired back legs, or even get better completely. The recovery time can be long, but sometimes lasts only a few days, depending upon the dog and the extent of the damage to the nerves. Few vets see these cases routinely, but they do occur, and greyhound owners should know that there is a chance (a long shot) of this happening. Most cases occur in young (2-3) large dogs in good health, so Ava fit the profile. From discussion with the veterinarians and research on the web (thanks to Pippa!) -Southern California Surgical Group [http://www.artreality.com/portfolio/wdwork/vet/fibrocartilaginousembolism.htm] and VeterinaryPartner.com [http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=Print&A=1663] </div> <div> -there can be some pretty serious results, including permanent paralysis. Intensive medical therapies are only valuable if commenced within 24 hrs of the acute event. Medications used include corticosteriods (prednisone) to relieve the spinal swelling and prevent further damage. Intensive nursing care and physical therapy provide the best chances for your pet's healing, since you need to maintain muscle tone, but not strain the spinal cord tissues.</div> <div>       Ava came home after 2 days with prednisone and pain meds and serious bladder incontinence. She could barely walk, and was allowed only to be in her crate and be taken out every 6 hours a few steps from the door to do her business. No stairs or any jars to the spine. The poor thing was depressed and confused. As was I. She needed rest, and was wet. The thought of an incontinent dog, my best pal, stricken at such a young age, maybe never walking again, or able to climb stairs, was daunting. The ray of hope was that my own vet said he'd seen dogs recover nearly completely, with no recurrence of the event. But of course some dogs did not regain much function, and we needed to be prepared for that. One website said 'generally recovery is not likely.' A lot depends upon the severity of the embolism and where in the spinal cord it occurred.</div> <div>       Cleaning up after a 60-lb incontinent dog was intense, and I was lucky to have a job, which allowed me to work at home. She needed us night and day for about 4 long weeks. It turned out, as sage greyhound owners said (thanks, Jaime and Susan Reimer!), that the prednisone was the culprit with the incontinence, so the vet decided to taper her off drastically after he was sure it had done its work, and within 2 weeks she was dry again. Also, because she was young and strong, she made a terrific comeback, and within a month was walking without a limp, and getting up stairs more or less well, and even able to squat down low to urinate. Now, nearly 4 months down the road, she's dashing about at the dog park again, really happy, and it is hard to tell I had to contemplate putting her to rest. If you know her well, you can see that she's not as good with her right back leg as she was, and does not always make a solid contact with stairs with that leg, slipping occasionally, but mainly, she's back!</div> <div>       We were lucky. We have our Ava whole. So many parts of this would-be tragedy turned out fortunately. Her acute trauma occurred in the middle of the day on a Wednesday. I had a car and a superior veterinary facility close by (Queen Anne Animal Clinic) who could take her, and who also knew when to send her to a specialist. The specialist was also nearby, and available. We could afford the treatment (thanks,Visa!). Best of all, I could stay home and care for her, and give her the physical therapy and affection she needed to heal well. Otherwise, we would have had to hospitalize her for a long time, not an optimal recovery scenario. I'm very thankful for luck and good vets, and the support of the wonderful GPA-Emerald Pacific group. Don't frighten yourself by doing any research about this rare occurrence, but if something odd like this happens to your dog, act fast. It might be the difference between getting her back on her feet and having a paralyzed animal.</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>