Update: Grey still has ongoing pain issues

I've been meaning to post back following Grey's trip to The Animal Health Trust last Weds. I truly hoped that we'd be in a different position by this weekend. Unfortunately, despite getting thoroughly examined at AHT and coming out with clear MRI scan results, he had a further set back this last Friday when he started yelping in pain again when pressure was on his neck. So he was then put on Metacam along with everything else and we have to speak to the vet on Tuesday to see what we do next.

The Animal Health Trust were absolutely fantastic. That place is like the set of ER or Gray's Anatomy for animals! He had a full spinal MRI and spinal tap. They found nothing wrong with him. We may have caught an infection early and are now dealing with the residual pain from inflammation. We heard from someone else who got a slovak pup that was a litter two weeks older than Grey and Gunner. I remember peeking over at them to have a look. The owner said her dog had had a bad spinal infection the same as Gunner and had to have specialist treatment for months. This is the same litter that someone I met who had a pup called Freya who was rehomed at the 2008 slovak fun day. I remember the owner having lots of problems with Freya having the runs too.

More news from the vet on Tuesday. For the moment, we still don't go running. He rests.

The importance of testing for infections

I was reminded by Gunner's owner about the importance of not ignoring continued tummy problems for prolonged periods. Gunner's condition probably worsened because his infection went undiscovered and further the anti-inflammatory medication masked the effect of the infection. There have been many reports of prolonged tummy problems in slovaks that I have come across. I don't believe this is down to a genetic predisposition. In many cases the problems came down to GI infections. Unfortunately, tummy upsets in young pups can be down to 101 different causes. But if it continues for more than a few days after settling puppy into his new home, I would get fecal and urine tests done. So much is put down to puppy being stressed with a move.

We think Grey had infections from being tiny because his baby teeth had very patchy enamel that the dental specialist spotted when he had his first work done to rectify his overshot jaw. I have been in touch with two of his littermates and all had treatment for infections like campylobacter and giardia. It is important when infections like this are discovered that any dog that has come into contact with an infected dog is tested and given treatment and that the environment where they reside is disinfected. Otherwise the infection can remain in the environment.

Gunner is now doing well on his medication and we cross our fingers he'll be back to good health soon.

Slovak tums

I wonder if sensitive digestion is prevalent in slovaks? Grey was very poorly when we first got him. It turned out after battling with a runny bum for the first 5 weeks with us, despite being on cooked chicken and rice, and him nearly fading away with a raging temp at 9 weeks, that he had two nasty infections: Campylobacter and Giardia. Both infectious to humans and possibly fatal to young pups. We ran fecal tests after he just didn't get any better for weeks on end. It was really hard work keeping up with a puppy with the runs.

As soon as he had had the correct course of medication his digestion improved and became stable. He was then moved to a BARF diet, which is raw feeding. I order in a variety of meat and meaty bones from a specialist supplier. It works out cheaper than a complete food and he's doing really well on it. It also gives him something natural to do rather than just woof down a bowl of biscuits.

I've since spoken to other slovak pup owners and while they've had theirs tested for the same infections as Grey and have come back clear, a few seem to still have sensitive digestions with runny bums. So it makes me wonder if slovaks have sensitve tummys.