Steriods in Schnauzers

Question
QUESTION: My mini will be 2yrs old in January. The day he received his Rabies vaccine this April he began limping.  I took him to his vet the next morning and was told it was probably just sore. He has limped intermittently for the last 5 months.  We have changed vets due to several concerns. The leg has gotten bad enough that he refuses to walk, on two occasions.  The new vet did thorough X-rays the 2nd time and determined there is no structural problem.  He believes it is soft tissue damage from the Rabies shot possibly hitting the muscle.  He showed me where that leg is considerably underdeveloped in muscle compared to the other hind leg. Even when he is not limping, he is not putting full weight on it. He is on Medicam pain reliever/anti inflammatory daily for 3 weeks in hopes this will permanently rid him of the inflammation.  If not, the only alternatives are leave it he is only 2 yrs. old so that's a long time or try a steroid injection.  The new vet said he would have done this back in April if it were his patient at the time.  My question is how bad are steroids in Schnauzers?  I have read really bad thing on the Internet and heard bad things from the health food store where I buy my Eagle Pack.  I know most vets are pro steroids in some problems, but everyone else seems to have a very scary opinion.  What has your experience with minis shown???

Also, he has battled allergies for about a year.  We completed testing with a Vet/Dermo. and are ready to start desensitizing injections. Do you have any feedback on safety/effectives in MS?  The Dermo. gave us a 70% effectiveness stat. in dog breeds across the board. I need to make the sterriod decision needs to be made before the allergy injections can begin.

Thank you so much!
Jana


ANSWER: Steroids are BAD; they should only be used in extreme circumstances. I would look for a different solution first. http://www.crvetcenter.com/corticoids.htm

Has your dog been tested for tick-borne diseases? Lyme disease will cause intermittent lameness.

I would take him to a veterinary chiropractor before seeing a regular veterinarian for lameness. Some also use holistic treatments (which are generally safer). There are natural products that can reduce inflamation. http://www.avcadoctors.com/search_for_avca_certified_doctor.htm

I always recommend allergy testing when one's dog is having problems. One cannot have a "plan of attack" without knowing the source of the problem. The desensitizing injections do work on some dogs, so it is definitely worth trying. One friend's schnauzer has severe allergies (mostly food), and what is working for her, surprisingly, is acupuncture. We have used that on our agility dogs for some injuries, but it did surprise me to hear that it could also work on allergies.
http://www.aava.org/php/aava_blog/aava-directory/
http://www.ivas.org/member_search.cfm When I searched my state, the second link had more names.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for getting back to me.  I have tried the chiro. route.  It got better for a while, then worse.  It's hard to tell if it was a result of the treatment since it shows up intermittently anyway.  I have spent about $600 in chiro.  The vet said since there is no evidence of spinal problem on xray, it would not help.  Would we have to see a problem on the xray to need the chiro?  Or , are there other things that he could treat that don't show as a problem on xray.  I will not do the sterriod shot, thank you for your input.  I was very worried about that1

Thanks also for the MARS Coat King info. on your web site.  Our breeder saw our puppy at the show in Deland and was surprised at how great his coat looks with just the MARS.  It seems a great compromise for someone who wants to keep the dark color but is not showing the dog.

Answer
**The vet said since there is no evidence of spinal problem on xray, it would not help.  Would we have to see a problem on the xray to need the chiro?

I guess I don't know the answer to that question. Our chiropractors have found alignment problem(s) without doing any X-rays. Any X-rays were used to confirm (or disprove) diagnoses of permanent injuries that might require surgery. In one instance, on a young dog with intermittant lameness, it proved there was no joint damage in her shoulder or elbow and it was only soft-tissue injury so the dog was rested for a full month (mostly in a crate), and she has been fine ever since.

We have found with our (agility) dogs that they do need periodic adjustments, particularly those dogs who are doing extreme sports. It seems that once something goes out-of-whack, that the same thing tends to return after a few weeks... probably due to stretched ligaments, weak muscles, etc. We have also found that the source of the problem may not be where the problem is expressing, so an X-ray may not show a problem if it isn't done on the right area.

Did a vet check out your dog's stifle (knee) joint at all? Or did he just concentrate on the spine? How about the neck? Everything connects to everything else and one issue can reverberate all the way down the vertebral column and then into those rear legs.

Watch for: Your dog should be doing full yawns, and doing full stretches fore and aft. When he shakes, it should be all the way from his head down to his tail. He should be able to easily turn his head to the right and to the left and touch his nose to his side.

It may be that your dog's problem is only the muscle in his right leg, but I am concerned that it might be aggravated by something else that is being overlooked by the vet. I would want to be absolutely certain that nothing else was the problem before treating with drugs.

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