Update... again with Jake

There is very likely some arthritis in Jake's shoulder, as well as in the other joints in his one remaining front leg. As he has been an amputee for almost four and a half years now, there has been quite a bit of extra strain on that limb for some time now. But those are not the main issues.

His symptoms are really more indicative of intervertebral disk disease. Basically, one or more of the cartilaginous discs between the vertebrae in the neck and spine are likely compressed or ruptured. You can read more about it here.

He was prescribed a muscle relaxant (Robaxin) which he took for 10 days following his initial vet visit on 9/3; he has also been taking prednisone, a corticosteroid anti-inflammatory, since then as well. He continued to do well when his initial twice-daily 30mg prednisone dose was cut back to once a day. But when we tried to continue weaning him off the medication and go to a once-every-other day schedule, he had problems once again.

While prednisone is very effective as an anti-inflammatory, it also has a lot of serious side effects. One of the least serious is that of increased thirst and urination; that would not be much of a problem if Jake still had a normal sized bladder. As you know from a previous entry, Jake's bladder cancer surgery left him with only about 20% of his original capacity.

The development of diabetes, Cushing's Disease, immune system suppression, and adrenal shutdown (similar to Addison's Disease) are all much more life-threatening and all could possibly occur with long-time steroid use.

In the case of an older dog like Jake, sometimes upon balancing out all the options, the steroids still turn out to be the best course of treatment. If you have a younger pet, though, PLEASE inform yourself about prednisone and the other corticosteroids so you can discuss the more serious side effects with your vet before choosing that as a first option of treatment. Here's an article to get you started.

Even though surgery is sometimes an option in cases of intervertebral disc disease, we don't think that at Jake's age and with what he has been through this year that we can make him go through a difficult surgery and recovery. I am hoping that tomorrow's vet appointments and a few further tests will help us plan for how long Jake can have a good quality of life on medical, not surgical, treatments alone.