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Back Pain & Hind Leg Lamenes: Ruptured Disks and Other Spinal Cord Disease

John Simon — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:14:06 +0000

There are a number of diseases involving the spinal cord that produce paralysis, weakness and incoordination and consequently are easily confused with each other. These diseases include inter-vertebral disk disease, , degenerative myelopathy, Wobblers, lumbo-sacral stenosis, spinal cord tumors, and fibro-cartilagious infarcts. On initial physical exam all these diseases have a number of symptoms in common. Diagnostic tests which help further define the problem include radiographs, myelograms, and MRI’s. All of the above diseases can cause hind leg weakness, incoordination and gait abnormalities. All cause a break in communication between the brain and back legs such that the head does not always know what the back legs are doing . Such a communication breakdown results in the paws knuckling over, the hind end swaying or collapsing, the dog having a hard time rising or going up stairs and the loss of bladder control. Of these diseases, we can expect that pain may be present with only 3: disk disease, wobblers and lumbo-sacral stenosis. Of the six diseases mentioned, inter-vertebral disk disease, wobblers and fibrocartilaginous infarcts usually have the a sudden onset. .

Intervertebral disk disease in the dog is an all to common problem especially in breeds with long backs and short thick legs, aka. chondrodystrophoid. These breeds include dachunds, bassets, beagles, welsh corgis, Lhasa Apsos, Shih Tzus, American cockers, and French bulldogs. In these breeds the problems may occur as early as 1 to 2 years of age. IVD may also occur in non chondrodystrophoid breeds but usually at 6 to 10 years of age. The most common symptoms of disk disease are pain, weakness, loss of coordination, and paralysis. The disease can also affect bladder control. However in very early stages of disk disease the dog may experience only pain and display an anxious uncomfortable attitude and decrease in activity. As the condition advances the pain commonly becomes very severe and the dog may cry out when he or she moves in a particular way. The next stage of disk disease is often hind leg weakness, incoordination and/or paralysis. At this point the pain may or may not disappear. Commonly this progression happens within days but can extend to weeks. If the disk protrusion occurs in the dog’s neck the pain is often more severe. Just petting the dogs head may cause him or her to cry out. The dog will hold his head and neck in a rigid head down stance and will will turn his whole body instead of bending his neck. Cervical (neck) disk disease can cause neurological problems in both the front and back legs whereas disk disease in the mid back will affect only the back legs.

It is difficult to distinguish cervical disk disease from a disease commonly known as Wobblers. Wobblers (aka cervical vertebral instability) is, as the name implies, a result of an unstable joint in the neck producing pressure on the spinal cord. Wobblers is usually a disease of large, fast growing dogs. Great Danes usually develop the disease as puppies where as in Dobermans the problem occurs more often in adults. The disease most commonly presents as a dog with severe neck pain and gait abnormalities in both front and back legs. To distinguish this disease from a ruptured disk or a spinal tumor requires either a myelogram or an MRI. Of course it is possible for the above symptoms to be caused by a blood clot in the spine or spinal tumor, neither of which occurs with any frequency. Finally, if the breed of dog is correct for disk disease, and if there has been no sudden onset or trauma then there is approximately a 95% chance that a disk rupture has occurred.

Another disease that can easily be confused with inter-vertebral disk disease is Degenerative Myelopathy. Degenerative myelopathy is a slow progressive disease of large older dogs, most commonly the German Shepherds. In its early stages the dog owners often mistakes it for arthritis. Degenerative myelopathy is an insidious, inflammatory, autoimmune disease that develops slowly over years. It is a result of degeneration of the fatty myelin sheath that surrounds most nerves and acts as an insulator. The first sign of degenerative myelopathy is the dragging of the top side of the nails on the back feet. This dragging can be detected either by the sound of the gait or by examining the top side of the back nails for abnormal wear. As the disease progresses the hind limbs become weak and an obvious incoordination develops. The hind legs may cross with one another and the dog may look drunk in the hind end. He or she may stumble. If you place the dog’s foot in a position where the top of the toes are on the floor, the dog will often not return the foot to the proper position or take a long time doing it. This is because there is a loss of “conscious proprioception” which means that the brain does not know the position of the back legs. If a dog has Degenerative myelopath then pushing on the dog’s rear end from side to side often causes the dog to fall over or have a hard time keeping his balance. In the later stages of this disease the hind end will become so weak and uncoordinated that the dog will be unable to get up. If the dog does manage to rise he or she will quickly fall down after taking only a few steps. The only good new about this disease is that there is never any pain involved. It is important to rule out a chronic disk disease before accepting degenerative myelopathy as your pet’s fate. Unfortunately that requires an expensive MRI or myelogram to make such a decision.

Lumbo Sacral Stenosis is known by a number of names such as lumbo-sacral instability, lumbo-sacral malformation, lumbo-sacral malarticulation, spondylolithesis, and cauda equina syndrome. All of these describe arthritis involving the last lumbar vertebrae and the sacrum which is a part of the pelvis. This disease often involves the disk as well. Together both problems progressively narrow the spinal canal which in turn puts pressure on the spinal nerves and causes pain and dysfunction. The most common symptom is pain which involves the back, both hind legs, and the tail. Dogs usually have trouble rising. Defecating and urinating are difficult because of pain. Dogs with this problem find defecation and urination difficult due to pain on squating. They may become incontinent and may be seen biting at their rear end.

Blood clots and fibro-cartilaginous infarcts can also cause similar spinal cord disease but they are quite rare and so I will not discuss them at this time.

Now back to intervertebral disk disease (IVDD). Conventional treatment for IVDD involves medicating with steroids, antioxidants, muscle relaxants, cage rest and surgical decompression. If surgery is indicated a myelogram or MRI must be performed to pin point the exact location of the lesion and confirm the physical diagnosis. These tests commonly can run into many thousands of dollars and should only be considered if the owner is planning to follow through with any surgery indicated by the information these tests provide. Disk fenestration surgery or a vertebral hemi-laminectomy are the surgeries performed to reduce pressure on the spinal cord. Both surgeries can run into the thousands of dollars and the diagnostics plus the surgery could easily run between 4 to 5 thousand. If you have a dog that may require these surgeries you should know that the surgeries are not always successful in restoring function and on occasions dogs can come out of surgery in worse shape than when they went in. You should also be made aware that these surgeries especially those involving the neck require long periods of recuperation.

Owners who are hesitant to put their injured older dogs through anesthesia, surgery, and an extended recuperative period may want to consider holistic modalities as an alternative. For those who cannot afford the expense of high tech diagnostics and surgery I also suggest you take a look at alternative or holistic modalities. The holistic therapies I am talking about include electro acupuncture, cold laser therapy, infrasonic therapy, pulsed magnetic therapy, chiropractic, electro crystal rebalancing, nutritional therapy, prolotherapy, bio identical steroid therapy, antioxidant therapy, megavitamin therapy, and systemic enzyme therapy. Please understand that there are no guarantees with any one or a combination of the above alternative therapies, each case being unique in its own right. We have, however, had some excellent results with these alternative approaches and can offer testamonials to their effectiveness.

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Woodside Animal Clinic is a unique, very personal, one doctor practice where, for over 35 years, Dr. Simon has been healing dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, rodents, and reptiles with both conventional and alternative medicine. Dr. Simon is the author of 4 pet care books and he writes a monthly pet care column in the Mirror newspaper. He is the past president of the Oakland County Veterinary Medical Association.

Woodside Animal Clinic sees pets from all over the greater Detroit Michigan area including Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Detroit, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Warren, Centerline, Clawson, Troy, Sterling Heights, Southfield, Birmingham, Bingham Farms, Franklin, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Wixom, Brighton, Livonia, Plymouth, Commerce, Ann Arbor, Ortonville, Waterford, Union Lake, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Utica, Romeo, Windsor, and Toledo.

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Pet Cancer Therapy and Prevention and Alternative Medicine

John Simon — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:57:26 +0000

Whether we are speaking of people or their pets, present medical knowledge holds that healthy bodies are continually producing cancer cells and that their immune system acts as the gate keeper that quickly destroys these malignant cells before they get a foot hold and develop into a malignant tumor. This however, begs the question; why do people and their pets develop cancer.

Some factors that may influence the onset of cancer include genetic defects, toxic exposure, chronic inflammation, mal nutrition, poor detoxification, radiation exposure, . However, underneath it all the bottom line is that cancer develops when the pet’s immune system is unable to respond vigorously enough to eliminate the diseased cells. So let us take a look at what we can do to prevent cancer in our pets by supporting their immune system. Apart from hereditary defects which we have no control over there are a number of steps we may take to help our pet’s immune system do its job more effectively.

Let us start out by discussing how to nutritional support of our pet’s immune system. We must feed our pets a complete and balanced diet, a diet that provides a host of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids in adequate quantities and proper proportions. A deficiency in any of these can weaken the immune system and allow cancer cells to get a foot hold. Because poor farming practices have left the soil deficient in important trace minerals and because poor manufacturing practices destroy health giving nutrients, pet owners must fortify their pet’s diet with supplements that include trace minerals, essential fatty acids, B vitamins, digestive enzymes, antioxidants and beneficial bacteria.

Next, the diets we feed our pets are frequently out of balance when it comes to Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. There are far too many inflammatory Omega 6’s in our pet’s diet and proportionately too few Omega 3’s. The consequence of this imbalance is that our pet’s immune system cannot effectively control inflammation and this may eventually lead to cancer. Dog and cat diets are usually deficient in antioxidants which function to reduce the build up of toxic free radicals that can cause inflammation and lead to cancer. Supplementing our pet’s diet with omega 3 fatty acids and an abundance of antioxidants will go along way in supporting their immune system.

Food and environmental toxins are becoming more and more of a stress to our pet’s immune system. Many pet foods contain an abundance of toxins in the form of chemical preservatives, texturizures, coloring agents, favoring agents, and pesticides to name just a few. These food toxins further stress an immune system that is already working hard to remove many other environmental toxins. Next, feeding carnivorous animals like dogs and cats a grain based diet that they can not properly digest often leads to an inflammatory condition of the bowel that holistic veterinarians refer to as “leaky gut syndrome.” The leaky gut lets toxins, which would normally remain in the bowel, leak out into the blood stream where they put an extra work load on liver detoxification and the immune system. The high heat processing and prolonged warehousing of commercial diets can cause fats to become toxic. Feeding our pets a commercial diet that uses natural ingredients rather than artificial chemical that are meat based with few grains, that are processed under low heat and that are stored for only a short time in warehouses will reduce stress on the immune system.

Of course poor nutrition is not the only predisposing cause of cancer. Reducing environmental toxins such as radon, lawn pesticides, intestinal parasites, and cigarette smoke will help reduce stress on the pet’s immune system. Using non toxic house hold cleaning products will also reduce the immune systems toxic load.

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Dr. Simon is the owner of the Woodside Animal Clinic in Royal Oak Michigan where he has been healingdogs, cats, birds, rabbits, ferrets, rodents, and iguanas with both alternative and conventional medicine for over 30 years. He is the author of 4 pet care books and writes a monthly column is the Mirror newspaper.

Woodside Animal Clinic sees pets from all over the greater Detroit area including Royal Oak, Berkley, Huntington Woods, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Detroit, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Warren, Centerline, Clawson, Troy, Sterling Heights, Southfield, Birmingham, Bingham Farms, Franklin, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, Wixom, Brighton, Livonia, Plymouth, Commerce, Ann Arbor, Ortonville, Waterford, Union Lake, Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Utica, Romeo, Windsor, and Toledo.

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Pet Cancer: causes and treatments in dogs and cats

John Simon — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:39:30 +0000

Since I began practice over 40 years ago the incidence of cancer in companion animals has increased dramatically. Unfortunately, veterinarians diagnose cancer in dogs, cats, birds, ferrets and rodents on a daily basis. Some of the more common cancers seen in dogs and cats are mammary tumors, skin tumors, bone tumors, squamous cell tumors, sinus tumors, anal gland tumors, lymphosarcomas, mast cell tumors, gum tumors, hemangiosarcomas of the spleen, and testicular tumors. Birds develop more cancer than any other species of animal on the planet. In my opinion the increased incidence of cancer is a result of the polluted environment our pets live in and the poor quality, mineral deficient soil we grow our crops in. Furthermore, the hormones, antibiotics, and parasiticides we feed our food producing live stock ends up in the commercial dog and cat food we give our pets. There is little doubt that the poor quality of our pets air, food, and water results in overstimulation of their inflammatory processes and suppresses their immune system. To add insult to injury we then process our commercial pet food and add more toxins in the form of coloring agents, artificial flavorings, texturizers, and preservatives.

Any time you notice a lump or swelling on your pet have it promptly checked out by your veterinarian. Although veterinarians can often make a good guess as to whether the lump is benign or malignant he or she can never be certain without first obtaining a biopsy sample. The biopsy may be obtained with a needle, key punch device, biopsy forceps or by excising the whole growth or a portion with a scalpel blade. When the biopsy is taken with a needle and syringe it is called “an aspiration biopsy”. Although aspiration biopsies are perhaps the most common approach to identifying malignancy they do provide more chance for misdiagnosis because of the small size of the sample. Any new growth should be biopsied even if it looks like a benign fatty tumor. Benign fatty tumors (lipomas) can not be visually distinguished from malignant mast cell tumors. At a recent oncology seminar I attended the speaker made the following very important point: “Do not wait to see if a growth continues to grow before trying to determine whether it is malignant with a biopsy”.

Of course there are many cancer growths which can not be seen because they involve internal organs. Cancers like hemangiosarcomas of the spleen, may get huge before they produce obvious outward symptoms. Below are what many veterinary sources consider to be possible signs of cancer.: weight loss for no apparent reason, loss of normal appetite, bleeding from a body opening like the nostril, a foul odor from the mouth, difficulty eating and swallowing, difficulty breathing, non healing wounds, lameness that persists..

So what can we do to protect our pets from cancer or treat them once they are diagnosed with it . Of course, keeping your pets in optimal health by providing them a healthy diet, environment and life style, and plenty of exercise is the foundation for a strong immune system . Please visit my website Doc4pets.com for details on how to choose a healthy diet. As for a healthy environment, this would include minimal exposure to poisonous plants and chemical toxins on the grass, in the house, and in the garage. Radon levels in the basement should be checked. Don’t smoke around your pet

With regard to healthy life style, this should include plenty of companionship and minimal stress. Stress do to isolation can suppress a pets immune system and make him or her more susceptible to cancer. Exercise can be in the form of jogging, fetching, or competitive sports such as “fly ball”.

Conventional treatment of pets diagnosed with cancer include surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Alternative approaches include organic raw meat diets, liver support and detoxification, intravenous vitamin C, antioxidants therapy, herbal formulas, acupuncture, and immune stimulants.

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Dr. Simon is the owner of the Woodside Animal Clinic in Royal Oak, Michigan where, for 30 years, he has been treating dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, ferrets, rodents, iguanas with both conventional and alternative medicine.

He is the author of 4 pet care books and writes a monthly column for the Mirror newspaper.

Woodside services the Oakland, Wayne, and Macomb county area including the cities of Berkley, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, Madison Heights, Hazel Park, Southfield, Birmingham, Troy, Warren, Clawson, Sterling Heights, and Farmington Hills.

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Arthritis in Dogs — What a Pain!

John Simon — Sun, 25 May 2008 12:26:43 +0000

It is estimated that 25-30% of all dogs will suffer the agonizing and crippling pain of arthritis during their lifetime. Large dogs are the most susceptible to arthritis but dogs of any breed, age or size can be victims of this disease. Early signs of arthritis may be first noticed when your dog starts to get up slower from a lying position, however, arthritis may eventually become devastating with your dog becomes unable to rise.

As arthritis progresses there is a steady degeneration of the dog’s joint cartilage. This cartilage is a cushion in the dog’s elbow, knee, ankle, shoulder, or hip. Cartilage gives the dog the mobility to run and play. As this cartilage begins to be rubbed thin, the bones will begin to grind against each other, causing excruciating pain.

Dogs in the earlier stages of arthritis may have mild pain and lose as much as 20% of their joints range of motion. Consequently, they appear stiff when they get up and walk. As their arthritis progresses, as much as 50% of their joint’s range of motion may be lost. Because they are often in severe pain they will be reluctant to move and the less they move the more weight they gain. This added weight puts additional stress on their joints. Lack of movement and reduced exercise results in weaken musculature. Pain, added weight and weakened muscles are all part of a vicious cycle that leads to less and less movement until the pet can no longer get up and must be carried out to go to the bathroom. If the pet is large and can not be easily carried, euthanasia can sadly become the only alternative.

In addition to making walking difficult, severe arthritis often results in personality and behavioral changes. A dog’s pain may cause them to withdraw from the family and seek secluded places. Because rising may be very painful arthritic pets may soil the rug where they lie rather than ask to go out. Because squatting is painful arthritic pets often become constipated. Dogs and cats in pain can become aggressive and ornery and start to bite. Dogs that were once friendly will not want to be touched by anyone including trusted family members.

So what’s the solution? Conventional medicine attempts to solve the problem with laboratory manufactured corticosteroids or non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs. Both these products are usually effective in reducing inflammation and pain but ultimately result in further joint deterioration and can damage other organs such as the stomach, liver, and kidney.

On the other hand the alternative medical approach is to use nutritional joint support substances, weight loss, medicinal herbs, anti- oxidants, mega vitamin and mineral therapy, omega 3 fatty acids, chiropractic care, physical therapy, and acupuncture to reduce pain and inflammation and to support joint health rather than simply removing the symptoms. A special injection combining nutritionals Adequin and Legend has worked remarkably well at rehabilitating a joints. This approach is much gentler on the body and rarely results in any serious side effects.

Of course it is not necessary to wait until your dog is lame before you take steps to help your pet. Being proactive makes much more sense. Feeding your healthy dog or cat a high quality, free range, meat based diet and supplementing with raw vegetables, digestive enzymes, and omega 3 fatty acids will go along toward preventing the onset of arthritis. A special combination injection of Adequin and Legend we

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Arthritis Therapies for Dogs and Cats

John Simon — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 21:15:40 +0000

Arthritic pain and lameness is probably the most common of the slow, chronic, diseases that progressively steel quality life from our senior dogs. Osteoarthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that can effect any size dog but is seen much more often in larger breeds. Arthritis often starts with stiffness and is first noticed when the older dog has a hard time rising in the morning. In time the owner may noticed that their dog is slower going up the stairs and may be reluctant to jump into the car. A dog with hip displasia or hip arthritis tends to run like a rabbit using both back legs at once.

As the arthritis progresses the dog may begin to hold up or favor one limb. He or she may walk with short stiff steps and the dog’s gait may show a hind end instability. At the end stages of arthritis the pet may not be able to rise without the owners help. It is very sad when an otherwise healthy animal is euthanized because their owner is unable to lift them up to get them outside when they need to eliminate.

It is my opinion that much of the arthritis our dogs experience could be eliminated by changing their diets from a grain based food to a more meat based recipe. Just because the first ingredient on the ingredient list is meat does not make the diet “meat based”. The only way to distinguish if a food is meat based is to asked the company’s nutritionist (not customer support person) “what percent of their food is meat when measured on a dry matter basis ?” Judged on this basis, most pet foods are no more than 20% meat. Grain based diets are hard for carnivores to digest and, consequently, the poorly digested large grain protein molecules act as allergens which damage the intestinal lining and result in a “leaky gut syndrome”. This leaky gut allows grain protein molecules to get into the blood stream where they can migrate to the pet’s joints and set up an inflammatory reaction. Feeding a meat based diet helps to prevent the above sequence of events. Finally, keeping your pet on the slender side in old age and better yet all his or her life will definitely reduce the risk of arthritis developing, Supplementing the diet with digestive enzymes, fish oil, antioxidants, and herbal anti inflammatories will help reduce the likelihood of arthritis.

If your dog has already developed arthritis there are a number of ways to help slow the progression and reduce the discomfort from the disease. Injections of “chondroprotective” substances which increase joint fluid and encourage cartilage repair can be very effective. Personally I am not a big proponent of using non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) to reduce inflammation and pain because their long term use may result in gastro intestinal, liver, and kidney disease. It has also been shown that long term use of NSAIDs in humans actually results in cartilage degeneration. Providing glucosamine, chondroitin , MSM, Adequin and antioxidants in place of NSAIDs can help restore joint integrity and, in my opinion, is a much preferred approach.

Other ways to treat advanced arthritis include acupuncture, chiropractic, “infra sonic therapy”, “pulsed magnetic therapy”, prolotherapy, low level laser therapy, physical therapy and massage therapy. Teaching pet owners how to massage their pet and provide passive range of motion can be very helpful in extending and enhancing their pets quality of life.

Finally, I want let my readers know about a very exciting advance in arthritis therapy. Adult stem cell technology is now available to help treat advanced arthritis. The stem cells are harvested from the patients own fat. These stem cells can be injected intravenously or directly into joints. These injected primitive cells will develop into connective tissue and cartilaginous cells which will help to rejuvenate the damaged joint. This technology is has already been used successfully in hundreds of dogs and horses and although still on the expensive side is now available to the family pet.

The only problem with stem cell therapy ithat it is relatively expensive and requires the pet be anethetized for the harvesting of the adult stem cells from body fat. Prolotherapy is a less expensive option and one sense could be seen as the “poor man stem cell therapy” because it also stimulates the body produce more supportive connective tissue around the unstable joint.

Detecting the early signs of arthritis and instituting early treatment can make a huge difference in the success of therapy. Providing a high quality meat based diet, with omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants can help prevent the onset of arthritis and help extend both the quality and quantity of the pet’s life.

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