RosieandBailey Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Have heard some not so nice things about myelograms and I wondered if anybody here had personal experiences of having it done? We're back at the vets with Bailey on Monday and I think this is what he might suggest as our next course of action, as he thinks he has an injury/damage to his lower spine. He did say that if we were reluctant to go down this route there were other options - perhaps even an MRI scan, but that a myelogram was definately worth its weight in gold in terms of how much more it was able to tell you over and above xrays and MRIs. Just a bit nervous about putting him through something like that when you hear horror stories about seizures, losing the inability to walk and having adverse reactions to the dye used (especially as Bailey's sensitive to just about everything!) Thanks Rosie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safneo Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Have heard some not so nice things about myelograms and I wondered if anybody here had personal experiences of having it done? We're back at the vets with Bailey on Monday and I think this is what he might suggest as our next course of action, as he thinks he has an injury/damage to his lower spine. He did say that if we were reluctant to go down this route there were other options - perhaps even an MRI scan, but that a myelogram was definately worth its weight in gold in terms of how much more it was able to tell you over and above xrays and MRIs. Just a bit nervous about putting him through something like that when you hear horror stories about seizures, losing the inability to walk and having adverse reactions to the dye used (especially as Bailey's sensitive to just about everything!) Thanks Rosie Rosie, Not heard of the mylegram but if the vet thinks its spinal, have you considered seeing a McTimoney Chiropractor? They might be able to give you some information about what could be the problem. Got to be a lot nicer and less invasive than what the vet suggests if it can 'find' the problem. You can always follow up with the vets option after? Give Bailey and snog from me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickentikka Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Hate to post this as a reply, but my 12 year old girl Laika had a Mylogram 3 years ago and it caused her body to shut down, she never came round after the anasthetic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simikins Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Many many years ago my dally Homer had one as he had severe spinal problems, the myelogram caused him no problems, they are very expensive though, luckily our insurance covered ours. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandy Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 These days I'd think an MRI would be far more useful.....in humans at least myelograms are seldom done anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 My greyhound Daisy and lurcher Ben, both had an MRI for spinal problems. Both times they were excellent in diagnosing the problem and corrective surgery followed. I think mainly specialist vets have them though. Not cheap, but luckily our insurance covered this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safneo Posted October 3, 2007 Report Share Posted October 3, 2007 Hate to post this as a reply, but my 12 year old girl Laika had a Mylogram 3 years ago and it caused her body to shut down, she never came round after the anasthetic thats awful. Rosie, can you get a second opinion before you decide what to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasta Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 My Ma in laws border terrier had a Myelogram done yesterday and then an op to remove some calcified disks. She is still in the vet but seems ok. We are all fingers crossed for her. They said she also has signs of spondylosis. It is expensive though, my Ma-in-laws bill is areoung £4000 to date Hope Bailey is ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosieandBailey Posted October 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 Hate to post this as a reply, but my 12 year old girl Laika had a Mylogram 3 years ago and it caused her body to shut down, she never came round after the anasthetic I'm so sorry to hear you lost your girl like that Thanks for all your replies. It's certainly a bit of a worry. The problem is that the vet we're seeing is really the orthopaedic specialist in the area for all things like this and if we took him to another vet, the likelihood is that we'd be referred back to him anyway. He has said he'd refer us to someone else in Castle Donington who has MRI facilities if we would rather, but he showed us some xrays of a dog who'd had xrays, a myleogram and an MRI and while nothing had shown up on the xrays or MRI, the problem was clearly evident on the myleogram. He said that depending on what's actually wrong with the dog, the myleogram and the MRI have differing benefits over each other as to what they can and can't see. Will definately look into him seeing a McTimoney chiropractor though Andrea, thanks for the suggestion. I've got a nice animal physio lady lined up in the wings as well and we're on the waiting list for the local hydrotherapy pool, so whatever it is I'm hoping we can fix it. Although to look at him right now you'd not think there was anything wrong with him. He took it upon himself to jump the stairgate yesterday when the posty rung the doorbell (stairgate was at the top of the stairs with him behind it on the landing!), ran down the stairs and finished on his back legs, paws up on the windowsill giving it big woofs through the window! Think he's getting a bit cabin fever-esque and full of beans after being confined to the house on invalid-rest for nearly 2 weeks... Guess we'll see what the vet has to say on Monday and make our decision then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda Posted October 4, 2007 Report Share Posted October 4, 2007 The vet you mention in Castle Donington is where my two had their MRI and operations. He really is absolutely fantastic. Can't recommend him highly enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosieandBailey Posted October 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Just a quick update! Went back to the vets this morning and reported that he's a lot improved - muchly keen to boing and bound around, sits straight on now (used to sit with his hips off to the side with his back legs out straight) and doesn't have any difficulty getting up when he's lying down. He's still got tenderness and pain in his lower spine when the vet was examing him, but the good news is that the vet think he's got a... now let me try and remember this right... a minor disc prolapse, and he thinks a fortnight's rest has done him the world of good. He's said to give him another 4 weeks rest, but he's allowed out for short lead walks (starting off with three lots of 5 minute walks today and increasing by a couple of minutes per walk each day). So he gets to see at least a little bit of the outside world again now which is great. He's not talking about needing to do anything scan or mylogram related either now, which pleases me no end So all in all we hope to have our bouncy little boy back to almost normal in about a months time, which is great cos he's booked to go away to the deepest, darkest quiet Cotswolds over fireworks weekend for a bit of peace and quiet with Jules (Tempest) and Ollie and Jess Rosie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nettie Posted October 8, 2007 Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 Great to hear he's improved a lot and that rest is doing the trick. What a relief for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickentikka Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Sorry missed this yesterday, hope that rest and limited exercise will get your boy ready for his holidays Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owlish Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 Just a quick update! Went back to the vets this morning and reported that he's a lot improved - muchly keen to boing and bound around, sits straight on now (used to sit with his hips off to the side with his back legs out straight) and doesn't have any difficulty getting up when he's lying down. He's still got tenderness and pain in his lower spine when the vet was examing him, but the good news is that the vet think he's got a... now let me try and remember this right... a minor disc prolapse, and he thinks a fortnight's rest has done him the world of good. He's said to give him another 4 weeks rest, but he's allowed out for short lead walks (starting off with three lots of 5 minute walks today and increasing by a couple of minutes per walk each day). So he gets to see at least a little bit of the outside world again now which is great. He's not talking about needing to do anything scan or mylogram related either now, which pleases me no end So all in all we hope to have our bouncy little boy back to almost normal in about a months time, which is great cos he's booked to go away to the deepest, darkest quiet Cotswolds over fireworks weekend for a bit of peace and quiet with Jules (Tempest) and Ollie and Jess Rosie Awww Rosie that's great news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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