Tempest Posted September 5, 2009 Report Share Posted September 5, 2009 Ollie has some kind of neurological problem that is effecting the co-ordination of his limbs - he's an old boy now (vet reckons 13-14 ) and he'd been on steroids to help but they'd given him loads of side effects so he came off them about 4 weeks ago. He's not seen the vet for about 4 months so just wanted to take him back for a check up and he needed his annual booster vax The good news is that he's actually gained some weight and is up from 15.2kg to 16.9kg so I'm really pleased with that as I thought he might have lost more weight She also thought that his reflexes/reactions didn't seem much worse than when he was on the steroids so that's good news too. She said he's not in any pain and that she can tell that he looks like a happy boy. I'd been really worried about all the falls he's been having and she said that in those kind of 'fainting' type falls the body relaxes and the muscles relax so you're less likely to break anything (and tbh I'm amazed he's not broken anything to date so that was reassuring). I know I started another thread about his massive hair loss of late and she checked him over and things it's just an extremely heavy moult (which could have been caused by the steroids) and that he's not going bald or anything - so that was good too. He also has quite a pronounced head tremor and she suggested an interesting theory - as he's an Irish rescue who came over here aged about 7-8 and was probably unvaxed in Ireland she thought he *could* have had distemper as a puppy as she said that quite often puppies who have distemper develop neurological problems (particularly head tremors) when they get old Just wondering if anyone here has ever heard of that? Obviously it's something we'll never know one way or the other but I'm feeling really gutted that potentially something as simple as Olls not being vaxed in his younger life has lead to this life threatening/limiting condition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted September 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2009 Just seen this on the ASPCA website........ 'Dogs who recover from canine distemper may have seizures or other central nervous system disorders that may not show up until many years later—sometimes in their old age. They may also be left with permanent brain and nerve damage, and these symptoms also may not show up until years later.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissa Posted September 5, 2009 Report Share Posted September 5, 2009 poor Ollie but good news he has gained weight! I know some people don't vacinate and they have their reasons but for me I could never take the risk of one of mine getting something that could have been prevented or made less severe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fee Posted September 6, 2009 Report Share Posted September 6, 2009 I had heard of this before, and in fact it's one of the things my vet considered as an explanation for Benji's seizures. Benji also has funny shaky moments, where he trembles for a few minutes for no apparent reason, which could also be a symptom. I'm with Mel, having seen the effects of distemper in the days before people routinely vaccinated I'd never take the risk of one of my dogs getting this horrible disease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happylittlegreensquirrel Posted September 8, 2009 Report Share Posted September 8, 2009 well done Ollie on gaining some weight I have seen dogs with distemper in Sri Lanka and its a dreadful condition , some of the dogs I have seen have been unable to walk , have lost use of their back legs or just have a loss of co-ordination Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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