My coonhound, Delbert Lee, has recently been diagnosed with spondylitis in his lower back in the area of his hips. He was having difficulty urinating/defecating and was in a great deal of pain. He is currently on a fairly high dose of prednisone plus an antibiotic for a utility He developed from not being able to completely empty his bladder. I’m wondering what happens after he completes the prednisone. Will he need to be on an nsaid? Anybody dealt with this? What did you do?
No knowledge ~ just sending Jingles for your dear dog ~ AO
1 Like
Sadly I lost 2 of my 3 Mastiffs to Spondylitis complications. Although the breed is not known for the condition, the line I preferred did clearly have a predisposition --With the first Mastiff (and I think everyone does this at least once) once he was diagnosed --we went all out to try to “save” him --he spent a month at Purdue Vet School trying different treatments --was told that the vet students adored him --it took 4 of them to lift him in his sling and take him outside --while there, however, he lost weight and ultimately developed pneumonia. And I missed him terribly. When the last possible treatment was to take him to Chicago for treatment of a possible brain lesion --we called it off. We brought him home. After a week at home, he died in his sleep with a little help from his favorite vet who came to the house.
Looking back, it was a foolish thing to do. He was 8. Mastiffs have a short life span. Even if we had immediately brought him back to perfect health, he would have at best lived another two or three years. But we had to try and that cost us a last month with him and he was treated by “strangers” in an unfamiliar place --I think he would have preferred to be here with his children (my daughters) instead of at Purdue.
The second Mastiff began to show the same symptoms at 9 years old. By 10 he was clearly declining. Once again he was allowed to pass in his sleep with the veterinarian here at our house. It was a much better end of life.
Only you can decide what is right for your dog —but be sure to ask the vet for a clear prognosis --will he return to a happy useful life after treatment?
Our 220 pound dogs would not enjoy life with back pain. Live and learn,.
Oh, a bit unfinished --the 3rd Mastiff was of a different line --he died of cancer of the bone, as had his mother, father, and two litter mates --the cancer only showed up after the dogs were quite old (for Mastiffs) --but it is a breed-wide problem.
Thank you @Foxglove. Delbert has pretty much bounced back to normal with the steroids. He never really lost mobility, just difficulty eliminating. He’s a rescue so not certain of his age, estimates are between 10 and 12. At 91#, he’s not as large as your mastiffs. I’m hoping that once the initial inflammation is dealt with we can maintain with an nsaid.
Two BCs with spondylitis - both related and one RIP due to lymphoma. What I have found- and one was 16kg and one was 22kg - was once the ossification (for want of a better word) “stabilised” they could live quite happily. You just need to manage them. My BC has just turned 11 years old - diagnosed at 5 years - and was up until 2 weeks ago still walking 1hr30 up a day and up/down hills. She had a tumble 2 weeks ago and now she is bit sore and we are waiting of her broken ossifications to calm down. She usually has caprieve 2x a day - but manly for her arthritis.
