Watson & IMPA

[Rach]

Hi everyone its been a long time since i last posted. Im really in need of some comfort & advice. Watson i feel is going downhill. He is overly tired. Struggling on walks. Not wanting to go out at times. I have after noticing all this reduced his exercise by half, increased his normal dose of prednisolone from 2.5mg pd to 5mg pd. If he doesnt get up to come out when we get the leads to go for a walk then one of us stays home with him. I really am letting him call all the shots. I dont know if im imagining this next bit through paranoia or not but when i wash & dry him his joints feel loose. Almost like there slipping round. My other dog doesnt feel like this. New yrs eve 2017 we ended up in emergancy with him as he had an upset tum which quickly turned into him passing blood. He was overly weak on his hind legs & i actually dont think he has returned to the dog he was previous to this happening. He had antibiotics which helped him through it. Im not sure which way to go now. I feel like hes slipping away infront of my eyes. Im arranging for him to have xrays under sedation as i wont take the risk of a general i honestly worry if he would wake up. Im hopwontthis will give us some clue as to where his joints are at. Im also thinking having a blood test done to see if anything comes from that. Hes coming up to 6 years old this year and feeling a little like im coming to the beginning of the end which i truly hope is not the case. Weve been through so much and he has bounced back from all the blips before but this time seems different. Any advice welcome please as to what i could do to help my little boy.

[Catherine]

A bit of a long shot, but have you had his thyroid tested to make sure none of his problems are to do with Hypothyroidism?

[Jo CIMDA]

Hi

I am sorry Watson isn't so good.  Does he have a high temperature?  I wonder if, in addition to checking for hypothyroidism if your vet can check him out for immune mediated polyarthritis and immune mediated myositis or myasthenia gravis?   These are only ideas based on the clinical signs you are describing. Does he have other clinical signs such as loss of appetite, hair loss, muscle loss, pain,  drinking lots etc., and does he have bouts of diarrhoea and sickness?

A full biochemical blood test and a complete blood count would be useful to see if there are any clues within the blood results.

Watson is still a young dog and it is likely he is having a relapse of his AI disease or a different AI disease has been triggered. 

Jo

[Rach]

Hi jo, im getting watson in for a full bloods check. He isnt right and is now presenting with bouts of colitis & skin lesions inbetween his toes all needing veterinary attention. Cant help thinking he is either getting long term effects from the prednisolone or is presenting with a secondary AI disease.

[Jo CIMDA]

HI

I am so sorry Watson isn't any better.

If Watson is still on immunosuppressive drugs, in particular prednisolone, then the skin lesions between his toes might be demodicosis. The demodex mite is an opportunist and when the immune system is suppressed they can become active and cause a lot of damage to the skin.  Your vet will probably take a skin scraping, if he hasn't done so already, and even if he has it might need another scraping to be sent to the lab because sometimes the first scraping doesn't capture the mites.

Another possibility if Watson is still on preds is a breakdown of the skin barrier caused by too much cortisol.

Immunosuppressive treatment may also be allowing bad gut bacteria such as campylobacter or salmonella to be uncontrolled and causing diarrhoea.   

If Watson's AI disease is considered under control it might be prudent to reduce the preds and eventually withdraw them to see if the problems resolve, but mites and gut bacteria should be tested for and treated if necessary.

I hope you get on well at the vet's.

Jo