Lacey is my local shelter dog adoption. She was found roaming the streets of Providence, RI, and ended up at the dog pound for over 2 months, as they had an outbreak of kennel cough and had to stop all adoptions (she did not get it).
At the time, my vet estimated her age at 5 to 7 years. I had to have her spayed, and he said it looked like she'd had many, many litters. Lacey is my heart dog, she's lived with me 6 years now, and it such a love! So she is about 11 to 13 years old, I guess.
She started loosing weight, slowly, about 6 months back, her spine started to protrude. I had to in to the vet, blood work no x rays, and all was well, she checked out fine, so the vet said it could be age related, just as some humans as they age will develop a bit of a hump back and the vertebrae will protrude.
Friday morning we got up and Lacey was shaking. First I thought a low blood glucose issue (happens sometimes w/ small dogs) so I gave her syrup for that, but no improvement so we went to the vet. On exam, she definitely has a sore place along her spine. So she is on Previcox, an NSAID, for pain relief, and also Methocarbonal, a muscle relaxant. I am 'supposed' to be keeping her calm. We also noted she has lost more weight, a total of 5 pounds, so she is down to 12.6 pounds, which is what she weighed when I adopted her. That is about as low as she should go and remain healthy.
Once the meds kick in, she feels well enough to jump on the sofa, hence I put supposed in quotes. Even then, she is cautious about the jump up, which may be because she feels some pain OR it may be that she is afraid she will feel pain. If the meds are wearing off, and first thing in the morning, she asks for help to get up on the sofa. I live in a ranch, one step to go out back, so even though she isn't supposed to do stairs I am allowing her to do that. I have a set of 4 stairs for the pups to get up and down from my bed, I am lifting her up and down. She has taken the stairs herself once since the vet visit.
I'm concerned for a few reasons. From the physical exam, the vet can't tell if this is a muscle issue or a disc issue. Lacey is my bichon I've always said has some dachshund / Basset in her background, lol, she has a long LONG back! The NSAID is once a day as needed; the muscle relaxant is up to 3 times a day as needed. Yesterday afternoon she was looking woeful, and needed help up on the sofa so I gave her another muscle relaxant and it made NO change. That worries me.
She is supposed to rest for a month. How long do I let this go on before I decide to have the xrays done, any thoughts?
Bichons are not known for cancer of the spine. Nevertheless, a few years back I had Ben, my one week foster, who did have a cancerous tumor on his spine and had to be put down. It was a first in the 14 years the bichon rescue has been helping this breed, and took everyone bu surprise.
She seems to have trouble eating. Lacey has an epulis (benign tumor on the gums, in her mouth) which 2 vets have assured me is NOT the cause of this. I know exactly what caused this (it is usually a trauma). Last September she was in a rush to get out of the car and raced over my lap. Her leash was tangled up, she jumped down to the garage concrete floor but her front legs were caught in the leash and she landed jaw first, I can still hear the CRACK! (Now, none of the dogs are allowed to get out until I am out first, so I can manage their descent.) She was only dazed a second or 2 and then scrambled up and was off, the epulis developed over the next 10 days.
I am now starting to feed her small meals multiple times a day, mostly soft food as she eats minimally when she has kibble. She will not eat ANYTHING cold. Sometimes I give them chicken broth as a topper, if it is a new container from the pantry closet she is fine, if it has been opened, so comes from the fridge, no dice. She won't touch yogurt, cottage cheese, or anything cold. Even the hot dog bits I use for treats, she won't take them straight from the fridge, I have to let them sit and warm up on the counter about 10 minutes. When we got on walks, the baggie is in my pocket, so that warms them up and she will take them fine.
Sorry so long, hard to know what is relevant. She is not on any other meds, has no other health issues. Thanks!