My furbaby has LP

[Opimama]

Hello everyone..I joined a while ago...posted a few times, but I am mostly a lurker, I don't know why, as this site is full of such wonderful and helpful information and people. Not many people in the real world get how Opi is like one of my kids. They don't get that I cry like a baby when she's sick or hurting, as I had done with my children when they were little.

We got our little girl in March, she was 3 1/2 months old and a wopping 2lbs. Today she 11 months old to the day and 5 lbs.

She's had quite a few issues over the months we've had her. Many stomach/diet problems, the pickiest darn eater I have ever seen, giardia. Not gaining weight. But we've gotten through them. She was too little to get fixed when we wanted to, and went into her first heat(oh that was fun!) before her surgery was scheduled. So she's not fixed yet.

Anyway..she was at the vet recently for yet another tummy issue, and during the exam they mentioned to her daddy that there was a problem with her hind legs, something with ligaments, but didn't go into it much because she was sick at the time. And I wasn't at visit so I didn't get enough information!

This week, her cute little walk she's had since we brought home, got a little not so cute, and the other night she just stopped wanting to stand up, she didn't want to walk and wouldn't put her front leg down. We got her into the vet immediately and we were told she has LP and she should get the surgery as soon as we can. She is Grade 3. From what I've read on here since I found out, it is common in these little ones. But, I feel horrible...I see now, that her cute walk, and the funny way she ate her food from day 1, her back legs would pop up in the air, were not so cute. I had no idea. She loved to jump from couch to chair, to the floor and back up again...I didn't know letting her do these things were bad for her. So now we are trying to get her to stop jumping...she actually seems very apprehensive about doing that anyway. I don't know how we'll break this habit...because she's a smart little one and do something once and she's hooked and doesn't forget!
Anyway....I'm just looking for some guidance, information, ideas, and people who understand. We will definitely do the surgery..as soon as I figure out the financial end of it. I hate that she is hurting & uncomfortable.

[kjc]

Hi and Welcome to YT! (better late than never!)

So sorry to hear your baby is having problems.

Some suggestions:
I would have her Bile Acid tested prior to her LP surgery. You will need to have pre-op bloodwork done anyway, this is just a more intensive test to check her liver function. (Symptoms: picky eater, failure to gain weight, skinny looking)

Just a note: You can call the vet's office and ask the receptionist to have the vet call you to discuss your pup's last visit. Having the vet call you back allows him time to look over your pup's file and remember from his notes what he found on examination.

Can you describe her 'walk'? Is she kicking her front legs out as she walks?

Once you start teaching her not to jump up.... the way I do this is I watch and when they look at a chair or couch like they're going to get up on it, I tell them 'wait' and rush over, pick them up and put them on the chair, for as long as I am right there with them. If I have to leave the room, I put them down, bc they usually want to follow me anyway. Same goes for the bed. Within a week, mine were waiting for me to come pick them up, and almost all jumping had stopped.

For the financial end of things... I would recommend applying for a Care Credit card. If paid off in a timely manner, it can be interest free.

[diannenet]

Sorry to hear about your baby's health issues. There are a lot of very knowledgeable people on YT who have experienced issues with LP. Hopefully they will post here.

My little buddy has Grade 3/4 LP and I just discovered it about two months ago. The best advice I received was to get a second opinion from an orthopedic surgeon which I did. I was told if it didn't get better he would have to get the surgery. First off, he is on Rimadyl which is an anti-inflammatory medicine. When I got Toby back in December he weighed 8 lbs and when he was diagnosed with LP he weighed 11 lbs. He is now on a diet and is losing weight. That has helped his LP a lot. My husband built some doggy steps so he could get up and down off the bed. It didn't take him long to learn how to use them thanks to our other dog who taught him how to use them.

Toby is a "jumper" and I now have him trained to let me pick him up. If he's outside wanting to come in I tell him "no jump" as he likes to jump at the door. He no longer jumps to come inside (most of the time.) If he wants to come up the basement steps I say "you want mom to pick up" and he will stand still and wait for me to pick him up.

I have seen tremendous improvement in Toby and he is no longer limping. I never thought about his weight contributing to his LP until a few of the ladies on this site told me to get his weight down and it would help. My problem was giving him too many treats. He no longer gets treats except a carrot here and there. The only thing he's getting is a Himalayan Chew and in a 12" chew, there is only 0.9% fat content and they last for days. It also keeps him calmed down. I am just now letting him go back to playing some.

In another week I will take him back to the vet for a "weigh in" and see if I should continue the Rimadyl for a little longer or if they want me to wean him off of it.

But definitely get another opinion from a specialist (ortho). It put my mind at ease and if he ever does need the surgery, I will take him to the ortho.

[Opimama]

Originally Posted by kjc

Hi and Welcome to YT! (better late than never!)

So sorry to hear your baby is having problems.

Some suggestions:
I would have her Bile Acid tested prior to her LP surgery. You will need to have pre-op bloodwork done anyway, this is just a more intensive test to check her liver function. (Symptoms: picky eater, failure to gain weight, skinny looking)

Thanks for the welcome! I'm going to try not to be so shy.

I hope I'm replying the right way.

I'm sorry, but are they prone to liver problems? I've known only one yorkie for years and she never had a thing wrong with her. Also, with all the visits to the vet for her tummy troubles, he never mentioned this test. She's had shots to help with acid in her tummy, but he's never mentioned this. We were told after I bought her that she may not get much more than 6 lbs...but even at 5 lbs-she looks like the scrawniest thing.

She IS the pickiest eater I have ever seen!!! We have done dry, canned, home-cooked(Wellness, Avoderm, Royal, Nutro, Iams, Cesar, Purina, Eukanuba) even yorkie specific that we've come across, I swear our other dog thinks she's nuts!! lol It seemed like if she didn't run away when we put it in front of her, she'd like the new food for about 2 weeks..then she was done. Right now we have her settled into Beneful stew, which I run through the food processor first. She is more spoiled than my kids ever were..and they were spoiled!

[Opimama]

Originally Posted by kjc

Can you describe her 'walk'? Is she kicking her front legs out as she walks?

Once you start teaching her not to jump up.... the way I do this is I watch and when they look at a chair or couch like they're going to get up on it, I tell them 'wait' and rush over, pick them up and put them on the chair, for as long as I am right there with them. If I have to leave the room, I put them down, bc they usually want to follow me anyway. Same goes for the bed. Within a week, mine were waiting for me to come pick them up, and almost all jumping had stopped.

Her walk is more the back legs kicking out..almost like a bunny. She even seems to have a back-end sway when she walks..almost like she walks crooked, but not...it's hard to explain. As far as the front legs go..it's been more recent that they seem to bother her, but it's more like she doesn't want to put weight on them, not at the same time though. When she urinates, she always has held up her one leg. We even joked that the breeder goofed that she was a boy or that she was confused.

I can't imagine that I will be able to get her to stop jumping. We bought one set of steps for the living room..I felt like we'd need one for each piece of furniture, but there would really be no living space left for the rest of us..lol So, we decided to start with one. Anyway, she's terrified of the steps!! We are doing treats to coax her and she just won't do them. I am going to have to get us all to try the "wait" command. We do have a rather high step up where she goes out to potty and we are not letting her do that and she's caught onto waiting for us. We are going to have to work harder on the furniture issue.

I feel horrible, I feel like we missed something, or that letting her jump on & off the couch was such a bad thing. I waited years for her. I had always wanted my little baby. We had the shepherds, who were great with our kids, great protectors and the kids couldn't hurt them if they tried. I figured when the nest got empty, we'd get her. But I always new I'd get her someday. Well, the nest isn't completely empty and i don't think it will be anytime soon but, I guess my hubby thought it was time..as he bought her for me.

[Opimama]

Originally Posted by diannenet

My little buddy has Grade 3/4 LP and I just discovered it about two months ago. The best advice I received was to get a second opinion from an orthopedic surgeon which I did. I was told if it didn't get better he would have to get the surgery. First off, he is on Rimadyl which is an anti-inflammatory medicine.

It's so weird, I had never thought there were orthopedic vets. Oh I definitely want to speak to my vet again and also get a second opinion, It's what I have done & would do for my 2-legged kids.

Another thing I find strange, is she was taken to the vet because she wouldn't walk, stand up and was favoring her front leg, shivering shaking, and obviously uncomfortable. He never mentioned something for her pain or this Rimadyl you have for Toby and I noticed a few other people mention it in posts.

[Opimama]

Originally Posted by diannenet

I have seen tremendous improvement in Toby and he is no longer limping.

In another week I will take him back to the vet for a "weigh in" and see if I should continue the Rimadyl for a little longer or if they want me to wean him off of it.

But definitely get another opinion from a specialist (ortho). It put my mind at ease and if he ever does need the surgery, I will take him to the ortho.

So do you think the Rimadyl has helped any? Because as you can see, Opi's lacking in the weight department. lol Oh, I will definitely get a second opinion (hope I'm not repeating myself) If she really needs the surgery we will do it..but I want to make sure I'm being thorough in her care. I don't want her to hurt or be uncomfortable, it breaks my heart, but I also don't want to do anything unnecessary.

Thanks for your help. I'd love to hear how Toby makes out at his weigh-in.