Hang in there...it won't be long now. I spoke with Diane the other day to make Cali's 4 week F/U appt and mentioned Dessa. Don't worry...Dr. Shores is there and he is one of the best around. His residents will be the ones you will see the most: Dr. Ortinau, Dr. Beasley, & I think there is another one. A 4th year vet student (about to graduate) will do the initial intake (getting the details/dates of what happened) and then they will take Dessa to the back. Unfortunately you must wait but then they will come talk to you. They take their time in doing their assessment so rest assured they are thorough.

Good luck and let us know what they find. Dessa is in our prayers! :animal36

Sending prayers for Dessa.

Dessa went to the neurology dept at MSU this morning and they did many many test and xrays. The results from the blood work won't be back for a few weeks. They ruled out many things today. It is not a spinal problem. They're leaning on it being a autoimmune problem from the shots, but they're not 100%. The knee problem on the back left leg appears to be Luxating Patella, but not severe enough to consider surgery. They agree that there is a problem, they're just not sure what it is yet. The staff at MSU were AMAZING!!! From Diane that schedules the appts. to every doctor that worked with Dessa. It took a long time, but it was worth it because they were checked her out from one end to the other. They ended up putting her on 4 medications; clindamycin, doxycycline, tramadol and diazepam. She had been on the clindamycin and doxycycline since last Friday. We haven't given her the other two new medications yet. The main thing the doctor said is to make sure she stays off her leg as much as possible. That's the hardest thing for Dessa because she doesn't realize that she is having a problem. We did buy her stairs today so that she will not jump off the couch or bed anymore. We just never realized how bad it was for her. She's always been like a cat when it came to jumping. Plus she had never had a problem with the leg or anything until she got these last shots. We are praying that she is on the road to recovery!!!! We are so thankful that she went to MCU today too!!! What a blessing it was to take her to such a wonderful place!!! Thank you all for the prayers!!! They're working!!! Please continue to keep Dessa in your prayers!!!

Continued prayers for you all and Dessa

Keeping Dessa in my prayers.

Great news....please keep us updated. Hopefully they will find out what's wrong and get her treated. Continued prayers for your furry bundle of joy!

I am glad you had a pleasant experience at MSU. Praying for Dessa.

The news sounds promising. Prayers will continue for Dessa and you.

Checking in on Dessa and it sounds like you all are doing all that's possible and I hope and pray this little girl keeps getting better and better.

Could I just add a thought about doggy stairs for little dogs? To keep her orthopedically safer as she rehabs from this awful condition, I am so glad you got her doggy stairs if the vets approve it as the repetitive jumping from beds, chairs and couches is probably not that healthy to her little shoulder and elbow joints over time. Big dogs or even midsize dogs don't have to jump off furniture several times their heights each day of every week of every year as little ones do; but if they did, just to get to approach us or put their head on our chest or snuggle, even they might eventually develop some additional problems to any they already have. Doggy steps might prove an extra protection for little dogs. My Tibbe jumps off the bed and den couch dozens of times some days and I am always so worried about so many repetititve hits to his tiny joints, even with doggy stairs in place. So giving her these stairs to use can surely only help protect her further as she rehabs from her other very scary condition, unless in her case right now the vet wants her using more muscle as jumping requires. But I often wonder how many total times little Yorkies jump up and down off furniture on a yearly basis and if it is really hurting/excessively wearing their joints as in repetitive stress injury.

About the stairs, what we actually ended up buying was a scalloped ramp. Dessa has always been a jumper. I have a Maltese and Dessa is a much better jumper than my dog. We're hoping at least for the next 6 weeks while she's healing that the ramp will help some. She is adjusting very well to being in the crate. She has always had full run of the house because she has been so great at being housebroken. We're praying that the blood work comes back good and her knee heals. Please keep Dessa in your prayers!!! This site is wonderful!!!

Keeping your little one in my prayers...

We are thinking about Dessa... I hope she heals up and the bloodwork comes back with good news!

This is a GREAT site! I love it. I joined a while back but hadn't used it much b/c of being busy and, well, life gets in the way. But when disaster struck with Cali, everyone was so wondeful and supportive. There are great ideas from different posters. I'm even going to take Cali & Mia to a doggie chiropractor....didn't know they had such a thing! LOL!

Here's to Dessa having a smooth and full recovery!

If the doggie chiropractor does not help, look into accupuncture! My vet does accupuncture....she teaches it all over the country, in vet schools....I let her do it on my long time pet senior Yorkie whose hips are so bad, she was getting where she could hardly walk....I was afraid we were going to have to put her down....they couldnt even do surgery on her hips and tell me it would be successful....we started her on Cosequin, Vet's Choice Little Bites, warm water physiotherapy swims, and accupuncture.....my girl Crickette can not only walk without pain, she calls herself "running" after squirrels in the back yard! She is on the Vets Choice, Cosequin, and has her routine accupuncture sessions. So if the chiropractor doesnt help.....!!!

My vet said that the rules are changing as to where vaccines are injected into pets, due to the association of injection sites and cancers now being seen later in the pets life. They chart exactly where the vaccine is injected, so subsequent vaccines can be injected into other areas, thereby reducing the incidents of these cancers developing at the injection site. Maybe this is why the rear leg was used.

What scares us is what if the vaccine was a bad batch. We have no idea if other dogs that were vaccinated at this vet have had any problems. When we took her to MSU they seemed to lean on her problem being linked to the vaccines. We are waiting for the results. Dessa is still limping, but doesn't seem to be in pain. She is really adjusting well to the crate. I think it bothers us more that it does her. She's a real trooper!!! We did get her new ramp the other day and it works amazing!!! She is adjusting really well to it. She's our baby girl and we're praying for a full recovery for our lil' angel!!! Please keep Dessa in your prayers!!!!

We heard from the neurology dept from MSU today and all the test they did on Dessa came back negative so that was great news. We still do not know what has caused our baby girl to get so sick. She is still not back to normal, but she has improved. She has mastered her new ramp and loves it!!! She looks at us like she saying "why haven't I had this sooner!!!" She still limps on her back leg where she shots were given to her. We go back to MSU in 3 weeks for a check up and they took her off all medicine. We're praying our sweet girl recovers entirely from this soon!!! It has been a weird and horrible experience, but we're thrilled it wasn't spine related or something really bad. Please keep Dessa in your thoughts and prayers!!!

This sounds so encouraging. I hope she keeps getting better & stronger. Good work, momma, taking such good care of your sweet sweet baby. I'm praying as usual for Dessa. ♥♥♥

It is so scary to think that shots can cause these problems. My vet gives a rabies once a year but only gives the others every 3rd year. I know you are relieved that her neuro test came back neg. I pray she gets back to normal soon.

Dessa is still improving and is close to being back to normal, but we are very nervous about future vaccinations. We only notice her limp every now and then and she uses the ramp that we bought her. We wish we had bought her the ramp years ago. She just celebrated her 5th Birthday yesterday. We're just so glad it wasn't something more serious and that MSU was able to rule out all the bad things they thought it could be. Please keep Dessa in your prayers!!! I totally believe in the power of prayer!!!

It's wonderful that she's continuing to improve!:)

Hi there! I think that I'm going to avoid vaccinations in my dogs altogether. My Rehab vet told me this week to avoid them. The only one required by law is rabies and some states offer a medical dismissal of that one. I will continue to get titers on my babies and you could do that too for Dessa. It is quite expensive but makes me feel better knowing they are safe and not in need of vaccination. I just can't trigger Cali's immune system again for fear of a flare-up of Neuromyotonia...she is doing so good! One of the things that bothers me about vaccinations (that I discovered in my research) is that they are not dosed according to size. A small 5# yorkie gets the same dose as an 100# Rottweiler...that's just crazy!