[Rebekah]

Hi dobie lovers, I am struggling to get a diagnosis for my almost 5 year old boy who has been displaying a variety of symptoms since September 2022. First signs happened after doing a back leg stretch and letting out a little yelp (no other verbal signs of pain since) followed by lifting right hind leg weirdly, wobbly gait and excessive scratching of right flank (screenshots for video attached as I couldn't upload vid!). He has since lost the ability to do a full hind leg stretch and can no longer do that joyful skip after a satisfying poo!
He also has a patch of broken skin in between his front left deep pads which he licks a lot at night and it won't heal despite steroid/antibiotic cream and a discoloured claw on the same foot (which has been there for years). He has a bald patch on the middle of his tail that has only appeared in the past 2 months (not biting it at all) and more recently, developed scabs/skin tags to the little pouches on both ears (Henry's pockets) despite no history of trauma. He is constantly hungry and is overweight despite attempts to get weight off him (he weighed 8.7kg at 6 weeks with the next largest male pup weighed 6.7kg! the breeders are friends of ours hence us knowing the weights). He currently weighs 55kg but was 60kg. He is very large frame dobie.
He has always been a bit clumsy - falling over when turning, scraping of claws when walking ever since he was a pup.
After much toing and froing, the vets have decided it is most likely Wobblers (which of course fits with the wobbly gait) based on clinical signs but I am not so sure. Xrays were carried out - full body with no abnormalities detected, basic blood tests pre xray anaesthetic were normal.
For the past 4 weeks, after seeing an orthopaedic specialist, he has been on Gabapentin, Galliprant (anti-inflammatory) and occasional Pardale (cocodamol for dogs) with very little effect. We also decided to rest him for 3 weeks but again, little difference in the gait.
Obviously, I am hoping that it isn't degenerative myelopathy (even poorer prognosis than Wobblers with no cure!) but they haven't ruled out other conditions such as hypothyroidism, myasthenia gravis, Cushings, pemphigus or even lupus or mange. He did have an incident with a fox cub about 1 or 2 weeks before the first signs of lameness hence my mentioning mange...
I just wondered if there's anyone out there that reads this and thinks 'Ah, that's pretty much the same symptoms our dobie had and it was finally diagnosed as .....'
Thanks for reading guys and I appreciate any advice you can give. Based on the Kent coast in the UK.

 

[Rebekah]

The wobbliness certainly sounds like Wobblers. Ordinary X-rays can sometimes pick up on spine abnormalities (misaligned vertebrae or narrowed spaces between the disks), but often a myelogram is used to make a definitive Wobblers diagnosis because it can show a narrowing in the vertebral canal itself. An MRI may be even better. But those are both expensive.

The other symptoms could be related to something else.

Being overweight despite attempts to lower his weight does sound like hypothyroid, and skin problems, including sores that won't heal, can be a symptom--has he had a complete thyroid panel done? To get a really good reading on that, tests are usually sent away. Michigan State University Vet School is considered the gold standard for this kind of testing, I believe. If hypothyroid is present, you would see a high TSH and a low T4 on the tests.

Cushing's typically can cause thyroid problems, too, and there are some tests which are generally abnormal with the disease. But like thyroid disease, that diagnosis just indicates there are certain symptoms and lab test abnormalities, The diseases can have several different causes, which may need additional testing to diagnose.

The area between his toes where he has been licking sounds like he may have developed a lick granuloma too. Dogs will sometimes lick at the same place on their feet and wrists, perhaps because of a thorn or some kind of irritation initially (which could be related to a spinal problem), but only manage to make the area even more irritated --> more licking --> more irritation--> more licking.....and so on. Dobes already have a tendency to OCD, and this kind of thing can become a habit very quickly.

But I am NOT a vet! All I can do is spout out some general info to you. The orthopedist you are seeing should be able to recommend definitive tests for his lameness. Skin problems can more difficult to diagnose--you might want to ask if it would help to bring a dermatology specialist into the picture, especially if there is the possibility that you have more than one thing going on. It may be that you need the kind of testing that is typically not done by a general practitioner. Unfortunately, the more uncommon the test, the more likelihood that it will be very expensive. That is why vets will often recommend some basic treatments to see if they have any effect before going further into it with more complicated tests.

Best of luck that you can figure out what is going on and find a good treatment for it. There's not much that is worse than not knowing what is going wrong with your dog's health. I hope you get some answers, the sooner the better.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my very long list of concerns and for your comprehensive reply Melbrod! It is the worse thing as you say. We find out today when his next ortho appointment is and will ask about further blood tests to include thyroid function. I hadn't thought about the pad licking being related to the possible spinal injury but that does make sense. We can feel a ridge where he licks between the pads and thought it was a foreign body but 4 vets have all said it is probably where it has healed by secondary intention, leaving a raised scar...MRI scan is the next step which we are bracing ourselves for - £3500 over here and our insurance won't cover it! Will keep you posted and thanks again.

 

[Rebekah]

Hi, I just wanted to let you all know that after our new vet listened to Gary's heart and found it to be quite slow, she decided to test Gary for hypothyroidism on Thursday and yesterday evening she phoned to say his bloods showed clear indicators that he has hypothyroidism! I'm off to pick up the tablets today and although it might still mean he has an issue with his spine as well, she feels that this could be the reason for a lot of his symptoms. The tablets take a good 4 to 8 weeks before we are likely to see any remarkable changes but I will keep you posted.