Ash had some generalized pain issues for a while now that the vet and I have been trying to pin down. What I would notice was him moving slowly and stiffly, yelping at times and doing a lot of just sitting- sometimes in the corner of his crate…in the middle of the night. At times it was very bad and he was also hunched up; refusing to eat and drink for a day and then he would have long intervals of being absolutely fine and showing no pain at all.
The vet seemed to localize this in this back, so he was started on cold laser. He would have that anywhere from weekly to once every 6 weeks depending on how he was feeling.
He went through a long 3 day rough period where he was actually put on medication for the pain and his laser was upped to 3x/week. After an extremely thorough examination during this painful time, we have a diagnosis (finally)-Cauda Equina or Cauda Equina Syndrome (CES). This is the small triangle where the nerves exit the spinal cord and fan out into the legs, tail and lower organs. These nerves get compressed by the spinal vertebrae which are degenerating due to many factors…in Ash’s case-he was just getting older. It usually affects some mid to large dogs between 3-7 years of age and Ash was 8, almost 9. It can occur more frequently in some breeds, however, Siberians are NOT listed among them. It actually occurs in humans and cats, too! It is often confused with arthritis.
Even though this has been a while, Ash was doing ok, albeit these period of stiffness and pain. He had no advanced signs of CES. These advanced signs include loss of neurologic function, inability to use rear legs, fecal and/or urinary incontinence, inability to lift leg to pee, wag tail, run and jump, etc. So, I was very thankful for that. We wanted to delay his degeneration with medications, rest, Vitamin B and the Cold Laser. Also Acupuncture down the road. But, it is a degenerative process, so it will be a fight that needs to be continued, I understand that.
Now that there is a diagnosis, we move on to a specific treatment plan. He was on Carprophen (an anti-inflammatory 2x daily) and Gabepentin (for nerve pain 2x daily). He received cold laser twice weekly, but the laser is focused just on that little triangular sacral area, and not his entire back. The vet and I closely monitored his behavior and he would be re-evaluated as need be. Once he was stabilized, we chatted about slowly lowering his meds for maintenance. His weight was good. If he were overweight, it would certainly hinder his progress, so keeping his weight under control is of the utmost importance.
I bought him another (!) orthopedic bed for his crate (where he sleeps)… I bought him one when this journey started, but he just flipped it up in the air and used it as a blanket…preferring to sleep on the harder crate floor (crazy Ash!). But, maybe he would changed, so I gave it another go… The new orthopedic bed arrived and lo and behold, he slept ON it and not under it! Success!!
Ash was able to completely off the meds, but still went to laser 2x/week. This did seem to have him in some form of maintanance. He ran and played with Quista and Sakari and had absolutely no problem jumping in and out of the car. He could also still jumps on (and off) the grooming table. He wanted to be always first before the other dogs as he just loved the 1:1 attention.
I am hoping he continues to do well, but after fall comes winter and he did not survive until winter, due to his collar accident with Sakari. But, he was able to live for quite a while with much less pain from Cauda Equine thanks to our wonderful Vet, meds and continuing Cold Laser.
There are many resources out there for CES, but if you do a general search you will get Cauda Equina in Humans. Therefore, search for Cauda Equina in Dogs. Here is an article, too.:https://myanimals.com/health/veterinarian-care/illnesses-and-treatment/cauda-equina-in-dogs-causes-and-treatments/