Case history form

Our Goldendoodle Willow, who is not even 2 years old yet, started to “slow down” when pheasant hunting this past November. She was taken to the Vet because it seemed that she was experiencing a little discomfort along her back left leg. The Vet prescribed DeraMax, and for a time, it seemed to relieve her symptoms, but she still did not regain her former enthusiasm for the hunt.

In early January, 2010, she begain exhibiting a “hunched up” posture, stopped running, and quit climbing our stairs. She had difficulty getting up from the floor, and also lowering herself down to the floor. She went to the Vet again, had x-rays and a full blood work up, with negative results. The Vet stated that she thought Willow may have a “disc problem”, and she was prescribed Prednisone to reduce possible inflammation.

One week later, Willow was not improved, worse yet, she was in so much pain that she could barely lay down, or get back up, and was suffering from muscle spasms along her back, legs and abdomen. The Vet was contacted again, and she was prescribed a PRN muscle relaxer, as the Vet said that any pain meds were contraindicated while she took Prednisone. The Vet referred Willow to the University of Minnesota Veterinary Clinic, for an appointment in the neurology deptartment.

On January 25th, Willow was examined by the U of M Neurology Vet and she stated she was fairly certain that Willow had a slipped disc, but needed an MRI to make a correct diagnosis.

On January 26th, Willow was anethestitized and the MRI was completed. The Vet called us to report that Willow did not have a slipped disc, and there was no compression of her spine. Willow did, however, have a large abcessed area under the muscle around the 2nd and 3rd lumbar vertabrae, with the disc and vertabrae being infected as well.(discospondilytis) No wonder Willow was in such pain. She explained that the likely cause was that a plant awn had migrated to Willow’s spinal region, which set up a nasty infection. We gave consent for a Ultrasound guided needle biopsy. A sample of the abcess contents was obtained and as this is written, the results are still pending as the cultures are not complete.

Willow is now taking Cephaxen and Clindamycin, and will continue on antibiotics for at least 6 weeks. She’s taking two differenct antibiotics, as she needs to be treated for anaerobic as well as aerobic bacterial infections. She was prescribed Tramadol for the pain, which we’re giving her every 12 hours, as needed.

This is our first experience with a possible plant awn, and my husband is still incredulous after having hunted dogs for many years. Needless to say, we’ve been warning everyone we know that owns a dog, to be on the lookout for changes in behavior and unusual symptoms in their dogs, as a plant awn may be the culprit.