Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
Here’s an example that seems to be weighted & non skid. https://www.thewrightstuff.com/adaptive ... lates.html
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
Agree, I've never seen one that is an easel with fasteners. Wishful thinking. And the food is already stuck to the plate so he won't push it off the edge. The weighted idea was something I hadn't considered. It might work to have a very heavy saucer, not sure what that would be. Ironstone or Pfaltzgraff or something like that...maybe. They aren't that heavy but I can't think of anything heavier. It seems like there is some kind of clear glass plate with a rounded rim that is heavy. I can't think what that is, maybe a plant saucer. I don't think it's designed for eating, it's for something else. It might also work if there was a plate with a serrated rim, sort of? To prevent spinning?
He's kicking at his head again. Furiously. I'm afraid if I forget the gabapentin, he might actually kick himself raw during the night. His nails are dremeled. Technically he's kicking the back of his neck below the area where the surgery would have been. I haven't made a recheck appt for him because I don't think there are any options besides meds. Even to check him, they'd probably have to sedate for imaging. I've been hoping it would improve on its own.
He's kicking at his head again. Furiously. I'm afraid if I forget the gabapentin, he might actually kick himself raw during the night. His nails are dremeled. Technically he's kicking the back of his neck below the area where the surgery would have been. I haven't made a recheck appt for him because I don't think there are any options besides meds. Even to check him, they'd probably have to sedate for imaging. I've been hoping it would improve on its own.
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
Heavy ceramic maybe?
Have you tried those glue on claw caps?
Have you tried those glue on claw caps?
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
You know, it seems that humans have largely left gabapentin behind in favor of pregabalin for some reason, to the point that pregabalin is being prescribed as a post-surgery pain pill. It’s probably more expensive, but I wonder if it might be worth studying to see if a drug trial might be worth doing? Perhaps it’s actually better?
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
Yeah, we tried claw caps almost exactly 2 years ago. How do I know when it was? Because he was scratching his armpit and I asked the groomer to try them, and she put them on. They didn't even last one day, he couldn't stand them. I was afraid he'd hurt his foot nibbling and worrying at them. Maybe it was the smell of the glue on the caps he didn't like? He wanted those foreign objects *gone*! So I took him back and she removed them. It was ~ 2 days before Christmas and she had got her nails done, they were beautiful, and she ruined one removing the caps and I STILL feel JUST awful about that. I don't know what they cost her, and she was all ready for Christmas till that happened. She was nice about it, but I know how I'd feel in that situation. I'll never forget it. I tried small socks on him and he didn't seem to notice he was even wearing those, but I don't still have them. He hasn't been kicking since his surgery until this past month.
I guess if the gabapentin isn't doing a good enough job, maybe they could try pregabalin. One of the articles on neuropathic pain also mentions tricyclic antidepressants. Gabapentin can be given 3x/day and he's on twice, so probably I should talk to the vet about changing his schedule if needed. He's mostly OK on it. I saw him kick once this afternoon so far. Of course I'm not watching him all the time.
I guess if the gabapentin isn't doing a good enough job, maybe they could try pregabalin. One of the articles on neuropathic pain also mentions tricyclic antidepressants. Gabapentin can be given 3x/day and he's on twice, so probably I should talk to the vet about changing his schedule if needed. He's mostly OK on it. I saw him kick once this afternoon so far. Of course I'm not watching him all the time.
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
I wanted to refill Pip's gabapentin tiny tabs. The ones left over from his surgery are expired. Blue Pearl said they would transfer the prescription to his regular vet because he hadn't been seen at Blue Pearl in over a year. The regular vet sent the prescription to their compounding pharmacy, Covetrus, and placed the order, and I had to set up an online account to pay, and the pills came yesterday. His dose is a half tab of the tiny tabs. The old ones were scored. These are not. They know I have to break them in half, it's on the label they attached to the bottle. I tried the pill cutter but these are thick like a tiny hard marshmallow, they are not wafer shaped, it crumbled. So I will call the company tomorrow. 
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
I’d use the old until you get them squared away; usually pharmacies give stuff an expiration of a year from fulfillment rather than the actual date assigned by the manufacturer, not that they mean much. It’s just a guarantee up until the date, but DoD did testing showing vastly longer lives on their stuff.
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
Yeah, will do. That's interesting about DoD. Yesterday I tried not giving him any and he wasn't kicking at his neck, so we'll see how today goes. I do want to get the refill straightened out in case he needs it again. I'm not sure what happened this time. He may have jarred his neck somehow with all the stuff he does. It's his nature to be active. He did the sweetest thing the other day. I put him out in the area with good grass and was hanging laundry, and he came over to be near me, which was about halfway across the yard or a little more. He really likes going out and and walking around and barking at cats, but we have freezing temps this week. We'll have to see how daytime highs go.
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
DOUBLE POST BIG NEWS!
I cannot believe this. I was so upset, feeling like everything is always just one more thing, and one more thing, and one more thing. But not this time. It is all going to be fixed. I could just about cry.
I called Covetrus. Got a gal who I could tell was excellent, but it took her quite a while to find my account as they have multiple systems. Tried phone number, name, email. Not sure how she finally found it but she did. I explained the tablets could not be cut. No argument, she agreed the tiny tabs they make cannot be cut. She asked if I tried to cut one and what happened. I said I tried with the Walgreens pill cutter but it crumbled on one side. She said yeah, that's what usually happens. She said normally when someone calls in tiny tabs the order taker explains to the clinic they cannot be cut.
She said all she can do is create a case and a pharmacist would call me. I asked if there would be a case number. She said not yet because first she had to fix my account so it would come up next time when someone tries to find it. So my heart kind of sank because there would be no way to track that I had called, but I could tell this lady was good so I tried to relax. Of course I thought it would be days before anyone got back, if they did. Wrong!
The Covetrus pharmacist called probably 2~ish hours later. She said what the customer service lady said, that the order taker usually calls the clinic back if they submit an order for tiny tabs, and explains they can't be cut, and she said, "But I don't see where anyone did that." She said they have gabapentin tiny tabs in 25 mg and she would contact the clinic to see if the vet would authorize the 25 mg size. Then they would reissue them. The ones I got were 120 pills, and the 25mg come in different increments so she would issue 200, I think she said. And they would expedite them. Picture me thanking her a million times.
I told her she didn't need to expedite them, I still had some that were expired. (I forgot I was talking to a pharmacist!) She said "we" usually don't recommend using expired medication, but she said if I have a cat claw trimmer, those will work better to break a pill than a pill cutter, so she suggested I try that. I don't have one but they aren't hard to get.
So, whew! I can't believe this is going to work out. That's not the way these things usually go. Usually it turns into a blame game between agencies and you end up having to fix the problem at your own expense. I'm still stressed out about it, but hats off to Covetrus if this all goes as the pharmacist said.
I cannot believe this. I was so upset, feeling like everything is always just one more thing, and one more thing, and one more thing. But not this time. It is all going to be fixed. I could just about cry.
I called Covetrus. Got a gal who I could tell was excellent, but it took her quite a while to find my account as they have multiple systems. Tried phone number, name, email. Not sure how she finally found it but she did. I explained the tablets could not be cut. No argument, she agreed the tiny tabs they make cannot be cut. She asked if I tried to cut one and what happened. I said I tried with the Walgreens pill cutter but it crumbled on one side. She said yeah, that's what usually happens. She said normally when someone calls in tiny tabs the order taker explains to the clinic they cannot be cut.
She said all she can do is create a case and a pharmacist would call me. I asked if there would be a case number. She said not yet because first she had to fix my account so it would come up next time when someone tries to find it. So my heart kind of sank because there would be no way to track that I had called, but I could tell this lady was good so I tried to relax. Of course I thought it would be days before anyone got back, if they did. Wrong!
The Covetrus pharmacist called probably 2~ish hours later. She said what the customer service lady said, that the order taker usually calls the clinic back if they submit an order for tiny tabs, and explains they can't be cut, and she said, "But I don't see where anyone did that." She said they have gabapentin tiny tabs in 25 mg and she would contact the clinic to see if the vet would authorize the 25 mg size. Then they would reissue them. The ones I got were 120 pills, and the 25mg come in different increments so she would issue 200, I think she said. And they would expedite them. Picture me thanking her a million times.
I told her she didn't need to expedite them, I still had some that were expired. (I forgot I was talking to a pharmacist!) She said "we" usually don't recommend using expired medication, but she said if I have a cat claw trimmer, those will work better to break a pill than a pill cutter, so she suggested I try that. I don't have one but they aren't hard to get.
So, whew! I can't believe this is going to work out. That's not the way these things usually go. Usually it turns into a blame game between agencies and you end up having to fix the problem at your own expense. I'm still stressed out about it, but hats off to Covetrus if this all goes as the pharmacist said.
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
I never thought about trying claw whackers; wonder how it’ll work out?!!What I’ve done when pills can’t be cut well is to essentially compound it myself into a liquid. I hesitated to mention it, but it IS a possibility, even if you had a pharmacy compound it for you. It would probably cost that way, but still…
Good luck getting the approval!
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
I got an email saying they are shipped. She said they use Next Day Air and I should get them around Wednesday/Thursday. I guess we'll see with the snowstorms. It is 200 tablets, which is 200 doses. Before I was getting 120 tablets, which divided in half was 240 doses. But it doesn't matter. With luck he won't use them up before they expire again. He doesn't take them all the time. It's been a while since he needed one. I did give him a dose this afternoon. He sprung himself from his bed onto his crash pad and kicked at his neck briefly. I think the spasticity/springing is related to the sensations, or maybe he's feeling a zing that jolts him, not sure. I was thinking it's more like itching/tingling. Did you just crush your pills with 2 spoons, for example?
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
You can crush the pills, but I usually just out them in the liquid & let them soften.
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
Pippy is doing something new. It sounds like nothing, but it's not. It's big. In the morning I take him out to potty, bring him in, give him a sponge bath with wet washcloths, then leave him in the middle of the living room floor while I get breakfasts ready. He usually hops over by the cat tree, as a good place to be near the kitchen door but not under foot.
When breakfasts are ready, I put him in his playpen, which is where he is fed. It is also in the living room. So what he's been doing (yesterday and today) is, he knows breakfast is about ready and he knows he's going to get put in the playpen, so he leaves his spot by the cat tree and goes over by the playpen to be there to be put in!
Hard to explain what's so cool about this. It's the sort of thing a "normal" dog would do. Run around your feet excitedly and be right there where you're going to put their bowl down. It's impulsive excited movement, not necessary effortful movement. It's very cool. It's expressive. Putting his emotions into motion. Being his whole self more.
It's been nearly 4 years (at least) since he became quadriplegic (pre-April 2021) and a year and 8 months (20 months) since he had atlantoaxial surgery (June 2023). He's still getting better.
The other thing is, he seems to feel OK being outside by himself now. Which shows confidence. He'll hang out by the back door if the weather is cool enough, and he doesn't mind being out there by himself. This has been in the past couple of months. It used to be if I put him out, he would do his business and then he'd tend to move near the door and turn toward it watching, and wait anxiously to be brought back in. From inside I'd see him with kind of a worried look on his face and bring him right in. Now he's happy to just stay out there and barks at cats.
I should also add, he's been on gabapentin twice a day for several months now. He reminds me when it's time for his 8pm dose.
When breakfasts are ready, I put him in his playpen, which is where he is fed. It is also in the living room. So what he's been doing (yesterday and today) is, he knows breakfast is about ready and he knows he's going to get put in the playpen, so he leaves his spot by the cat tree and goes over by the playpen to be there to be put in!
Hard to explain what's so cool about this. It's the sort of thing a "normal" dog would do. Run around your feet excitedly and be right there where you're going to put their bowl down. It's impulsive excited movement, not necessary effortful movement. It's very cool. It's expressive. Putting his emotions into motion. Being his whole self more.
It's been nearly 4 years (at least) since he became quadriplegic (pre-April 2021) and a year and 8 months (20 months) since he had atlantoaxial surgery (June 2023). He's still getting better.
The other thing is, he seems to feel OK being outside by himself now. Which shows confidence. He'll hang out by the back door if the weather is cool enough, and he doesn't mind being out there by himself. This has been in the past couple of months. It used to be if I put him out, he would do his business and then he'd tend to move near the door and turn toward it watching, and wait anxiously to be brought back in. From inside I'd see him with kind of a worried look on his face and bring him right in. Now he's happy to just stay out there and barks at cats.
I should also add, he's been on gabapentin twice a day for several months now. He reminds me when it's time for his 8pm dose.
Re: Pip diagnosis - Central cord syndrome
As a bonus he’s being helpful!