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Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Back hips making a creaking noise
| Ginger's back hips seem to be making a creaking noise, she does have arthritis and had it before she was diagnosed with AIHA but this creaking noise is new and I was wondering if it could be the result of muscle loss due to the Predisone? Has anyone had this experience? |
| Cheryl Pineville |
| Cheryl, From my background in pt and my work with the Arthritis Foundation with seniors I can offer a suggestion that this might be two different things. As instructors we are asked to caution seniors not to do a particular exercise if it hurts. However, there can be noises in a joint, esp. the neck, when tendons move or "snap" over joints. It can sound pretty ominous, but often is just related to aging tendons. Try it now yourself, look to one side and then the other. Do you hear any snapping? I do. Ack. The other thing we often talk about are "joint mice." Yes, this is an actual medical slang term. As we age, joints get bits of crud that float around in the synovial fluid. Next time you see your grandmother put your arm around her shoulder and have her move her arm around. You will feel and maybe even hear joint mice. I actually sat in on a surgery during my internship on an 85 year old woman who was having her knee "cleaned out." They were hoping, in essence, to flush out some of the bits of stuff that were causing her some pain. I could actually see bits of stuff floating in the sterile solution they used to "wash" out the joint. I know that you are having a hard time believing me about joint mice so here is a link to the topic online! http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/articles/488.html I suspect that the prednisone has dried out many body tissues and has led to significant muscle loss. One of the signs of severe Cushing's disease (high cortisol levels) is that the body tissues are dehydrated. I remember seeing a picture of someone pinching the skin on the back of the neck of their dog and it just stayed up in the air like that, not slipping back immediately. I tried that with Chance when he was on really high doses of pred and the tissues did indeed not rebound immediately. I can suggest that you consider supplementing Ginger's diet with, at minimum, fish body oil capsules (1000mg daily) and 400 vitamin e. Adding regular canned salmon, sardines or jack mackeral to her diet will really improve her condition. Be sure to wash the fish to get the salt out. Many people now use glucosamin chondroitin for their pet's arthritis. It has been shown to be effective in studies in humans. Vitamin C is anecdotally very helpful in canine arthritis. I use Ester C. I also supplement B-50. No need for pricey doggy vitamins. Patrice |
| Patrice New York State |
This thread was discussed between 14/10/2007 and 15/10/2007
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