Need Dr. Greer's contact information please

Could someone please pm me Dr. Greer's contact information? It's rather urgent.

Thank you,

Trish

Dr. Kim Greer? PDE??
Google says ... Texas A&M University by investigator Dr. Kimberly Greer (kgreer@cvm.tamu.edu)

I'll PM it to you. She's not at Texas any longer.

Thank you both. It's for a senior pug that is head pressing,circling and getting lost in corners. he's had a complete blood panel done to rule out other things. Spyder is just not doing well. He is blind.

Thanks again,

Trish

Please let us know how he is. Hoping it's not those dreaded three letters....

those definitely sound like symptoms of PDE. the fact that he's a senior scares me even more. my thoughts and prayers out to Spyder and his family.

Could it be a liver shunt? Head pressing and even blindness are huge symptoms for a liver shunt. I would suggest a bile acids test in addition to any blood work already done. It's a blood test done before and after eating.

Good luck! Love the name Spyder.

Kasi and another pug person were also thinking of a liver shunt. I'm pretty sure that Spyder was checked for this, but will bring this up to her.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I appreciate everyone's input and well wishes as does the fostermom Kasi.


Trish

Please suggest a bile acids test for a liver shunt. Many vets say if the regular blood work doesn't show abnormal liver values, it can't be - but it can be - and the bile acids test is the way to go and such an easy and cheap (relatively) test.

Thank you so much! I am Spyder's fostermom. Spyder is a very precious little man. He has been w/ us for a a year now. He is blind, toothless, and a senior citizen. I will call my vet about that bile acids test.
All of his bloodwork has come back fine. He had crystals in his urine about 4 weeks ago that caused me to take him to the vet (he had lost 4 lbs) and they did blood work at the time, all came back fine. Then after his antibiotics were done, they did his bloodwork again, all was still fine. Upon his return visit he had gained a pound back. Then I took him back in on Monday thinking that maybe he had an injury to his eye, because, altho blind, he always was able to find his way around and w/ much speed. He rarely if ever bumped into anything. The other thought too was maybe he was able to see shadows and had gone completely blind.

Well, now he will circle, circle, circle, gets lost in corners... has no sense of where he is at. I have to carry him to his water bowl and he will only rarely drink, so I have been giving him ice chips and as of yesterday keeping Sub Q fluids on hand.

He has just changed so quickly and is not himself whatsoever.

Thank you for caring about Spyder. I am going to do some more research on this bile acids test and will see if I can get him in tomorrow to my vet.

Thanks so much!

You are welcome! Please let us know the outcome. Does he seem lethargic after eating? If he is very old, it could also be doggie alzheimers. (yes there is a term for it, but I can't think of it)

Brenda wrote:You are welcome! Please let us know the outcome. Does he seem lethargic after eating? If he is very old, it could also be doggie alzheimers. (yes there is a term for it, but I can't think of it)

Canine cognitive dysfunction? http://www.swiftwaterfarms.com/swiftwater/p22CanineCognitiveDysfunction.htm

Spyder is probably about 11 yrs old. He was a stray at a kill-shelter here in CO.
I have a 18 yr old Maltese/Poodle mix that I have had for 15 years. She has CCD (or at least I think). The strange thing about Spyder is that this happened in just a matter of a few days.

Thanks for the background on Spyder. Hope it's something else that can be treated/managed.

Thank you - I dropped him off this am at my vet's office. Will keep you all posted. The last place I want to be right now is at work.

Saying a prayer for Spyder that it is going to be ok. I hate those three letters so much!

Thank you for your prayers. I really appreciate it.

Did the vet determine anything?

Sadly, no. She is thinking it could be his liver OR maybe he had gone from seeing shadows to nothing at all.
I am taking things day by day to see how he continues on. If he doesn't get better or is he worsens I will have to travel to another vet for some further testing.
I finally have him drinking on his own as long as I stand there and encourage him for awhile. So frustrating.

Spyder is in my prayers - hoping things get better soon.