Our Berner, Miles, is 8 months old and approx. 100 lbs. A few days ago, he started wincing when he got up from the floor or lay down. For a variety of reasons we thought he might have bloat, so we took him to the veterinary ER. We were shocked to learn that he instead was exhibiting neck/spinal pain. Poor Miles had blood and urine scans, x-rays and a spinal tap (to rule out meningitis). We were sent home with instructions to limit his movement as well as Piroxicam and Misoprostol. He has also been taking Tramadol for pain, though it does not seem to help. The poor guy still cries out in pain every time he gets up and lays down, is afraid to go down stairs and is hunching his back to protect his neck. He is on his third day of Perioxicam and does not seem better. He still wags and has a great appetite, but he is clearly in pain and I wonder if anyone has had any experiences with Berner neck pain before and how to make them more comfortable. Thanks in advance for any thoughts...we are so worried.

Ah bless how scary for you,did you get the results back for meningitis? and did they give you any other reasons this might be happening??

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Rowan

Durham UK

The test results for meningitis were negative. They couldn't find anything in the blood or urine either, so we are left with no idea what is wrong. He may have to have an MRI if the medicine he is on does not work. I hate to put him through any more tests, but he cannot really enjoy anything if the pain continues. I may try a heat pad tonight to see if it helps...

I am so sorry you are having to go through all of this. Our Riley was diagnosed with SRM ( steroid responsive meningitis ) when he was about 9 months old. These symptoms sound so familiar Could you possibly have a false negative? Look under the thread Bernese Mountain Dog Health Questions..go to the second page...about half way down...."1 year old with meningitis" . I have read about other false negatives too. Ask your vet if it will hurt to just try the steroid treatment to see if you get any results. It will be really quick, within a day or so at the most . Please keep up updated and let us know how he is doing... Berner Hugs to your puppy!

Thanks so much for the advice. I will ask about the false negative. The vet was surprised that the spinal tap was negative, but Miles was so symptomatic at the time of the test that they thought a false negative was unlikely. I will also check the other thread on meningitis. Miles seems worse when he hasn't moved in a while, worse in the evenings and the morning, and it is harder for him to get up than lie down. Just gave him two more pain pills...hoping it will help him until we figure out what is wrong.

I am sorry to hear about Miles. I would ask for an MRI scan and whatever tests may rule out degenerative myleopathy. Although it is very hard to detect and may not be possible. It comes down to DM when they test for all other possible diseases that are similar and they come back clear. The conclusion is usually then DM.

Here in the UK there is no test for it when they are showing possible signs not sure if it is different in the US if that is where you are.

Is he knuckling over at all on his hind paws or one of them ? Possibly on either or both of his front paws ?

Does he have trouble co-ordinating sometimes when going up or down steps ? Ollie did neither of these things up until he was quite ill he never knuckled over on his paws though but did have problems co-ordinating steps. Front leg gait became short too. Is that happening to Miles ?

Ollie had DM in his neck it is very hard to detect he had suffered intermitent lameness since very young and it all kicked off October last year he did the same thing he winced and cried out when trying to lay down. When we arrived at the vets the lameness had gone as it always did. He had not up until last year winced and cried out in pain when getting up and down just stiffness.

Ollie had spinal taps, MRI scans, blood panels and everything was border line but not enough to say yes it was this or no it wasn't that. He became very ataxic drunk looking when walking on his rear end. Watch for that. There is also another disease Myathsenia Gravis that definatley can be tested for. Here in the UK the results do take about two weeks or more to come back. It is a neuromuscular disease and can wax and wain. IE: Can seem better after rest then after exercise they may show signs of discomfort. It is also to do with nerve receptors.

His DM was not the normal SOD1 it was a rare mutation and he had a host of other problems too. Feel free to tell your Vet these things and if I can help in any way please feel free to contact me.

Hopefully he has pulled a muscle or done something to his shoulder that is causing him discomfort.

Wishing you all the best.

Thank you so much. I will also ask about degenerative myleopathy and Myathsenia Gravis.

He is not swaying, knuckling over, "drunk" walking etc. His gait seems okay, but he is so tensed up everywhere (hunched) that he looks a bit strange when walking. His pain is pretty consistent and he refused to come down the stairs this morning - it took 1/2 hour to coax him down with a cracker. Usually he and his brother race down (not the best thing for a Berner, I know).

I have a call in to the vet this morning, so hopefully we can get him comfortable soon. I will report back any findings.

Thanks for all the support! It is so hard to watch him suffer.

If possible I would keep him off the stairs if he has an injury till it heals it might aggrevate it. Can you gate the stairs off possibly ? I know its difficut to get them to change habits but it might be in his best interest at the moment.

I wonder if he has a trapped nerve somewhere that would not always be picked up on x-ray may need and mri scan especially if its in the spine the nerves can get pinched there.

Good luck and I hope he is soon sorted.

Well, we have been to the vet again for a Lyme test (negative) and another opinion. Miles is still on his anti-inflammatories and is now also on a muscle relaxant so he can rest better. They gave him a shot of a strong pain killer that was supposed to make him sleep, but instead he just wandered around the house crying for 12 hours and wouldn't lie down. That was a bad day.

He seems a bit better today (thank goodness) after recovering from his vet visit. We have blocked off all of the stairs so Miles cannot follow us upstairs at night. He still cries in pain when he gets up from the floor, but seems a bit more comfortable. I think his back is slightly less arched.

I am cautiously optimistic and hope these are signs of improvement. If he doesn't get better soon, the next step is an MRI and maybe another spinal tap and I hate to put him through that.

Yikes! Poor pup Have you thought about seeing a chiro in the meantime to give him a bit of relief while you're waiting to figure out what the problem is?