# MRI Scan



## SupaaJ (Jan 10, 2011)

My dog is quite old (between 10-12 years old) and he has been feeling very poorly lately. I have brought him to three different vets and not one of them knows what is wrong with him.

He is walking with his head to one side, he is falling over and now he doesn't even want to walk.

I have been told that to find out what the problem is we have to do an MRI scan which will cost £600 +. I was wondering if anyone else has had an MRI scan done for their dog and if it helped at all?


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

SupaaJ said:


> My dog is quite old (between 10-12 years old) and he has been feeling very poorly lately. I have brought him to three different vets and not one of them knows what is wrong with him.
> 
> He is walking with his head to one side, he is falling over and now he doesn't even want to walk.
> 
> I have been told that to find out what the problem is we have to do an MRI scan which will cost £600 +. I was wondering if anyone else has had an MRI scan done for their dog and if it helped at all?


Banjo had one last year at Liverpool it was around £1500 but they did most of his spine hips & back legs & that included the consultaions with the specialists. They thought he had a disc pressing on his bladder nerves but it did'nt show anything  but it did pick up on another potential problem 

Deffinately worth haveing it done for your dog by the sounds of it  hope he's ok x


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## lucy963 (Sep 20, 2008)

Sorry i have never been through this so cant advice but i hope your dog gets better.


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## pearltheplank (Oct 2, 2010)

I have a 14 year old going through this, a vestibular syndrome episode. The vet offered me an MRI scan but said although it may give an indication of what was going on it would not, in her case, be helpful in the way of deciding further treatment


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## Sophiekins (Oct 20, 2009)

What breed is he?


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## cinnamontoast (Oct 24, 2010)

May be neurological by the sound of it. I would personally go for a scan, had one done on Jake and discovered exactly what was wrong and where the problems were. 

If you are insured, I say go for it if the vet believes it will be worth it. I would probably want to talk to the specialist vet first, though. Are you anywhere near a Royal Vet College? You can request a referral there if you want.

If he is having issues walking, do the vets think it's his back or leg? Is the dog having issues getting up and no longer wants to get onto furniture/into the car etc? 

It sounds to me like it might be spinal. I do have experience of this: Jake was suddenly unable to jump into the car and kept falling to one side. 

Let us know what you decide.


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## EmCHammer (Dec 28, 2009)

Could it be a vestibular attack? 

If you are insured would def go for the MRI; it could be something neurological.

My dog's behaviour started to change from a giddy fun loving excitable dog into a quiet one, he would sit staring into space - it happened so gradualy that I couldn't put my finger on it it was mum who hadn't seen him for ages who really spotted the difference.

He had a range of tests first to rule out other stuff, i.e. painkillers, bloods etc, spine x-rays (he has a spinal injury in the neck from a couple of years ago).

He went to the lovely vets at Castle Donington for an mri; it was well worth it and approx £880 for the head and neck area. They are great there and as X-rays had not shown anything up they thought it was something soft tissue related. Sometimes you can think the worst (well for me the worst case was a brain tumour, and thats what it was) but at least then you know whats wrong and can start to work with it - we go to another brilliant vets at Cambridge now for radiotherapy.

It turns out he had had a spinal mini stroke AND had a pituritury brain tumour - both unrelated. Now we know whats wrong he can at least start to begin treatment.


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## SupaaJ (Jan 10, 2011)

The dog is a labrador cross breed.

My dog (also called Jake) started to walk with his head to one side around four weeks ago. Gradually it has got worse and now it has got to the stage where he can't even walk. He gets up, falls, walks into a wall and falls down again. He doesn't even want to get up now.

We are not insured and the MRI scan is going to cost a lot of money. We have went through xrays, four or five different tablets and nothing has worked. He is still eating, although not as much and he is still drinking. 

It seems he has no energy and now I really don't know what to do about the dog.


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## EmCHammer (Dec 28, 2009)

There is another dog at Radiotherapy who has a tumour also and his presented itself as a head tilt (sorry to give a worst case scenario).

If it is something like that the Radiotherapy is about £1700 on top of the mri .. 

Whilst we were waiting for the mri my boy went downhill and had different symptoms to yours, he had more of a head flinch as well as being very quiet, starey etc.... he had a steriod injection which worked miracles as it reduced the inflammation of the tumour which was putting pressure on other parts of his brain and causing problems. It was not a cure though as it made the symptoms better but didn't cure the problem itself... so even if it is something like that there are maybe things that could be done to make him more comfortbale?

He sounds like a poorly boy - what does your vet think? I don't know much about vestibular attacks (if it is that) and how long they last for, if they get better on their own (but I know dogs can make a good recovery from them)... an internet search may resturn more information although hopefully your vet would have thought of that and the steriods.

I do hope you manage to get sorted - it sounds like the MRI would be the best option but can fully appreciate its alot of money.

Good luck and I hope he is soon feeling better.


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## mrk (Apr 5, 2011)

hi, my dog jack had an mri scan 3 weeks ago, he started having seizures and when i took him to vets they prescribed him phenobarbital which didnt stop them straight away. After 6 fits in 24 hours we were sent to glasgow vet hospital where they kept him in to carry out mri and spinal puncture. He underwent general anesthetic as they need to be completely still for ten minutes the scan takes. After an hour they diagnosed a pituitary gland brain tumour for which they have recommended radiotherapy. Have seen oncology dept but am undecided as to whats best he is responding well on medication so far. Back to scan and costs mri and associated care cost £1900 and radiology is estimated to cost £6000. Unfortunately very few vets have access to this equipment due to cost of it and the places that do offer it are highly priced, in my opinion due to fact that majority of it is paid by pet insurance companies. Best of luck with your dog, for me i had to get it done to have all the answers,for some it may be best not to know.


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## mrk (Apr 5, 2011)

hi just realised that most posts were few months ago. To EMChammer how is your dog doing? Did you get radiotherapy done? was wondering what if any side effects there were and how severe? problem i have is oncologist cant give a time line for my pup (well 8 yrs old) and they still seem v keen to carry it out, im not sure if this is in his interest or theirs from a financial and research point of view as they say only 50 dogs have had it in Scotland.

would be most appreciated thanks.


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## EmCHammer (Dec 28, 2009)

My dog had the radiotherapy for the pituritury tumour was about two and half thousand I think. Will reply properly when not on iPhone


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## EmCHammer (Dec 28, 2009)

Thats better, can't type on the pesky phone.

My dog Tekno, (5 year old staffie, was only 4 when he started showing his brain tumour symptoms) went for the radiotherapy... he has a piturtury macroadeoma which is about 1.5 cm in diameter.

He went to Cambridge Univeristy and had to go every week for 5 weeks - cambridge was 2 hours from us so luckily with christmas holidays, and me and the OH taking time off it was doable.

he went and had to have a light general anaesthetic each time to keep him still, I think that the worst part for him was being starved from teh night before! He did not get any noticble side effects, they advised us to take it easy with him during this time, as he had also had a spinal mini stroke but he was happy to go for walks etc and never lost his appetite etc.

He went onto steriods which had an instant effect on him before he had radiotherapy and he was bouncin off the walls from being zombie like; steriods can shrink the tumour as does the radiotherapy and he was weaned off these during the course of radiotherapy.

he used to be very giddy and nutty and he has calmed down alot, he is a bit odd but he has always been a bit odd in his ways. his course finished 8 weeks ago and we recently went back for a 2 month check up and they are really pleased with him; he is not on any meds at the minute.

The radiotherapy does not cure it but halts it in it tracks but normally they come back again; but as teh oncologist said there are not enough studies to know exactly what the life expectancy is? after all the reasearch I read 6-18 months is the average; although most dogs seem to be over 10, so I am hoping that other elements played a factor?

There is a strong link to Cushings too, which again is unusual in that tekno does not appear to have this or at least no visible symptoms .

I would definately do it again, 8 is still a young age and I hope it has given tekno lots of extra time.


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## mrk (Apr 5, 2011)

thanks so much for the reply, my dog Jack is a staffie/lab cross and has the pit macroadenoma too estimated at 1.4cm in mri. The hospital didnt do the cushings specific blood test but from the other screen they think he doesnt have it either. They have said it is slow growing and that is there is v little inflammation in the brain but that there is enough pressure to have caused the seizures. Our oncologist said she would like to take him in mon to fri for 3 weeks to administer the dosage and has quoted ballpark figure of £6000, and gave us the worst case side effects and said it may give him 6 mnths to a year. My biggest worry was/is what effect all that anesthetic could have and he can be a nervous pup at times so would it be fair to put him through that. 

Its been so hard to find anyone who has had similar experiences as no one seems to have radiotherapy done up here so i really do appreciate you sharing yours and Teknos with me.


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## EmCHammer (Dec 28, 2009)

I too never found anyone else... Most other people who met had older dogs who didn't want to put them through treatment but tekno was so young felt it worth it and good results could be gained.

Tekno is also a staff x. He is very unlucky as also had serious accident a few years ago and already had some brainl damaged area ans spinal damage. 

I can't judge for him but he did not appear to have side effects. They have said to me now to take him home and spoil him and just a waiting game really but if we didn't do it his chances were alot less long term.


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## EmCHammer (Dec 28, 2009)

Tek has grown to be very mis trustful of the vets but the experience hwe had was to be as sympathetic to the dogs . I used to be able to go and sit with him when he came round from the anaesthetic.


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## mrk (Apr 5, 2011)

Im really glad i came across this forum havent posted anything before but its been big help. Did Tekno have radiotherapy every day for 5 weeks or was it less?

I was really undecided as to what course to go down but after speaking to you im more inclined to poss take the risk. 

My OH seems more against it than me but my thoughts are that we have to try everything possible rather than regret it later. I like the possibility that they would let us be there when anesthetic wears off. Just now Jack is on 120mg per day of phenobarbital which means he hasnt had seizure for almost a month. Unfortunately we just sit worrying, waiting for them to restart, and it makes him very sedate too.

Oh meant to say that Glasgow vet school showed me details of a study on 40 dogs with pit mac's and radiotherapy gave them survival times of between 6mnths to 4 years and that the younger dogs had the the highest survival time so i do hope Tekno will beat that.


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## EmCHammer (Dec 28, 2009)

Sorry brief answer as on phone but he went once a week for five weeks and was home inbetween. 

Mine was def 2200 total wonder if yours is alot more as smaller daily doses


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## mrk (Apr 5, 2011)

sorry laptop went on blink, i think we really need to speak to oncologist again and see bout different doses. We have been thinking and we feel that if and when seizures reoccur and they have to increase his meds that that is when we will go for it. At the moment are bit scared that if we do it right now and something went wrong then we would have lost that quality time. Will keep you updated as you have been brilliant, thanks ever so much.


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## 912142 (Mar 28, 2011)

mrk said:


> thanks so much for the reply, my dog Jack is a staffie/lab cross and has the pit macroadenoma too estimated at 1.4cm in mri. The hospital didnt do the cushings specific blood test but from the other screen they think he doesnt have it either. They have said it is slow growing and that is there is v little inflammation in the brain but that there is enough pressure to have caused the seizures. Our oncologist said she would like to take him in mon to fri for 3 weeks to administer the dosage and has quoted ballpark figure of £6000, and gave us the worst case side effects and said it may give him 6 mnths to a year. My biggest worry was/is what effect all that anesthetic could have and he can be a nervous pup at times so would it be fair to put him through that.
> 
> Its been so hard to find anyone who has had similar experiences as no one seems to have radiotherapy done up here so i really do appreciate you sharing yours and Teknos with me.


Just a thought but you could ask the specialist for statistics on similar canine patients that he has treated - or you could approach the bmva and ask them - I would imagine both would be happy to share this info with you.


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