From:
nicole@mb-law.com
Date: 2002-07-30 21:41:45 UTC
Subject: Re: protein electrophoresis - STIFFNESS
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <26970244.1028065305611.JavaMail.root@scandium>
I have a 3 yr old male who has spent more than 2 yrs of his life being stiff and rigid. I posted about him last summer and was not able to get any definitive information. Like was described in this discussion, he doen not EVER lie flat and seems to be unable to actually flatten his spine the way the others can. He is not thin, but looks sort of muscle bound. When he tries to jump he can only lift his front legs off the floor a few inches and cannot bring his hind legs up to scratch his ear. The only difference in this case is that he is that way 100% of the time. He does not have "episodes" of stiffness that come and go; he has nearly no flexibility at all. When you hold him in a "dangling" position, he brings his legs upward and cannot hang limp.
He has seen the vet three times in the last 2 yrs for this "condition" and they have never been able to determine what causes it.
However, in an 8 yr old, such as may be the case here, I have to wonder if you may just be seeing Geriatric arthritis. If you find there to be another cause, I would love to hear about it - maybe we can bring Chumley some releif after all these years.
Thanks
Nicole