4 Things You Can Diagnose On Sight

What's up everyone! In this video I go over 4 things that dogs and cats can do that are very recognizable and caused by a limited (sometimes only 1) number of diseases. If you see these in your pet you'll have a good idea what you're dealing with ahead of time when you talk to your vet about it. I hope you find these useful and have a great day!
I recently became a member of the Balto community. Balto makes braces for dogs and I plan to use the neck braces for cases of cervical spinal instability. I think these braces are less cumbersome and much easier to place compared to traditional bandaging measures. If you think your pet may benefit from a brace of some kind, here is the link to their website:
kvportho.com/dvmcellini
Use the affiliate code DVMCELLINI for 10% off your order (full disclosure - they give me 10% of sales as a commission).
Hope you enjoy and stay well!
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CONTACT ME:
📸 Instagram - / dvmcellini
📹 TikTok - @dvmcellini
🐦 Twitter - / dvmcellini
📧 Email: [e-mail]
Books I Studied Throughout My Career (and still use for reference guides):
Miller's Anatomy - amzn.to/3cumdlV
DeLahunta Neuroanatomy (bible of vet neuro) - amzn.to/3w9ITzB
List of useful items I often recommend to pet owners:
Harness - amzn.to/3v9MHjL
Dog Booties - amzn.to/3469KjO
Halo Harness for Blind Dogs - amzn.to/2RuEDvK
Other Useful Pet Items I Use At Home For My Pets:
Kong Chew Toys: amzn.to/3gnl2WE, amzn.to/3xdF6l9
ChuckIt! Ball Launcher (thing works great for Bernie): amzn.to/3g3WDq7
Eco Friendly Poop Bags (I use these): amzn.to/3f8fjEP
Amazon Prescription Dog Food - amzn.to/3fHz4lI
Amazon Deals on Pet Items - amzn.to/3vdCvqw
*As an Amazon Associate I earn commission with use of the above links on qualifying purchases*
🎵 Where I get ALL of My Music from -- Epidemic Sound!
epidemicsound.com/referral/nfa6vr/

[@elenadickey7763]

Love this. Im a vet student and being online has not been fun. This video helped break down these problems in an easy way for anyone to understand

[@Iamnosey]

Thank you vet student 💓 please stay with. The animals and humans need you. 🐶👍😁

[@acccardone7679]

I had a Large breed rescue Doberman with Wobblers. At first she showed signs of irregular pain in her neck when she was about 6 years old. Her neck began to develop tension knots in the muscles when she was in pain. Then she began experiencing irregular gait. We immediately took her into our local vet, but they didn't know anything about Wobblers, and just thought it was random pain. They told us they figured she would get over it with rest. She did... the first 20 or 30 times this happened over a 2.5 year period. As her situation became more frequent, she would go through bouts where she was having difficulty with walking. At first that showed up as not being able to move one foot correctly; so that just one of her carpal joints was kind of stiffly flopping around as she walked. That progressed to multiple legs over time, and then lead to dragging the foot that wasn't moving properly. That lead to weakness in the hind end, and then to bouts of time where she couldn't stand or walk. Typically the symptoms lasted for a few days to 1.5 weeks. By then, when we were STILL getting the same diagnosis from our regular vet, that nothing was really wrong with her. At this point we decided our only option for a helpful diagnosis, and hopefully treatment, would be to take her to a specialist. Some background: In the past we had had a cat who caught a 12-24 hour neurological virus. We had taken him to the specialist small animal hospital that several of our other animals had to go to after developing "unique conditions." (I dread hearing another vet or doctor saying, "Oh WOW! I've read about this but never thought I would actually get to see it during my career!" one more time...) Our cat ended up seeing a neurologist for about a dozen visits. We had another cat who also developed a different "unique condition" who also ended up seeing that same neurologist. (She saved both cats' lives.) After a check by the internist vet, the neurologist was immediately brought in to evaluate our dog. The neurologist had heard of, and seen, dogs developing similar walking problems. At first she thought it simply had to do with a tear in one of the tendons of the leg. Many scans later proved that there was a tear in one of the tendons of either the hawk or the stifle joint. (I can't remember anymore.) We attempted stem cell treatment to the tendon, that worked amazingly well! (But, tendons are extremely sensitive to re-injury if not completely supervised at all times... It's hard to make no mistakes over the 1.5 years that we were tried several rounds of this treatment; especially with multiple people helping in her care.) Sadly, the degeneration in her spine continued. Over the following 2 years, and many more scans, it was determined that the disks in her spine were weakening and her vertebra were pinching off nerves to different parts of her body. She was then started on Gabapentin, Prednisone, and different pain relievers (as time progressed one pain reliever would stop working and she would be switched to a different one until that one stopped working). We attempted many other types of treatments to improve her walking and comfort. None of those helped at all. The final 1.5 years of her life she was unable to stand or walk, yet was still loving, playful, and very happy to be alive. In the end, it wasn't the Wobblers that got her. Instead, she had fatty cysts under her skin her entire life. We had them removed when they became a problem. However, as she became bedridden, we had to be more careful with their removals, as she needed to be able to not lie on newly healing surgical sites, and she needed to be regularly repositioned to keep her from developing bedsores. Plus, by the time she first became fully bedridden she was 12 years old. For a 95 pound dog, that's pretty senior. By then she had developed a minor heart murmur. At 13 she had one of those fatty tumors become so large that she couldn't lay on that side at all. Then she had a different fatty tumor, that we had been watching, but wasn't quite as big of a concern, burst open and begin bleeding heavily. I bandaged her up and we rushed her into the veterinary hospital. That was a very bad time to need surgery. The next available opening for any of the operating rooms wasn't for 1.5 weeks... I kept her bandaged, and we added the new antibiotics and painkillers to our Dobe's meds, and kept her clean until she could have surgery. Although we wanted to have some of the other questionable fatty tumors removed while she was under anesthesia, the surgeon was only able to remove the worst of the fatty tumors before her heart started doing bad things and they hurriedly sewed her up. She came home with a persistent cough that became worse over the next few days. We brought her back after a week to find out that, in the hurry to bring her out of sedation one of the airway tubes must have done something that caused pneumonia. (Understandable. We were just glad that they didn't loose her on the table, which was a real concern from the beginning!) We treated her for the pneumonia, and it would seem to go a way for a time, but would then return stronger a month or two later. The forth time the pneumonia returned (6 months after that desperately needed surgery) the pneumonia took our girl at 13.5 years old. We are thankful to all our vets that helped our girl to live such a long life. She was a very happy and loving girl until the last. (The urgent care clinic told me that she was one of their favorite patients. Several different vets and staff members told me how it was always a painfully sad yet joyous thing to have our girl there. [I thought they said that to every family member of a pet under their care, despite them swearing otherwise. Almost every one of my babies who had needed similar levels of care had elicited similar comments from the staff of whatever hospital they were being cared at...] Thus I was, at first, surprised when I would visit her because whenever she wasn't in an oxygen chamber they had her laying in the middle of ICU so everyone who walked passed could stop and get some love from her. Most of the hospital staff were crying hard as they expressed their heartbreak that they couldn't save her this time. As heartbroken as I was to loose her, with their help we had managed to keep her going to an amazing 13.5 years, despite all the complications she suffered over the last 1.2 of her life. I'm just glad that, since she had to spend so much time at that hospital, she turned it into another one of her homes where she could be surrounded by love as she was taken care of.)

[@idamikulska3134]

Hi, I had today patient with idiopathic head tremors and I impressed my coworkers with diagnosis. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge :)

[@DVMCellini]

Nice!

[@Artis-yb1pd]

Pet owner here. Leo has the jaw drop and he is off to the vet tomorrow. Thanks for the info

[@gemmaee1096]

Im a vet here in Spain and this video is very informative, thank you. We often see fibrotic myopathy in German shepherd 😊 good video!!!

[@DVMCellini]

Glad it was helpful!

[@zaddyjacquescormery6613]

For the record, I think vets are wildly underappreciated. 1. Whereas an internist is the closest thing to a general vet, the breadth of the literature for all specialties combined is far too vast for even an internist to be able to recall and use in diagnosing and treating the panacea human patients and their pathologies. Vets, on the other hand, are entirely capable and competent to treat any animal-even specialists like Dr. Cellini are fully capable and competent to treat many if not most animal pathologies. 2. No human physician has to be able to treat such a diverse set of anatomies and physiologies in different sub-species, much less wholly different species. 3. Vets treat patients who aren’t able to use language. This is huge. Animals do communicate through their behaviors, but that’s true for humans and animals alike. However, the total lack of the patient to be able to communicate through speech puts vets on a different level. 4. Vets are more practical in their treatment modalities. While they’re capable of employing a lot of the special treatments human docs can, vets are far more limited in the range of treatments options available to them due to factors like cost, access to specialized facilities and tools, research literature, etc. If pet insurance was affordable and paid out to the same degree human health insurance does, vets would be every bit as capable of using the same types of treatment modalities available to human physicians. 5. I could go on, but my last point is this: In a zombie apocalypse, I’d prefer to have a vet in my group over many types of human specialists. I think Dr. Glaucomflecken would agree that any vet may be better equipped to deal with traumatic injuries than an ophthalmologist would be. They’re more resourceful, too. That isn’t a knock on ophthalmologists or any other specialty. They’re brilliant and amazing and my respect for them is incredibly high. I’m just saying that veterinary physicians deserve the same respect. Put sum respec on vets!

[@ellemarierolfe7518]

He had already had front leg tremors that were not taking by vet seriously as a growing puppy ! Please is there any way that my gsd can be able to live a normal life! I am not ready anything good that I read about the neurological issues!

[@youwillcome]

Vet student. Saw my first case of idiopathic head tremors today after seeing this video. Cool to see it in person after learning about it. Thanks for the info!

[@DVMCellini]

Awesome!

[@Gypsygirl9]

Thank you. What about Chiropractic to help Wobblers?

[@DVMCellini]

I would not recommend that.

[@kennikitty]

This was very interesting. We had a Wobbler as a patient at my old small animal practice. Seizures in dogs are a very clear thing, but cats can be somewhat tricky when they have fokal epilepsy. Never seen it in a dog so far, but we're just a general practitioning practice, so... I got my worst scratches from a cat that has a seizure. The cuts were so deep, I held my hand over the sink, because it bled so much. Didn't even hit an artery, was just deep af. Always be extra careful when an animal does not know what it's doing. This episode reminded me of my guinea pig. Maybe you have a clue? She had her ACL torn a year prior, so she had not been walking normally for a while. About 3 weeks prior to the incident she didn't want to lift her head high anymore, but I figured she had back pain because of her funny walk. I came back home one evening and the front part of her body was paralysed. She was able to use her hind legs well enough to push herself forward, but could'd lift her head at all and couldn't use her front legs. Reflexes and pain sensation were very much reduced in the front legs, but not entirely gone. Initially she was still able to eat when I fed her out of a syringe, but she died 3 hours later. It was... weird. I couldn't sent her to pathology, because she was my favorite piggie and I really wanted to give her a proper burial, but in 7 years of being a vet tech, I've never seen anything like this. It must've been something neurological, but it was weird that the movement in her hind legs was still so good.

[@threeleggedcatdogwithtwosa6469]

thank you for the pointers on how you help explain to owners what could POSSIBLY be going on. ❤️ OWNERS: Please see vet before deciding your pets diagnosis. When being Checked In don't tell your Vet Clinic Recepton your animal has been "diagnosed" if it wasn't by a DVM. Just list symptoms. We take your word, and what if something else is happening. When you speak with your DVM post exam then bring up your thoughts. please please please. you are your pets voice.

[@HelenBlazes]

I call idiopathic head tremors “yup yups” or “nope nopes”, depending on which way the head moves. Seems to put some owners at ease. But I like the foot tapping analogy

[@husseinhammoud6403]

amazing video! very informative and explained in an amazing way, I wish there were other videos like this about digestive system and so on, that would really help me during my studies (as a vet student)

[@DanTheVeterinarian]

Hey Doc!! Great video. Also have you been using a new camera. The video quality is great!

[@DVMCellini]

Yeah I found a sonya6600 on fb marketplace for cheap. Really happy with it so far.

[@AK.ALMAHASNEH]

doctor question please do you do neurosurgeries ?

[@DVMCellini]

Yes

[@DrChristineMackenzie]

My dobe got wobblers but luckily not till 12yo. He scuffed toes. Can Idio head tremors be intermittent, like electric shock starting head, shoots down body? Otherwise fine.

[@lilithmarleen]

But can you really diagnose any idiopathic condition without performing any tests first? If “idiopathic” means that the cause is unknown, I think people should try to find an explanation for the behavior before classifying it as idiopathic.

[@KayLoo202]

I thought those head tremors were focal seizures, so super interesting. My poor dog has epilepsy so seeing that dog going through a seizure did break my heart a bit (even though I know they aren't in pain).

[@anpanmomdesu]

Information packed! 👍 Thank you!

[@Melsincatuation]

I have.an ex.racing greyhound,.she is.8 yrs.old,.and supposedly she does.something. that is common with greyhound. And that.is teeth chattering . I notice it, I can hear her! When its.right before meals or walks..anytime she is getting excited. My question is ..do u think that is a neurological response??is.she doing this on purpose,.controlled? Thank u doc!!

[@ellemarierolfe7518]

Dr. I'm worried about my gsd male. He is 4 1/2 . I noticed a change in his gate at 2 yrs old out of the blue he started a bunny hop run . I immediately took him to the vet, where they recommended hip x-rays. He was clear ! To make a long story short, the orthopedic I was referred by my vet also has looked at the i x-rays, and then he diagnosed him with an iliosos strain . He was sure that it was a strained pelvis. Ii demanded that they send me to see a sports medicine doctor. she took an ultrasound, and she was sure it was the start of fibrotic myopathy!😢 I had my German Shepherd since he was 8 weeks. I have been researching for some time.. it's been a long, stressful journey. What I was seeing was that it looked like a balance issue. As time went on, he was putting the leg up to pee, and he was positively losing his balance! Back to the therapist, she was sure that it was nothing but the previous scar in a small spot was limiting the way limited the leg movement! The back and forth between the two years and no further trauma to the muscles but to complain about a few things that are not right . I have done my best to advocate for my best friend only to be dismissed by the vets! I found another vet that was an old school friend ! She had a feeling that it was in the spine as she examined him she found that there was pain in the spine! I have been trying to get an answer from the time it started at 2yrs . I am devastated to know that he was hurting for the last 2yrs! He's 4 yrs and 7 months 😢please let me know if you think because she wants more xrays of hips and spine! Obviously, neurological issues are what's been occurring and I'm worried about the outcome for him! He's everything to me!😢

[@ashiningsoul449]

Well when my dog had an ocular proptosis it was pretty dang easy to diagnose lol. Edit: He's okay btw, stinker was lucky that I knew to keep the eye hydrated and get him immediate vet care. He has kept full vison in his eye.

[@vangelispapachristos2599]

Just an idea. Why not trying propranolol for idiopathic head tremors. Its used in human essential tremors. May ends up to be effective for dogs too.

[@ellemarierolfe7518]

My gsd was diagnosed with this but 1 yr later the docter now says its not getting worse and the scar tissue is still there but no longer thinks it FM. His gate has been sent to study in WISCONNSIN.They said they wanted to study him but since his sport med vet said it wasnt progressing she wouldnt confirm her earlier diagnoses.What??? It was tramatizing because ive been trying to do everthing for him. Ive spent so much time trying to help him and its frustrating as well as heartbreaking! His gate shows a shortness in stride. It presents itself as Fibrotic myopathy and the ultrasound clearly showed a small scarring inner upper thigh . Its been stressful and i hope its not the dreaded DM ! Every gsd owner dreads A diagnosis of DM . I pray its not but this started all the sudden, out of the blue at 2 yrs old and hes just turned 4 in july . I wish i could get a doctet who sees what i see! I know him and his gate and i had to pressure my vet to send him to a specialst who in 10 mins was sure it was FM and the ultrasound showed the fibrosis although subtle . 😢 thanks for this vid!

[@inr63]

This video made me cry my eyes out…. Thank you so much for posting this and bringing awareness/education. 🥺 I’m from Chicago and have a special needs Pit Bull; she has two different neurological disorders that she’s on 500mgs of Levetiracetam (kepra) and 20mgs of Prednisone for [2x everyday]. I don’t make very much money, so have been unable to afford the official MRI - thus the two different diagnosis are hypothesis - but have worked closely with my dog, Irie’s, neurologist to determine the two different disorders that may be affecting the different parts of my dog’s brain. Her neurologist has yet to see a case like my dog’s before. (She must have some severe form of wobbler’s syndrome + another disorder - that’s I’m blanking on the name of - that causes seizures if she’s not on the kepra) Despite her disorders and the time and difficulty it takes to care for her properly, she’s the smartest dog I’ve known. (I grew up with Pitties; I used to rescue them on the south and west side of Chicago growing up with my vet-tech mom). To my surprise, I’ve been commended before - by random people on the street who ask about her - for taking care of her and deciding not to “put her down”…. I was shocked, at first, to hear such comments, as the thought has never crossed my mind. It’s been a long, painful, and trying road but her and I but are better for it. She’ll never live a “normal life” [for a dog] anymore, but with the medicine she’s on, she’s able to be as close to her old self as possible and I do my best to make her as comfortable as possible. I love her so much. Idk if you take DMs/emails anywhere of your viewers pets, but I’d love to send you videos of her - before, during the worst of the ordeal, and now. She’s likely a good case-study and I’d be happy if it brought more awareness to people. *Also, first time viewer - I def liked/commented/subscribed

[@abr5873]

Can you do a video on feline hyperesthesia? It drives my cat crazy!

[@Finkeldinken]

Great video and snazzy new intro card! I didn't know about the trigeminal nerve one, that was fascinating. I guessed the others right or partly right, so I am happy with my own uneducated self, heh. The german shepherd I was guessing some kind of muscle or ligament tear, because the walking reminded me of my own when I had a big anterior labral tear in my hip, but I could tell from the extra wobble that it had to be further down, just had no idea where. I could tell the tremor dogs were not seizures because I've been with both cats, dogs and a rabbit (apparently that's not very common) that had seizures, and they all had a very specific "weird"/off feeling muscle tone while it was going on, along with nystagmus, and you of course just had to wait it out. Thanks for a really interesting video!

[@patealabazajian3820]

Do you have or, will you do, a video on Dementia in dogs? My Jack Russell will be 15 on the 31st and we think she is getting this. Enjoy your videos!

[@DVMCellini]

I haven’t but I need to. That’s a good topic.

[@liligillespie2587]

Please do a video or insights on Hemivertebra

[@Debbie338]

Back many, many years ago, these idiopathic head tremors were thought to be associated with survivors of canine distemper. I’m guessing that’s not the case, after all.

[@DVMCellini]

Yeah not the case as far as I know.

[@gracielac.p.reiser4320]

Really informative video, as always, James. Thanks. 🇺🇾🇺🇾

[@DVMCellini]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@angeljohnson234]

I wish I knew about this channel a year ago. My dog started circling in July 2021. She didn't do it often but it was noticable. I reported it to the vet and she said it was old age. Fast forward to now and my dog circles 24/7. Always to the left. She was initially diagnosed with CCD but now the neurologist said it could be a brain tumor. My dog has kidney disease, so the neurologist has refused to do an MRI. Everyday, I watch my dog decline. It's utterly heartbreaking. I should have went to a neurologist a year ago.

[@emilyh6967]

Vet here! My own dog developed (I think) idiopathic trigeminal neuritis about a year ago. I had never seen it before and couldn't find much published on it, but it resolved on its own in about 2 weeks, so I didn't end up pursuing a neuro consult. I'm curious how commonly you see it and what the recommended treatment is (if any) if you can't determine the underlying cause? Thanks for posting!

[@DVMCellini]

I see it about once a year or so. I usually use pred or sometimes cytosar too if my csf tap shows signs of inflammation, and I suspect auto-immune etiology.

[@NatalieSterrett]

Horses too! I haven’t heard of all of these, but definitely Wobblers in horses!

[@kellydorazio]

Great video,,,and refreshing course in neurological diseases. Thank you 😊

[@comesahorseman]

Subbed. Thanks.

[@dogtorkristi]

I had a weird head tremor case recently but not convinced it was idiopathic. He is a 2 Y MN shih Tzu with acute onset of head tremoring and was also alligator rolling and falling over.

[@DVMCellini]

Yeah if he was falling like that my bet is cerebellar or vestibular.

[@Torgo1969]

Two-engine Doberman video brings back memories of DeLahunta's Neuro Rounds.

[@DVMCellini]

I wish I could have experienced thwt

[@TEHzMJM]

Say you had a client who wanted to further investigate this hindlimb fibrotic myopathy would you recommend CT over radiographs, as I assume you’d see no change

[@DVMCellini]

I don’t usually recommend anything honestly. You can’t fix it and imaging findings are typically not too remarkable.

[@schlagzeugerin3289]

Were those some old De La Hunta videos I spotted in there? ;) Whenever I see the grainy videos from the 80s and 90s with neuro animals I immediately think of him.

[@DVMCellini]

Oh yeah! Gonna be using those more and more going forward I think. Good spot!

[@schlagzeugerin3289]

@@DVMCellini hahaha they use them at Cornell Vet to teach us all the time-- wish we could remaster them to be a bit easier to see but they are true relics!

[@DVMCellini]

They still use them???

[@schlagzeugerin3289]

@@DVMCellini LOL yes literally all throughout our neuroanatomy course

[@LocoForChoco123]

Cool video. Useful for me as a vet student starting clinics soon

[@chorne4677]

My doberman, he was my heart dog, was ultimately diagnosed with immune mediated thrombocytopenia which, by the time of diagnosis, led to a severe case of central vestibular disease (they said was caused by a spontaneous brain bleed). Unfortunately I lost him on 7.28.2020. He wasn't even 4 years old. The first diagnosis when I noticed something was wrong had been a presumption that he had wobblers. I KNEW that was wrong. I still grieve for him. He did see a neurologist, but by the time that occurred his platelet count was so low that they couldn't do the testing they had planned. If there was any possible way I could speak to you about him, I would so appreciate it. Thank you for your videos.

[@inr63]

Bless you and your baby🤍

[@wersab5960]

Wow, this happening in covid times should really suck,

[@chorne4677]

@@wersab5960 it did and does. When he went to the specialist they wouldn't let me in with him because of covid. He was there for hours and was worse when he came out than when he went in.

[@cassidyj4343]

When my dog presented with MG, the neurologist diagnosed him pretty much right away based off his gait. He originally just had hindlimb weakness so the doctor lifted his hindlimbs up and had him run down the hall, and his front leg strides were short and he started dribbling urine during the visit.

[@DVMCellini]

I almost included MG and I probably will next time.

[@cassidyj4343]

@@DVMCellini That would be awesome! It’s definitely a disease that needs more awareness, no one ever knows what I’m talking about when I say my dog has it

[@amandahoffman6157]

In the case of a 1.5 yr old beagle presenting with head tremors, if they do respond to seizure medication, would it point more towards it being epilepsy? Or would you argue it’s more coincidence that the tremors resolve with medication?

[@DVMCellini]

If the tremors look like those my guess is it’s just coincidence. I run into similar situations though too.

[@misskarinaleigh]

Very informative! Great video!

[@Bloodhoundfostermom]

Do you have any videos on TECA-BO surgery? my bloodhound is having it done next month ...I'm nervous for him

[@moraiawroldsen]

Wow. Thank you so much for your informational and high quality videos. I probably understand about half of what you're saying, but you really inspire me to keep learning!

[@holahola9059]

Very educational! Thanks sir!

[@reneesteel5852]

Very informative! Thx.

[@billygoat7060]

Great stuff!

[@DVMCellini]

Thanks!

[@chrisflinder3125]

You should do more of these videos!

[@yuwenmchen]

Love this!

[@camilatalaveracampos7847]

I'm a vet and this video was really helpful!! Loved it

[@DVMCellini]

Awesome thank you!

[@carolinevel94]

@@DVMCellini same here!

[@jeanettenfreeland1408]

My sisters dog named Raider was a black lab retriever and he was alone at home and he suffered a seizure and died at the age of twelve