Pixel two week update

[Lisa]

I just wanted to give a quick update on my little Pixel.

Pix is now able to stand on his own, take short potty breaks and walk up the ramp (slowly) back into his crate. We seemed to be hurting him picking him up and putting him down, even though we were always conscious of his back, it is literally 50 Pixel sized steps from his crate to outdoors. He is gaining some of his strength back, s-l-o-w-l-y.

We are still taking it day by day. Right now, he is down to Prednisone 1x per day (down from 2x) and still gets his Tramadol 3x per day.

The one big difference I noticed from surgery with Pogo to conservative with Pixel is the noise level. Kongs are our friend, but man oh man, he is protesty. He has us up at 4:00 every morning and I feel so sleep deprived. Because of the surgery, Pogo seemed to know his limitations and was super quiet for the first 4 or 5 weeks, Pixel not so much :faint:

We will start on laser / acupuncture next Wednesday. We have an appointment here. (http://www.vetemergency.ca/docs/rehab.html) They are very reputable and it is where we brought Pogo after his surgery. I think we are going to try the laser, but will discuss with them what they see the best results with.

As of right now, we are optimistic, however, I am constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Thank you for all the rayz and notes, they are truly appreciated!! :hug99: :hug99: :hug99:

[lotsadox]

I hear ya about the noise. Bogart was sooooo mouthy. He about drove me crazy. And even though I took him out at 11:00 at night for the last potty, he was always up between 3 and 4 having to go out again. Sending sleep deprivation :bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz:

It's a long, slow, stressful process. :hug99::hug99::hug99:

The treatment center looks awesome. I really like the way they have late hours on some nights. That would sure make it easier to get them in for treatment!

Edit: I wanted to add I had trouble picking Bogart up out of the crate without hurting him so I got the where I'd just let him walk out and then pick him up and take him outside. As we talked about, a lot of people now think that some controlled walking is good when they're recovering. I think it's a lot better than hurting him.

[areese]

YAY!:cheer3: sounds really good-esp. that his prednisone was reduced and he is still doing well. I'm sure he's going to do great.
more :bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz: for you all.
Laika was also very good in the crate after her surgery. which amazed me, big time. she'd never been crated. and I did it for almost a year afterwards too, whenever I left. but she got peanut butter kongs :)

[LexieLuvr]

I wouldn't let him walk that far, especially up a ramp. Please try to figure out a better situation. He needs to keep his back as motionless as possible. More :bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz:!

[oceangirls]

Thanks for the update. I am sure your stress level has been through the roof lately :hug99:. I am glad he is doing better & the laser/acupuncture sounds very promising! I think we always feel better when we are "doing" something instead of just watching and waiting.

Cassie send Pix extra rayz :bigrayz: :love11: :bigrayz: :love11: :bigrayz:. She thinks 4AM is a perfect time to get up and be noisy :rolleyes:

[oceangirls]

Edit: I wanted to add I had trouble picking Bogart up out of the crate without hurting him so I got the where I'd just let him walk out and then pick him up and take him outside. As we talked about, a lot of people now think that some controlled walking is good when they're recovering. I think it's a lot better than hurting him.

This totally makes sense to me and I am glad to see the move in this direction.

[Alex's Mom]

Believe me, Lisa, I feel your sleep deprived pain!!!! :hug99::hug99: I think this sounds optimistic, and it looks like a great treatment centre!!! (I wish I could just mail you Laura....that'd help for sure!) Tons more :bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz: coming at ya!!!!!!

[K2]

Thanks for the update. Keep up the good work! Sending your little man some more :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz:

[AnnMarieK]

:bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: For continued recovery.

[AgileOllie]

I'm glad he seems to be doing better! When Caillou went down the second time, she was in her crate on rest. At that time I was a struggling waitress, putting both me and Miguel through school. I had left my work apron on my dresser which was next to her crate. She somehow managed to get ahold of the strings of my apron and pull it through the crate and ATE 200.00 in tips. Seriously, she was the most expensive dog I've ever owned LOL

[Tex]

Continued healing :bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz: for da Pixelman!!!

[HokieMom]

I'm glad you posted an update on Pixel. More :bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz: for him to keep getting better!

[Patt]

Awesome treatment center. Sending more of our DLC magical healing :bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz: for Pixel, good to hear he's doing a wee bit better.

[Lisa]

I wouldn't let him walk that far, especially up a ramp. Please try to figure out a better situation. He needs to keep his back as motionless as possible. More :bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz:!

I did talk to our vet before doing this. Shonda's post about Gunner made me ask him. It really is case by case and depends on the severity of the injury. In Pixel's case he does think it is a good idea. To put into a human analogy, if you have surgery, they will try to get you up and walking around within hours. I believe they do this to prevent blood clots, enables the gas to move out easier, but also because it is good for your brain to be stimulated by different sights and aids in healing. They give you restrictions that ask you not to do laundry and housework (any lifting etc), because you body needs that time to rest, however they do encourage rehab, and light walking. It is kind of the same with IVDD (although again, it varies from doctor to doctor and case to case). Although they are not worried about blood clots, they like the dog to maintain and encourage the connection (signal) between the brain and the back end, and the best way to do that is to ask the brain to perform the task by controlled walking. That is not to say he is allowed to "exercise" by any stretch of the imagination. It is 20 - 50 steps 4 or 5 times a day to go potty. Both Rafi and I are 100% committed to the 8 weeks of crate rest, although, WE may need to be committed before it is over :faint: Right now we have his and hers matching ear plugs and are just letting him be as vocal as he wants to be.

When I asked my vet about it, he did tell me he does not give that advice to a lot of people because if you tell them limited controlled walking they take that to mean their dog can just run around like before, so it easier for them just to say 8 weeks of full crate rest :) But he knows we are hard core with the dogs and we never let Pixel overdue it. If we see any deterioration we will go back to lifting him out and into his crate.

I can't remember with Pogo if I posted it, or it was my PMs to Amy, but I found a few really interesting things (Pogo had surgery, so again, totally different case!). For dogs, I don't think walking is walking. I think again to make the comparison to humans, you are walking along not thinking about anything and then you approach a patch of ice. Now you have to be conscious of how you are going to walk on it and you adjust your movements accordingly. With Pogo he was able to walk on carpet, then grass, but he could not do Pergo, tile or laminate. He was able to run on grass (not encouraged!) before he was able to walk on tile.

Right now with Pixel we are just going day by day, week by week and looking forward to February 18th :)

[lotsadox]

That's a good point about vets giving different advice depending on the person. My vet also recommended controlled walking for Bogart. She may not do that for everyone, but she's known me for 20 years and knows that, like you and Rafi, I'm very hard core about the dogs and will follow her directions to the word.

Bogart also could walk on carpet, but not tile or the laminate. In fact, when the vet told me to do controlled walking she added "on the carpet". I even went to Target and bought some cheap carpet runners for the kitchen to make it easier for him to go outside and I had a rug in front of his crate so he could get out and get his footing there. They stayed for the rest of Bogart's life.

[LexieLuvr]

Jack had surgery in August, and although he appears to be 100%, he is still very reserved and careful about walking on slippery areas and we have lots of runners around the house, too. So I know he's still not 100% because he doesn't trust his back legs totally to walk on slippery surfaces. I'll celebrate when/if that day comes!

[JuneyTrixie]

I'm really glad to know that Pixel is doing so much better. :cheer3:

Do you give him swimming time, too, or did the vet not want Pixel to float in a bathtub? I used to know a lady down in Phoenix that did rehabilitation by taking the downed dog into a swimming pool. It helped a lot. Of course in this winter weather, you would want the bathtub. :D

Many thoughts and prayers with you, Rafi, and Pixel (and his siblings). :hug99::hug99::hug99:

[Rae]

:cheer3::cheer3::cheer3: so glad to hear Lil Speck is on the mend!! I bet a lot of the variance is not just dog to dog, but person to person too. Dr Chuck has flat told me that he gives different "orders" to me than he would the average dog owner because, quite "you are batsh!t crazy about that dog and I know you'll take better care of her than we could!"

Of course it probably factors in that pretty much every time - except for The Unfortunate Iris Bulb Incident - I have gone in with HRH and said "this is what's going on, this is what I think caused it, this is what I think we ought to do, and the Wiener Dog Cult says this and that about it."

You guys are doing great, and I am sorry he's so.. vocal about his confinement!

(bighugstoyou)

AND ever since the Slipped on the Ice Incident 3 years ago (or was it 4?) HRH will NOT walk on the hardwood floors. Scared to death, to which Dr Chuck says "she's a smart old girl, not gonna get hurt like that again!"

edit: NOT to discredit LexieLuvr's advice, not at all. Many of us were "raised to believe" that crate rest means crate rest period dot the end, and that certainly works for many dogs. Bottom line, everyone loves Speck and wants him to get better asap!!

[Chris]

If I might ask, what dosage is Pixel on for his Tramadol? Alex is taking his twice a day and I wonder if it is the same dose divided up differently or if Pixel is getting a stronger dose? Alex has only been on Tramadol since Wednesday. Ok, to be fair, he had one dose Tramadol in the evening that day but had to skip it until the next evening because he went to the neuro. I was thinking when reading responses on Al's thread if it wasn't the pred kicking in but the tramadol that was helping him. dunno.

[Lisa]

Pixel gets 10mg 3 x per day. The Pred reduces the swelling, but the Tramadol is an opiate and helps with the pain. Like Amy mentioned some dogs need a muscle relaxer too.

[Chris]

What is Pixel's weight? I either overlooked it or it slipped my brain. I keep thinking Alex is bigger but he is now slim and trim so not as big as some of the other guys any more - but def. much bigger in the "slipper feet" department.

[Lisa]

Pixel is right around 10 lbs.

[wawailc]

I'm glad one of my favorite pies is doing so well! :cheer3: GO PIXEL!!

[Chris]

Sorry to ask so many q's -

Is he getting 10 mg each time at 3 times a day or a 10 mg pill divided into 3?

Al has 50 mg pills divided in quarters and takes one quarter twice a day - so 25 mg a day. Just trying to assess if he is getting enough - he's about the same size as Pix but for some reason I think the vet scale is a little funky. I just keep thinking he looks like he weighs more.

[Lisa]

He is getting 10mg 3x per day (so 30 mg per day). No problem. We are here to help!!!!!! I have never been though non-surgery, so the DLCers have been helping me along like crazy.