Question on Spinal Issue

[lala25]

I'm trying to raise enough money for Bruno to get an MRI and surgery for his bulging disc. He is on round 3 of crate rest and this time we went from anti inflammatories with a muscle relaxer the first two times to prednisone and a muscle relaxer. It's been a week and he is still lame at times with his left hind leg. Our vet says it's probably from the nerve being compressed where his bulging disc is and that it can take a while to see improvement...like WEEKS even after the steroid is done. I feel so bad for my little bugger and if I can get him the surgery before it gets worse I will do just that.

My questions is this...if I can't afford the surgery because we got denied financing through a few different sources =( what kind of life would he live from here on out? Will he always be in pain? If he ends up with hind leg paralysis we he still live a comfortable happy life? Any insight would be helpful...I'm heart broken right now.

[lotsadox]

It takes way more than a week for spinal problems to heal. Have patience. Bogart was on crate rest and pred for 10 weeks, but made a complete recovery and at 15 could even run! I've had 2 dogs with spinal problems that have had complete recoveries with crate rest and meds. Listen to your vet. It does take WEEKS for them to heal. This is not a minor injury.

How long were the previous rounds of crate rest? If they were only few weeks, he probably never completely healed from those and so is just having a recurrence. Check out Dodger's List. They have great info on IVDD. I believe that 8 weeks crate rest is recommended.

There are a lot of threads here on IVDD and recovery in dogs with only crate rest and meds. Have patience. Bruno can heal with complete crate rest and meds. That means only getting out of the crate to go potty and even then carry him out and carry him back and he's on a leash when he's outside.

[lala25]

His very first crate rest was 3 weeks with anti inflammatory and a muscle relaxer. Then a week or so later he was acting up again. The second rest was the same meds but one week into it I called for the steroid because he was still in pain. So now it's been another week with the steroid. I have read it can take alot longer than 3 weeks. My vet said another 3-4 but I'm thinking I will make it longer this time. I really want him to heal right.

Did your dogs have any more episodes after that?

Right now he's only out to potty and drink and eat. And we carry him everywhere.

Thank you so much for your help...I feel better now =).

[lotsadox]

I think that 6 to 8 weeks is a minimum and would follow that regime. I did 2 weeks longer than my vet recommended just because Bogart was older and had trouble healing. He was fine after. Neither of mine ever had a recurrence but they were older dogs. Some will have recurrences even with surgery. Surgery isn't always a "fix" for it. Jax on this board has had surgery and a couple recurrences. My chiro told me that one of the reasons that back surgery isn't always a complete fix is that it changes the geometry of the back and thus there can be problems from that. Not always, but sometimes.

It sounds like you're doing really well with Bruno. Have patience (I know it's sooooo hard) and keep doing what you are doing. It sounds like Bruno just needs a bit more time to heal. Something I've done is gradually transition them to complete freedom just in case. First letting them walk only on carpeted or grass areas on leash, then a giving them more freedom bit by bit.

Please keep us updated on Bruno's progress.

[lala25]

I'm trying to not worry...it's killing me not having him snuggling on the big bed with me =(. But we can't risk him jumping off of it anymore =/. I will be on here alot through this I really appreciate the support from those who have gone through this. I am going to crate rest him for the full 8 weeks. Better to be safe than sorry. Any recommendations on ways to entertain him that won't cause him to gain weight? I can't give him most toys because he swallows things and chews them up.

[lotsadox]

Kongs filled with peanut butter and frozen are a popular treat for keeping them entertained in the crate. My dogs like bones so I used those. I also got a dog stroller for Bogart. Best thing I ever did. It's like a crate on wheels so I could put him in it and take him with me from room to room. He was much happier and quieter after I did that. I know Lisa used a stroller for her dogs when they had back problems and Amy put Laika's crate on a rolling cart so she could keep her move her around with her. I always feel like happy dogs are bound to heal faster and do better.

[Lisa]

I totally agree what Patrice said.

Doggie stroller = awesome
Kongs filled with PB (frozen) = sleep time for mommy.

It took Pixel (realistically) 12 weeks to fully heal. And even then, I would say it was 90% and another 4 weeks to 100%.

If you have a clinic near you that does acupuncture or laser treatments they are wonderful and I would highly recommend either.

Think of IVDD in two stages.
1) Healing / calcification stage
2) Re-hab stage.

Right now he is in stage 1, so don't even worry about stage 2 yet. Give him the healing time and then focus on reconnecting the brain to the back end.

p.s. you didn't mention tramadol, is he on that as well for the pain?

It is horrible to see them uncomfortable and in pain. But please, please stick with it. It is a short amount of time in long run.

Just an FYI, with Halloween next week, you might want to set something up for him upstairs to keep him calm with the doorbell going.

pps. Don't worry about his weight right now. Cut back on his food a bit, add some pumpkin (pure stuff not pie filling) to fill him up.

[Tex]

Ditto to all the advice given already. My Jax has been through back surgery twice & is currently on crate rest & meds for a disc in his neck. It's not easy, but they absolutely can have a wonderful quality of life weather they ever walk again or not.

[Alex's Mom]

ITA with everything that's been said. I might add that you need to find a vet who knows more about IVDD...it doesn't sound like yours is too well informed, given his (her?) advice re: treatment. Just a thought...maybe somebody on the board lives near you and has a suggestion?

[Ivan]

If you want a list of recommended vets, you can join the Yahoo (sister) group which is a forum belonging to dodgerslist.com:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Dodgerslist/

and view its "Database" which contains a "General DVM Vet Recommendations Database (http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Dodgerslist/database?method=reportRows&tbl=33)"

You can sort that list by zipcode, if you click on that column title.