Sofie's turn

[LUVMYGUNNER]

JMO---when Gunner went down, we did the adequan series and prednisone for about 2 weeks, before he went completely down...the neuro in Tucson questioned why Gunner was not on a pain med...I told him the Vet did not think he needed it, and he told me---YES he does...so this time with Petunia---we did the adequan, prednisone and I asked for Tramadol to give her for a few days...after a few weeks a Vet that we take her to for therapy, also recommended putting her on another med and we did-for 2 weeks...she is at 5 weeks and doing good....next week will be 6 weeks, and we will just do leash walking for a few more weeks---no sling....we will crate until 8 weeks and go from there...we are still doing acupuncture for her also...

[alfina]

Today she looks perfect. I don't see anything wrong with her. Is that Prednisone or were we wrong about her back?

I set the crate up that we used for Sebastian and she hates it. She is constantly trying to get out, pushing her blanket and pee pad into the water bowl, etc. Sebastian was easy. He was in pain and medicated. With her it is totally different.

[lotsadox]

I think it's probably the pred that's making her walk fine. Bogart thought he was superdog when he was on pred. I had to keep him in a harness 24/7 so I could hold on to him or he would try to run!

Bogart was relatively easy with the crate rest. Darby was a nightmare. He stays in his crate all day when we go to work but it's totally different when we are at home. He screamed, clawed, dug at the crate door and it went on and on and on. For hours. I finally gave up on the crate rest and just kept him confined and on a leash at all times. I even slept with him next to me and the leash around my upper arm so I'd know if he tried to get off the bed. I was really worried about him jumping down.

[Alex's Mom]

I know with Heidi (the second time) we started treating for back, but quickly realized that it was actually muscular, and kept her on restricted movement for a few week (off pred) and she was fine. It's so hard to tell without an MRI sometimes!!! But MUCH better safe than sorry. Ferk is supposed to be crated for her back legs, but with only a little bit of life left, I'm not doing it. Bad owner, maybe, but she's not spending her last time in a crate!!!!!!!

[alfina]

I know with Heidi (the second time) we started treating for back, but quickly realized that it was actually muscular, and kept her on restricted movement for a few week (off pred) and she was fine. It's so hard to tell without an MRI sometimes!!! But MUCH better safe than sorry. Ferk is supposed to be crated for her back legs, but with only a little bit of life left, I'm not doing it. Bad owner, maybe, but she's not spending her last time in a crate!!!!!!!

I don't think what you are doing with Ferk is wrong. I don't think you are a bad owner. I think you are doing what is best for her. I look at it as a palliative care. It is not hospice care. But palliative care. Concentrating on quality of life while maintaining comfort, continuing with some treatments while choosing to opt out of others that may affect quality of life but not necessary result in cure in patients with chronic condition in its advanced stages. It is something that physicians should promote more. I work on the unit that specializes in heart failure and I wish more families were open to speaking with palliative care specialists. It is often confused with giving up and hospice care.

[alfina]

Well, Sofie acts like she is 100%. I don't see as pronounced symptoms as she was at the beginning, she still wants to jump off my bed etc. At times I still think she has some stiffness in the rear. But she is so stoic. I have her in the same crate that I used for Sebastian during the day. She hates it. I can't put anything there besides her bed and water bowl. She will dump everything else in the water bowl. We are now on reduced dose of prednisone. I chose to be safe and treat it as if it was her back and finish the course. We went for another laser treatment this week and I will get her in again next week. We get to see our usual vet next week for re-check.