My a peanut is in pain

[Notre Dame Mom]

Peanut has seen neuro who just put her on crate rest and gabapentin. A week later and she stil is in pain. Called emergency and they added tramadol. Any advice. I am a wreck.

[lotsadox]

Is it Peanut's back that's hurting? If it's his/her back, it can take 6 weeks or more to heal and Peanut will need to be on strict crate rest all that time. I know its a long time but it can work miracles. I had a 15 year old who was down and came completely back to where he could even run with crate rest.

[Notre Dame Mom]

Neuro said it was her back. I was on this board years ago with my other Doxie Angel. Peanut is 4 years old. It is just they gave her no steroid only pain meds and crate rest. She seemed to be getting a bit better but this morning we had set back with her waking with pain. Neuro not in till tomorrow but the specialty hospital emergency said to add tramadol to gabapentin. She is more restful but I am worried is this a setback or just the normal course of recovery. I was fortunate with Angel, no back issues.

[lotsadox]

I've used steroids on the dogs and not used steroids. Personally, if they can get by without the steroids, I'd rather they did. Steroids are extremely hard on dogs so I avoid them if at all possible. As long as she's quiet, I'd just go with it and see what happens.

I know how stressful it is. I adopted Darby in 2014 after losing Miller and he had back problems after only a few months. He was NOT good on crate rest. Very upset and stressed so I had to keep him restricted and quiet anyway I could. But it worked. With chiro every 6 weeks, he hasn't had a recurrence since then.

[Notre Dame Mom]

Thank you. Peanut is also a fearful dog. Has a hard time around people other than the family. How does a chiropractor work on these dogs. She is a sweetheart and I want to do everything possible.

Can they have a setback day even though they are being crated?

[LUVMYGUNNER]

Petunia went Down DEC 18, last year and the first thing we did is put her on Prednisone, Tramadol and started her on the adequan injections...also crates rest and a week later we started her acupuncture, later the acupuncturist added gapabentine to her meds.......she was fine by the 6th week

[Notre Dame Mom]

I don't understand why the neurological would not give her prednisone. One week crate rest and in pain. I can't wait for tomorrow. I am beside myself.

[LexieLuvr]

So sorry about your furkid! Lots of

[lotsadox]

My vet does chiro on my dogs. They call it VOM. Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation. Each dog is different. Did you ask the neuro about why he gave what he did? Most vets treat each dog individually and he probably had legitimate reasons for not using prednisone. Patients and owners of patients trying to diagnose, treat and prescribe for their dogs is often not the best course. You could get a second opinion if you think it's necessary.

Frankly, I've never seen a dog recover from back problems in a week, no matter what the dog is given. Back problems take time and rest. A bit of pain is not always a bad thing, it keeps the dog quiet. As soon as Bogart was on pred, I had to watch him really closely. He thought he was fine and wanted to run and play way before he could have been healed. If he had gotten away from me once, he could have undone all the healing that had taken place. You can't rush healing.

[Lisa]

I have had two dogs with IVDD. Pogo went fully down (blown disc) and had surgery. Pixel had a leaking disc and we did drugs and crate rest. Pixel went down more then once. The first time we did steroids. The second time, I already gave him metacam so we could not switch to a steroid. The end result between the Metacam and the Steroids were the same, but I personally found the steroids work faster. In both cases it took about 6 weeks of crate rest for him to walk again.

Either a NSAID or a Steroid is probably a good idea, along with tramadol. And I would get a second opinion right away.

Steps we took for Pixel.

1) 100% crate rest (it gets really loud week 3)
2) When he went out to potty - we carried him out and we used a sling (tensor bandage) right under his back legs to support him.
3) As he started getting stronger, we had to put a harness on him too and hold the sling and leash.
4) Follow the drug protocol + give 1/2 Pepsid 1/2 hour before the Steroids
5) DON'T GIVE UP. Just don't. There are days that it seems hopeless. There are ups and downs. She could be great in the morning and then seem worse in the afternoon. Don't give up. She will get better. It take TIME. Right now, the focus needs to be on getting her pain managed.

We did end up getting a pet stroller from Petsmart too. Once he started to feel better he did not want to be in his crate and that helped because he could always be beside us. We also changed his bedding to an ergonomic foam to help him while he healed. Also look into laser treatments. I have heard amazing things about them.

Lots of rayz, she gets better soon. Keep us posted how today's appointment goes.