Hi, welcome to Dodgerslist. Everyone here has a dog with IVDD so you have come to the right place.
Pain relief is a critical part of treating IVDD and Charsie is still in pain. Pain will only slow the healing process.. Often a combination of three medicines, each attacking pain differently is needed for full pain relief. Methocarbamol for painful muscle contractions.
Tramadol Rx'd 3x/day as the general pain reliever
Gabapentin for nerve pain also Rx'd 3x/day.
Call your vet and advocate for the addition of Methocarbamol. Do this as soon as possible. There is no reason for Charsie to be in pain.
"There is medicine and there is healing. Healing requires rest and comfort, and all patients should be kept as comfortable as possible. Studies have shown a correlation between less pain and faster recovery from illness, surgery, or injury." Barak Benaryeh, DVM, DABVP. Identifying Pain in Geriatric Patients. Veterinary Team Brief. NOV/Dec 2015.
How much does Charsie weigh?
If the pred was prescribed or 5 days on 5/26 the taper will be starting. If a dog is still in pain a taper should not be tried. It is the swelling in the spinal cord that causes the pain and the pred works on the swelling.
Was the pred prescribed without a 4-7 day washout from the Rimadyl? This can cause serious stomach problems.
The FDA says "Only one brand of NSAID should be administered to a dog at any given time. If at some time the owner and the veterinarian decide to try a different NSAID, a wash-out period is recommended. A wash-out period is a few days long, during which the dog does not receive any NSAID. Then the dog can be switched to another NSAID. NSAIDs should not be combined with the use of a corticosteroid, either." What Veterinarians Should Tell Clients About Pain Control and Their Pets . Michele Sharkey, DVM, Office of New Animal Drug Evaluation; Margarita Brown, DVM, Office of Surveillance and Compliance; and Linda Wilmot, DVM, Office of New Animal Drug Evaluation.– FDA Veterinarian Newsletter, 2006, Vol. XXI, No. I
www.fda.gov/cvm/FdaVetFirst2006.htm#6059 ☐ Let us know you are on the same page about crate rest. The hallmark component of conservative treatment is the crate rest part. With little blood supply discs are much slower to form good scar tissue than it takes a blood rich broken bone to heal. That 6 weeks of a cast for a broken arm to heal is similar to the recovery suite being a kind of cast for the disc. 100% STRICT crate rest 24/7 for 8 weeks provides limited movement to allow good strong scar tissue to form. Super tried and true tips for setting up the recovery suite:
www.dodgerslist.com/literature/CrateRRP.htm STRICT means:
- no laps - no couches
- no baths - no sleeping with you
- no chiro therapy - no dragging or meandering at potty times.
Carry to and from the recovery suite to the potty place and then allow a very few limited footsteps. Using a sling (long winter scarf, ace bandage, belt) will save your back and help to keep a wobbly dog's back aligned and butt from tipping over. A harness and 6 foot leash is to control speed and keep footsteps to minimum as you stand in one spot. An ex-pen in the grass is an excellent alternative to minimizing footsteps with the physical and visual to indicate there will be no sniff festing going on!
www.dodgerslist.com/literature/slingwalk.jpg The Pepcid is effective for only 12 hours so it works best given twice a day.
Is she eating and drinking OK? Poops OK - normal firmness & color -no dark or bright red blood?
It is very scary when our dogs have IVDD. It becomes less so when we learn all we can about the disease. An excellent page to start with is "Overview: the essentials" and then read all you can as soon as possible. Here's the link:
www.dodgerslist.com/healingindex.htm 
But since I am home today I could finally see that her pain is still uncontrolled -- she is ok one moment and arched back and shaking at another moment even with the medication currently prescribed.
