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Post by Susan & Larry on Sept 18, 2018 16:23:13 GMT -7
☆ 1 How much does your dog weigh? 24lbs 3yr old french bulldog with ivdd Gabapentin 100mg 3x day, trazadone 50mg 2x day, tramadol 50mg 2x a day, prednisone 7 1/2mg 2x day for 7 days, 1x day for 7 days, every other day for 7 days, porazacin 1mg 1x day and a fentanyl patch ☆ 2 French bulldog named Larry, my name is Susan ☆ 3 -- Is the vet a general practice DVM or a specialist surgeon (ACVIM neurology or ACVS ortho)? neurologist☆ 4 What was the date you saw the vet and started 100% STRICT crate rest 24/7 for 8 weeks? Larry is a 3 year old French bulldog. Last September on his 2nd birthday he came out of cage and wasn't acting right, a few hours later he was dragging his legs. The next morning (Sept 30,2017) he had surgery on T13 on spine. He did amazing. after surgery strict cage rest for 8 weeks.
Now on 8/27/18 as he was walking his back legs were crossing, I rushed him to vet and he was put on prednisone and tramadol and trazadone. after 3 days his pain got worse and he was screaming in pain, went to neurologist where they put the fentanyl patch on and increased tramadol to 3x a day when needed. Dr. said he did not need surgery because he was walking and doing well. its now sept 18th and hes been on strict cage rest and he has one more day of prednisone. Hes taking gabapentin 100mg 2x day and trazadone 50mg 2x day. [Moderator's note: please do not modify
24 lbs
Prednisone as of 8/27 : 7.5mgs 2x/day for 7 days then 9/3 taper
gabapentin 100 mgs 2x/day
tramadol 50 mgs 3x/day
fentanyl patch as of 8/30 expires when?
trazadone 50 mgs 2x/day
prazosin 1 mg 1x/day] He's also getting laser therapy. He did 3x a week the first week, then 2x a week, then once a week and now he goes to once a month. He's still on cage rest and getting ansy in cage cause hes feeling better. He's not 100% yet but I hope he will be soon and I hope he will be able to live outside the cage soon. ☆ 5 He doesn't seem to have pain anymore. ☆ 6 He can walk, some days he looks better then others.☆ 7 He can urinate and defecate normally ☆ 8 eating drinking and pooping ok  |
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PaulaM
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Post by PaulaM on Sept 18, 2018 19:33:05 GMT -7
Susan, welcome to Dodgerslist! Glad to hear your neuro is giving you great support during conservative treatment. Thanks to your fast action to get help, I believe Larry's disc episode has been kept mild. Good job. The Fentanyl Patch of Sept Aug 30 has been taken off, no other added? Is prazosin (porazacin ??)the med he is taking 1 mg 1x/day? Did he have some issues with urinating? By graduation day on Oct 22, Larry's disc will have healed and he can begin a gradual program of reintroducing him back to physical activity and family life. Stick to your guns about limited movement of the back. It is when the vertebrae move while walking, etc that they naturally push on discs. Well the disc that is healing is not yet strong enough. The single most important care is 100% STRICT rest 24/7 for the full 8 weeks, only out of the recovery suite for a very, very few footsteps at potty time. That is how a disc heals. STRICT means: ◼︎no laps ◼︎no couches ◼︎no baths ◼︎no sleeping with you ◼︎no chiro therapy "whys": __ www.dodgerslist.com/literature/chiropractic.htm ◼︎no meandering at potty times. ◼︎no PT for conservative walking dogs during 8 weeks to heal disc ◼︎laser or acupuncture for severe neuro damage is best at home via a mobile vet. Transports are always a risk to the disc of too much movement. Vet visits must be weighed risk vs. benefit for dogs with little to mild neuro diminishment. When all pain meds (gabapentin, tramadol) have been stopped then accurate assessment of whether there is still pain and the need to be back up on the origianal 7.5mgs pred 2x/day or if all swelling is really gone. Backing off of pain meds can be to avoid rebound pain. Let us know what date your neuro will have all pain meds stopped by. This way you'll have the best opportunity to assess for pain. Pain= another course of anti-inflammatory + all pain meds back on board.
No Pain= no need of any pain meds...go to finish of pred taper.
Complete the 8 weeks of crate rest for the disc to heal.
The full details on how Prednisone, an anti-inflammatory works with a disc episode. Good reading to be able to ask the right questions and discuss treatment: www.dodgerslist.com/literature/healingsweling.htm |
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Post by Susan & Larry on Sept 19, 2018 6:36:12 GMT -7
Yes the fentonyl patch is off and he did not need another one. The prazocin was because he was having trouble urinating. It was because he was in so much pain he wouldn’t urinate fully and he wound up with a urinary tract infection which is all gone now. Do you know anything about the wiggless dog brace? Is it good for the dogs to use?
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PaulaM
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Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,545
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Post by PaulaM on Sept 19, 2018 7:28:25 GMT -7
Susan, you can read the discussion on back braces to learn in more detail why they are not recommended: dodgerslist.boards.net/thread/826/back-bracesLet us know when your neuro will have pain meds fully stopped so that you can accurately assess for pain. Oh my, so sorry to hear initially pain meds were under medicated for a disc episode causing Larry to not want to move much to urinate fully. Glad that he is in such a good place now!!! There are other owners in same predicament of needing to find a vet who knows pain meds so that conservative treatment can go forward. Some can find another general DVM in town who is more comfortable in their knowledge of IVDD. But often the fastest way is to seek the consult of a specialist to get the meds corrected fastest. Would you consider helping another trying to find an IVDD knowledgeable vet for conservative treatment by adding your neuro to our directory at this link: dodgerslist.boards.net/board/10/guidelines-posting vet recommendations: Name of Vet Name of Clinic Street Address City: State or country: Type of vet (general/board certified surgeon, acupuncture, etc.) Comments: |
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Post by Julie & Perry on Sept 19, 2018 7:43:14 GMT -7
I'm glad Larry is no longer in pain. That's great that you advocated so well for him. Larry is adorably cute!
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