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Post by Larry & Sniddles on Sept 22, 2018 22:36:28 GMT -7
Ugh. Second episode. My dog is Sniddles. He is a 15 pound dachshund. His first episode was a couple of years ago. He was completely down with no bladder control. Complete recovery. Well tonight he started crying and when I picked him up, he screamed. He is still able to walk.I gave him 1/4 tablet of 500mg methocarbamol and 1 gabapentin 100mg. I have Prednisone, but don't want to start it until talking with the vet Monday. I may start it tomorrow if he is still in a bad way. Our crate rest starts now  [Moderator's note: please do not edit
Weight: 15 lbs.
Methocarbamol 125 mg ?x/day
Gabapentin 100 mg ?x/day] |
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Marjorie
Moderator~ 
Member since 2011. Surgery & Conservative
Posts: 5,724 
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Post by Marjorie on Sept 23, 2018 5:02:48 GMT -7
Good job on immediately crating Sniddles, Larry.
Do you have an emergency vet that can see Sniddles this morning rather than waiting until Monday? The sooner an anti-inflammatory is started, the better, and you're correct that you shouldn't start Prednisone yourself. Prednisone is one med that you don't want to prescribe yourself. Plus it's been two years since the first episode and unless recent blood work has been done, it would be wise to do blood work before starting an anti-inflammatory to check the health of Sniddles' organs. It's the pressing of the swelling/disc material on the nerves of the spine that can cause nerve damage and therefore the need to start an anti-inflammatory ASAP.
Once an anti-inflammatory has been prescribed, please don't forget to speak to the vet about giving Sniddles 5 mg of Pepcid AC 2x/day (30 mins. before the anti-inflammatory and then every 12 hours thereafter) for as long as Sniddles is on an anti-inflammatory to protect against side effects. Phrase the question to your vet in this particular way: "Is there any medical reason my dog may not take Pepcid AC?" If your vet says your dog has no health issues such as liver, heart, etc to keep her from taking Pepcid AC, then do get it on board.
Healing prayers for Sniddles.
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Post by Larry & Sniddles on Sept 24, 2018 14:19:12 GMT -7
Went to the vet today. Sniddles is now on Rimadyl 1/2 tablet twice a day, 1/4 tablet 500 mg methocarbamol twice a day for 8 days, and pepcid. Since there is a methocarbamol shortage, after day 8 we will switch to Valium. I am not sure on mg of stuff right now because I am not nearby. Will update later on that.
[Moderator's note: please do not edit
15 lbs.
Rimadyl as of 9/24: 12.5mgs 2x/day for 14 days then 10/8 STOP to test for pain/neuro loss
Methocarbamol 125 mg 2x/day enough for 8 days due to shortages
Valium 10mg tab as of 9/30: 2.5 to 5mgs 2x/day
Pepcid AC 5mgs 2x/day]
Rimadyl for 30 days 1/2 25mg tablet two times a day.
No more Gabapentin right now.
Methocarbamol is 1/4 tablet twice a day 500 mg for 8 days then Valium for remaining 22 days at 1/4 to 1/2 twice a day 10mg.
Pepcid 5mg twice a day.
Recheck in two weeks.
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Post by Larry & Sniddles on 9/23 at 8:17am
Sniddles is good this morning. He doesn't seem to have pain. No hard stomach, no shivering, no ears back etc. His reflexes are good. He is happily relaxing in his crate. He peed this morning. He has been tail wagging. If nothing changes, I will wait until tomorrow for the vet. The vet gave me all meds in case this happened, so I am keeping a close eye on him.
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PaulaM
Moderator. 
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,589
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Post by PaulaM on Sept 25, 2018 6:18:11 GMT -7
Larry, while the bottle of Rimadyl may contain enough doses for 30 days, it would not be prudent to give a 30 day course of Rimadyl. Rimadyl is a good med when needed. Once it has done its job to clear up all swelling, then all that is left for Sniddles is to be subjected to the many serious side effects Rimadyl can cause.
So the reason that prudent vets call for a course of Rimadyl, maybe a 5-7 days course or even some vets will call for a 14 day course and then STOP to test for pain. If all pain is gone, then no need of any medications. If there is any hint of pain raising up, then all meds need to be back on board pronto to continue to work on swellling.
Do discuss more with your vet what his actual thinking is. All vets must simply take a guess on how many days to call for a course of Rimadyl. What is your vet's actual guess on what the first course ought to be?
Let us know with the dropping of gabapentin, if all pain remains covered round the clock by only one pain med now and only given every 12 hours.
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Post by Larry & Sniddles on Sept 25, 2018 8:19:54 GMT -7
He is in no pain this morning. This is a very mild episode so far. He will be checked in 2 weeks to see if Rimadyl should be discontinued. The last time Sniddles went down, the vet thought that he could have pain still because his back healed in an arch. It could be that his pain now is because of his arched back, so we are just going for a wait and see approach.If you look back on the board to Sniddles last episode, there is a picture of how his back healed. He gets around great, but just is a hunchback now. So really this could be residual arthritis from his original episode or a new disc is slowly going out. From Sniddles last episode, picture of how his back healed. |
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PaulaM
Moderator.
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,589
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Post by PaulaM on Sept 25, 2018 9:04:24 GMT -7
Thanks, then there is a 14-day course of Rimadyl and then there would be a test for pain.
Let us knwow which your vet wants at the end of the 14 days:
--- backing off of pain meds OR
--- full stop of pain meds when Rimadyl stops so that you can successfully and quickly alert if pain still is there.
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