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Post by Rebecca & Arthur on Feb 26, 2019 9:52:16 GMT -7
Post op. Surgery 2/6/19 5-6 years old
Hello Everyone,
I’m new to this site but plan on being a lifelong member as my dog, Arthur is in the post op recovery period for IVDD surgery.
I wanted to recommend UC Davis Veterinary School for back surgery! We had an awful experience with the ER department, but the neuro department was wonderful! They are quick to respond to any of your questions or concerns, handled Arthur with care and patience, and significantly cheaper than the first place we were referred to (VCA SF veterinary specialist, quote $12,700!!). Our surgery, imaging, and hospitalization stay for 3 nights at UC Davis cost $6,800. At a veterinary school your dog will get the best attention and surgery available! Board certified neurosurgeons and students attending to your fur baby.
Yes the surgery is super expensive. We tried non surgical treatment but Arthur kept declining, and the MRI showed internal bleeding so we had to do the surgery. I cannot recommend UC Davis enough! Rebecca and Arthur
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PaulaM
Moderator. 
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,535
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Post by PaulaM on Feb 26, 2019 10:09:04 GMT -7
Welcome Rebecca! We'd love to hear more about Arthur's current status during his post-op crate rest period. Can he walk even if wobbly? What directives did the surgeon give about PT at home or at a clinic? For how many weeks did the surgeon want for post op crate rest which includes the PT he directed? Is he still on any meds? His weight? Any signs of pain? What breed is Arthur? We'd love to have a submittal for our directory to help another trying to make decisions… Here is where you can share your dog's info: dodgerslist.boards.net/board/10/guidelines-postingState: Hospital: Address: Cost: Date of surgery: What was included in cost (MRI?, days stay, ER? PT? meds for home, sling, etc.) Comments: |
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Post by Rebecca & Arthur on Feb 26, 2019 10:32:10 GMT -7
Hi,
Arthur can walk on his own. Sling assistance stopped about a week ago.
Our neurosurgeon didn’t give any PT. I found this odd. She told me that since Arthur was proving to be strong and stable while there post op she didn’t think it necessary to do anything beyond allowing him to walk to and from potty breaks. I can tell he still needs stability and strengthing. Being a male, he likes to lift his leg while peeing and can get wobbly then.
Neurosurgeon recommended 4-6 weeks of crate rest. Arthur wasn’t crate trained prior to this and we have tried. The doctor even prescribed tramadol ((150mg up to 225mg every 8 hours) to help ease him. We found this not to be helpful. Arthur would continually try to escape the crate (physically jumping and pawing). See he’s my companion dog. He was trained to be there for me. He would get agitated he couldn’t follow me around the house and I couldn’t live in or next to the crate with him 24/7. He would relax and sleep in the crate when I was right next to him but if I left the house it was awful to watch on the home cam.
The neurologist then recommended a room restriction. Which is working in the living room (access to furniture is blocked even though hes never been allowed on it). We live in a 950 square foot apartment so there isn’t many places for him to walk regardless. And she said since she didn’t prescribe PT exercises that him walking in the restricted room would be ample enough exercise.
Arthur is 70lbs and is a lab mix. I do sometimes still give him trazodone (150mg) if I’ll be out of the house longer than a few hours. Since having his surgery on 2/6 Arthur doesn’t have anymore pain. It was awful to see him on pain meds, constantly shaking and panting in such excruciating pain. I know recovery is the most important thing to focus on and I’m doing my best. I just never know how fragile I’m supposed to be with him and I want to try to eliminate another episodes since I couldn’t afford the first surgery to begin with.
★1 Arthur weighs 70lbs
Arthur got dilaudid and cortisone shot on 1/30 as part of conservative treatment. We were sent home with Tramadol 100mg every 12 hours and Prednisone 10mg tapering calendar (4 a day down to 3, then 2 a day).
Currently as of 2/26 we don’t take the above meds as Arthur had surgery. The only thing I give him now is Connectin Hip and Joint powder, 2 scoops a day.
★2 Arthur is a lab mix. My name is Rebecca
★3 On 1/30 our primary vet did an X-ray and said he saw narrowing of the spine. He referred us to neurology. During that waiting period Arthur steadily declined, didn’t respond to conservative treatment. He was on pain meds and steroids Anti-Inflammatory but Arthur continued to lose function of hind quarters and remain in excruciating pain (shivering, panting, not able to get comfortable, totally tense body, couldn’t lower head to eat so I had to hold the bowl up etc). So I took him to UC Davis neurologist dept for testing on 2/6. The MRI showed “a huge herniation and internal bleeding”. They immediately rolled him into surgery.
★4 Primary vet 1/30. Neurologist appt on 2/6 which led him into immediate surgery.
★5 No pain. Post op surgery on 2/6.
★6 Eating and drinking OK? Poops OK -Yes since the surgery we are back to normal, almost.
★7 Arthur can walk unassisted since having his surgery. Prior to it he was unable to walk.
★8 Since having surgery Arthur can eliminate on his own.
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PaulaM
Moderator.
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,535
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Post by PaulaM on Feb 26, 2019 11:34:08 GMT -7
Rebecca, it is quite normal for a dog who can walk post op for the PT to be a walk to and from the potty place. PT is always controlled for speed and supervised. So at potty time, you would use a leash and harness to control speed and to keep her from darting off. A dog born with disc disease, can have another. So it would be very useful to start crate training now so that he thinks of this crate as a safe place, his den, a place for a cat nap or to chew privately on his favorite toy. Good information on how to go about training him: www.dodgerslist.com/literature/EmergencyCrate%20Training.htmWhen you get the word from the neuro whether 4 or 6 weeks of crate rest, then you will know what the graduation date is. Upon graduation you will want to begin a gradual program of letting him have some free range time in your home, some out doors. So more on what that schedule might look like plus lot more about making your home back friendly and training to use ramps (no more steps/stairs) and how to keep four paws on the floor in the After crate rest, then what?: www.dodgerslist.com/literature/AfterCrateRest.htm |
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Post by Rebecca & Arthur on Mar 6, 2019 12:05:23 GMT -7
Today Arthur is 4 weeks post op. He had been healing well. Walking well. Pain free. Hard to keep calm because he felt so good! Well over this past weekend he seemed to decline slightly. Walking more gingerly. One night hesitant to even get up to go potty. One time he yelped when I touched his back right leg. His right leg seemed to be weaker than usual. He also was diagnosed with bilateral osteoarthritis secondary to hip dysplasia (found during all the IVDD testing. Also found mild, almost illformed narrowing in C3-4 but they felt that wasn’t causing any problems).
Neuro dept where he had surgery still hasn’t phoned me back since Saturday. She emailed asking for a video and I sent one right away. We have seen DVM who couldn’t tell me if this was IVDD episode or arthritis. His reflex was good. We started Rimadyl, 62.5mg every 12 hours (and Pepcid) and cold laser therapy treatment with DVM for 2 sites (both hips and his incision area). Disappointing neuro hasn’t phoned us back. Perhaps because we have our post op follow up on 3/12.
[Moderator's Note. Please do not edit
New pain in leg 3/2
Rimadyl as of 3/2: 62.5mgs 2x/day
Pepcid AC ? mgs ?x/day ]
Arthur is back in crate 98% of time when I am home. The other 2% is for potty walks. He’s 70lbs so I cannot carry him to go potty. When I’m not home, he’s room restricted but since he’s on trazedone he hardly moves.
Just feeling so discouraged 😞. We just had surgery and he had been recovery so well. Not sure what happened 😞. We are new to IVDD and I want to make sure I do right for him. I’m just waiting for 3/12 when he can get full evaluation from neuro at our post op follow up. Can’t come soon enough.
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Post by Romy & Frankie on Mar 6, 2019 14:33:11 GMT -7
I am sorry that Arthur has declined slightly. You are doing the best thing possible for him by starting Strict crate rest. Until you know that this is not a disc episode, it is safest to treat it like one and crate Arthur.
Is Arthur still reluctant to get up and potty? This is almost certainly pain. These are the sings of pain we look for; ☐shivering, trembling ☐yelping when picked up or moved ☐reluctant to move much in crate such as shift positions or slow to move ☐tight tense tummy ☐can’t find a comfortable position ☐Arched back ☐ Holding front or back leg flamingo style not wanting to bear weight ☐head held high or nose to the ground ☐Not their normal perky selves?
Rimadyl will work on swelling but it can take some time for the swelling to have healed and in the meantime pain meds are needed to keep Arthur comfortable. If Arthur is still showing signs of pain, and you can't reach the neuro, please speak with your regular vet about pain meds. Next week is too long a time for a dog to be in pain.
I am not sure why the neuro did not call you back. Maybe call again as a reminder.
Crate rest for a dog in conservative treatment is stricter than crate rest for post surgery dogs. Unless you get a different diagnosis, it would be best to keep Arthur's potty walks as short as possible. Perhaps you can put casters on the crate so you can roll it near the door. During my Frankie's disc episode I kept a pee pad outside his crate so he would not have to walk outside. At first he was reluctant to use it. He had been taught not to go in the house. I got a paper towel with another dog's urine and put it on the pad and then Frankie used it.
You are doing right by Arthur. When this started you put him right back in the crate which is the safest place for him right now.
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Post by Rebecca & Arthur on Mar 6, 2019 14:39:21 GMT -7
His pain level seems on and off. Half the time he doesn't appear to have any pain, then at times he'll have moving hesitation, and yelped when I accidentally laid only slightly on his right leg. We saw the vet yesterday and they didn't give us pain meds because he didn't appear to be in any. But I will call and ask about getting some on hand. I do know that he hides his pain well.
Arthur never used pee pads, even when I rubbed it in his pee, or tried to praise/encourage it. We tried pee pads for a week prior to surgery since his condition was much more significant than what's going on now. When he'd pee in the house during that week, I'd grab pee pads and stick them under. He'd go on several (big dog) then he'd tremble in shame. I just couldn't get him to feel okay about the pee pad. I'd prefer he doesn't go in his crate and all over himself, so the best we can do with 100% crate rest is letting him take the walk down the hallway to the elevator then out to the grass.
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Post by Romy & Frankie on Mar 6, 2019 14:51:06 GMT -7
Many dogs are stoic and do try to hid their pain. This is especially true in a place where they are not comfortable like the vet's office. You are with him the most and understand him best so if you see signs of pain Arthur is in pain and should have pain meds. Pain meds in IVDD should be given on a regular schedule and not as needed. The reason for this is that it is much harder to relieve pain that has already started than to keep pain at bay.
I remember how hard it was to get Frankie to use the pee pad. He was just like Arthur, he did NOT want to use them. I tried putting some of his own pee on the pad and that didn't help. My son's dog was happy to make a donation on a paper towel. This is what did the trick with Frankie. He always would want to pee where the other dogs have peed.
If this doesn't work for Arthur, just do your best to keep his footsteps to an absolute minimum when taking him outside.
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