Welcome. My name is Paula, what's yours?
Sorry to hear Marie is having to deal with pain not in control.
As to what treatment to follow without aid of adanced MRI imaging that can show soft tissue (disc, spinal cord) but only x-ray which shows only hard tissue of bone, information is incomplete to match for a appropriate treatment. Since the treatment has not prooved helpful, time to consider other options.
Resolution of the root cause of spinal cord inflammation/swelling provides the relief from pain due to a disc problem. It can take an anti-inflammatory (steroid or a non-steriodal NSAID) a range of 7 to 30 days before all swelling is gone.
The best pain medications control is using more than one approach to address pain from multiple fronts (traMADol-general analgesic, methocarbamol- muscle spasm pain, gabapentin-nerve pain). All three pain meds need to be prescribed three times a day as pain meds last for about 8 hrs.
Have no patience with pain as it does hinder healing. Look for your dog to be acting their normal, perky self when pain is fully under control round the clock.
SIGNS OF PAIN:
⚙︎ shivering-trembling ⚙︎ yelping when picked up or moved
⚙︎ tight tense tummy ⚙︎ arched back, ears pinned bac
⚙︎ restless, can't find a comfortable position
⚙︎ slow or reluctant to move in suite such as shift positions
⚙︎ not their normal perky interested in life selves
➕if a neck disc:
◻︎ head held high/ nose to the ground
◻︎ looks up with just eyes and does not move head and neck easily.
◻︎ not eating due to painful chewing or in too much overall pain
◻︎ holds front or back leg up flamingo style not wanting to bear weight
$1500 MRI is expensive and requires, same as for any quality image, the use of anesthesia. Even at her age has the disc ruptured? How much compression of the spinal cord? X-rays can only allow a guess. Since not doing crate rest has not improved the situation, maybe employing strict rest could give body a chance to resolve swelling, maybe the misplaced disc material can be re-aborbed by the body so as not to aggrevate the cord.
An expensive surgery would be to immediately remove offending disc material. Only a neuro or ortho surgeon is qualified to tell you if surgery would be a consideration for Marie's age and health.
Both Librella (canine monoclonal antibody pain med) and Galliprant (anti-inflammatory) are designed to specifically target pathways associated with arthritis.
Galliprant® (Grapiprant) so stated in the package insert
www.elancolabels.com/us/galliprant-with-tear-off was very specifically designed and targeted for arthritis pain.
CAUTION of 5-7 days of washout before switching to a different NSAID. If a pain emergency to switch right away, then double protect stomach with both
Pepcid AC (famotidine) PLUS
sucralfate
Rimadyl (carprofen), Metacam (meloxidyl) and other canine NSAIDS are more of a "broad spectrum" anti-inflammatory that CAN target inflammation of IVDD. Discuss if switching to a broad specturm NSAID could help.
I hope these ideas can aid in a good discussion with your vet as to which is the best way to give Marie the ability to enjoy a pain free life.
