Kim's Cassie 4/7 conservative

Kim, welcome to Dodgerslist.  I hear the heartbreak and stress you are under.  First thing you need to know is that there really is not a reason to be so stressed out. You need to begin after you read this message to retrain your mind and give Cassanova some positive energy... he needs to know it IS in the cards for him to get back to enjoying a fun life again after his recovery period...... and that will be the truth.  Soon you will know it to be true deep in your heart as well.

I need to get a couple of things clear in my mind. So will you fill us all in on these details:
Washington state, next to Portland, Oregon. 

-- Would you say that you are doing the single most important part of his care.... 100% STRICT crate rest 24/7 only out to potty for a full 8 weeks  …. No laps, no couch, no sleeping in bed with you, no meandering, scooting or dragging around during potty times. No baths, no chiropractic (aka VOM).  In other words do everything you can to limit the vertebrae in the back from moving and putting pressure on the bad disc.

The purpose of crate rest  is to act as a cast of sorts to let the disc heal… only limited movement  of STRICT crate rest allows that to happen…there are no meds to heal a disc. Immediate neuro improvement may or may not come during the 8 weeks of crate rest… as nerves may take more than 8 weeks to heal.

-- Is there still currently pain - shivering, trembling, yelping when picked up or moved, reluctant/slow to move head or body, tight hard tummy?  IF yes to the pain, there should NOT be a switch to a NSAID, that is a waste of precious time in getting swelling down in the spinal cord as 4-7 days of washout is needed. If there is no pain, then there is no reason for any meds, no NSAIDs, no steroids, no nothing.
   It sounds as though this 2nd vet is not comfortable in treating disc disease.  Can you get back with the 1st vet.

-- What are the exact names of meds currently given, their doses in mgs and frequencies?

-- Currently can your dog move the legs at all?  or wag the tail when you do some happy talk?

-- Do you find wet bedding or leaks on you when lifted up?

-- Eating and drinking OK?

-- Poops OK - normal color  and firmness, no dark or bright red blood?

What will make a great deal of difference is your own self education. Knowledge is the best defense in fighting and winning with this disease. Please do go to our main web page and read, read and re-read. A very quick way to get up to speed on meds, how healing happens and when for each of the phases is the   "Overview: the essentials" yellow button.  Then work your way  through the rest of the orange and blue buttons to complete your education.  Here's the link www.dodgerslist.com/healingindex.htm

Hang in there, you ARE doing the right thing... you are going to become educated and be an integral part of Cassonova's health care team, get the right vet back on board. We are here to support you... you can do this!!!

Thank you for your response. We are keeping Cassie on 24/7 crate rest. His meds are currently, Tramadol, 50 mg tabs, 1/4 to 1/2 every 8-12 hrs. We are giving 1/2 every 12 hrs. Next is Trazodone, 50 mg,  1/2 tab every 8-12 hrs and last is Methocarbamol, 500 mg, 1/4 tab every 12-hrs. 

Cassie does try to tell is when he has to potty but we get it mixed up with his crying to get out of crate. He's had a few accidents but not many. He does not poop on himself, we gave him lactulose at first but now he tells us and he goes about twice a day. He was wagging his tail once in awhile but he hasn't done that in several days now. We had to bathe him a few times when he urinated in his crate as he smelled horrible. (Long hair). We are extremely careful and scoop him up and support his rear end and front whenever we move him. He does not pant or seem to be in pain now. 

I understood your recommendation about no chiropractic services but what about acupuncture?  Should we do acupuncture?  We have two laser light treatments left and they asked us to consider acupuncture next. 

Last night he was sleeping and his rear legs were moving as his front were. Think he was dreaming. When he was waking up, I noticed he stretched his front legs and pulled his rear legs and curled his toes.  He did this several times. Is this a good sign?  

He eats pretty normal, we do have another doxie and Cassie is top dog so he's been crabby towards our other baby when he gets near the crate. Night time is hard on Cassie and me because he sleeps with me. But now I just carry Charlie (our other baby) and Cassie sleeps in his crate next to dad who is sleeping on the couch next to Cassie's crate. Cassie is whinny and cries to get out more now than he did before but we are staying the course. 

His stool is normal no odd color and he's eating his normal diet. He is really giving us a fight the last two days with his meds. We can't mix it with anything, nor use the wraps that the vet sold us. He smells it and the struggle starts. That is stressful on us probably more than him. He foams at the mouth so I suppose the pills are horrible. We are going to buy a pill shooter today. Prying his mouth open without hurting him is a concern. He is definitely stubborn. 

I agree with Stevieluv, it is better to not stress your family budget if it puts you into a position that might  not allow you to care for Cassie. Acupuncture is IF it is in your budget.  Dreaming is a head level activity and then a message was sent to the legs to move....that shows messages can travel the spinal cord and that was not a reflex movement that stretching could be!! Now nerve repair needs to continue to allow the leg muscles to coordinate with nerve directives... that can take time as nerves are slow to heal.

The very, very lightest least aggressive range of motion and leg massage is necessary for paralyzed legs during conservative treatment. It helps to keep the joints flexible and muscle circulation up. The information highlighted in PINK pertains to a dog who can't walk.
www.dodgerslist.com/literature/massagepassiveexercises.htm

Do try to avoid at all cost giving a bath... it is just too dangerous. Better is to use a damp washcloth, non-scented babywipes. If you need to trim some fur to make clean up easier, then do that.

Tramadol is an extremely bitter medication. Make sure when splitting the tablet no dust remains on your fingers.  Once they taste Tramadol they will be forever suspicious.

Things have  likely forever changed at your house now and something you should be aware of for after crate rest. For dogs the inborn instinct about weakness is for survival protection of the pack as a whole. There are two things that can happen in pack dynamics when a dog has been or is sick.
1. The healthy one may try to eliminate the weaker in the pack.
2. For the sick one, now the weaker in the pack to become more protective and aggressive because they know they are weaker now and may be subject to being attacked.

Make sure that Cassie feels protected from his best bud when home alone... the crate will be that source of protection. Whenever you leave the house and they are not supervised, it is a good idea to crate them for their own safety.  We have had many instances where a deadly attack among best buds could have been avoided by crating. One I recall is of two sisters who had grown up together and never showed any signs of aggression to one another. The two dogs were put in the kitchen while their owners went out to dinner. They came home to find the IVDD dog almost dead from the vicious attacks of the other.

There is not a way to tell yet if all the swelling in the spinal cord is gone as the pain meds are masking pain.  Before starting the other class of anti-inflammatory...NSAIDs, it would not be a bad idea to back of the pain meds or stop them to get a good read on if there is any pain.  If there is no pain, then there would not be any need of any medications at all. All meds carry with them adverse side effects, so it is best to not use them when there is no need of them.

Stay committed to the 100% STRICT crate rest 24/7 only out at potty times for 8 weeks as that is what is going to allow the disc to heal....   I think Cassie is going to have  some more good surprises in store for you!!!

We found that accupuncture helped alot, and Stevie was very relaxed during her treatments. Our Veterinary accupuncturist finished the session with laser therapy too.

Cassie has made great progress. He's walking now. He gets tired easy and he has less function on his right side bit he's 100% better than he was before. We are so happy we didn't give up and followed the advise we received from everyone. He and his partner Charlie are crated in separate crates when we aren't home and really, they are both happier because they aren't in trouble for doing naughty things while we were gone and they are so happy when we come home. Cassie doesn't walk well on our hardwood floor but he gets around fine in the back yard and on the carpet and he is happy. We bought him a new toy today and he is in chew heaven. He gets pretty tired quick but he will improve each day. Thank you for all your advise and encouragement. We are happy today!

Hi Kim!

What a great update, so glad Cassie is walking! Keep us posted and thanks for letting us know!