Amber's Remy 4/26 Surgery NECK

Thanks for your concern about the Rimadyl. I was really worried about it too, we made sure to give them the lowest possible dose and to use the Pepcid religiously. Gradually after about three weeks we took him off the Rimadyl and also the tramadol.
He had a follow up with the neurologist last week and he said he looks great.

The one major issue were having with all of this is that it seems to have increased his separation anxiety with me a TON. Literally, if he can't see me, he's crying or whining or screaming or barking. For the past month I've only left the house 2 or 3 times when my mother has come over to watch him and my other two frenchies. I can't even go bring the garbage out without screaming. It's out of control.....

My other male frenchie does the same thing but since he can trot around after me, it's not so bad. I'm at my wits end. My neighbors left a note last year that the dogs bark the entire time I'm gone and since then I'm totally paranoid to leave them. I don't know who left the note and what they might do.

So reluctantly I got him a prescription for trazodone in the meantime. It's helping a little bit with letting me actually do some things around the house. I really don't want to have him on any prescriptions but I really just don't know what to do about his anxiety while he is crated. I'm thinking once he graduates we will be taking him to some kind of dog trainer or dog psychologist or something...

It's one thing when you have one dog with separation anxiety but when it's two and they also freak out when they're apart from each other but also rivals it's a big mess. My little girl is the only one who doesn't seem to have to be on my lap 24/7. Of course she guards me though, so everyone is terrified of her...even though they are 3x her size. It's quite a group I have.

So Remy graduates from 4 weeks crate rest tomorrow and I'm really unsure of how I want to deal with him at this point. I asked the neurologist if he's able to go up and down stairs or jump and he seems to think that it will be okay. I told him we have a thick mattress which is on the floor it's only about 18 inches tall. We do have stairs of course but Remy is really a jumper.

To get into the yard we have four steps up to our deck and what I'm planning on doing is building a gate at the top so that there can be no jumping off the deck or flying up the stairs to get onto the deck.

I'm just really not sure what's appropriate in this situation. It seems like some people really recommend much more conservative treatment than others.

I mean for example when the neurologist said I could gradually start doing small 10 minute walks, in theory it sounds fine but with this dog he's just so crazy I'm afraid he'll be pulling and I just don't want to hurt himself.

He is basically like a small boxer....hyper, running, jumping, wrestling. I don't know how much is too much! I don't want to make the rest of his life miserable out of fear and I obviously don't want to let him hurt himself again.

Just thought I would update, any ideas appreciated very very much as always!

Thanks very much for the links. I'm wondering if the recommendations for after crate rest are the same for dogs with back vs. neck issues. I know doxies have such tiny short legs and long backs, I can definitely see all the precautions being necessary for them. But I'm thinking with a Frenchie with relatively longer legs and a neck compression, I'm wondering if the concerns might be different. For example, the neurologist mentioned jumping off things was what might compress the neck the most, which makes sense to me. Going down, the gravity and pressure on the spine. But things like standing up on the back legs, doesn't seem like it would be a problem for that area. I'm just wondering if there might be anything I can find online that says if there are specific things to be careful of for either type of injury. Differences, etc. Thanks!

Hi, just checking in with updates/concerns for Remy. I'm hoping someone might be able to give me a clue on something. We just took Remy for his first actual walk since his surgery. It's been almost three months. The other day was the first fetch session he's had since before the incident. Since his crate rest it's just been hanging around the house. It's been so hot it hasn't been much different anyway. Frenchies don't do 90° weather.

We walked him literally about 4 houses down the street in his harness (no collar) and he pulled like crazy as he always has. I tried not to jerk him of course, and tried to get him to chill out and walk better but obviously the first time in months had him totally over the top excited. He also kind of stumbled into a hole I dug for a plant that hadn't been put in. The hole was probably 8" deep and it was dark out. Not a dramatic incident but I don't know...

When we got back he was panting like crazy as we're my other frenchies, but I felt really paranoid it might be something more than heat/excitement. He kept getting up and then flopping back on the floor like he usually does when he's really hot. But I also noticed a couple very very slight moves that made me go into a slight/major panic. His movements when he was really hurt were obvious, the major one being bowing/crouching. I saw him do that tonight for a split second as he went to lay down/get up. That pause scared me to death. I also saw him slightly arch as he walked to change positions. He didn't seem to be able to get comfortable for a bit. After a little while he layed down and is happily sleeping on his side. Before he chilled out I tried lightly touching all down his spine to see if I could find out if anything happened. It's so hard to tell with him because his body is a ball of nerves, if you touch his skin it's like you've slightly shocked him, that's his normal response. I'm just trying to find out if there's any way to test if something got messed up, any kind of touch to do to check his response. I don't want to hurt him. He seems fine now, but he also seemed fine before the herniation.

I cannot deal with that happening again. I don't know how to give him a happy life while keeping him safe from himself. It's so upsetting and frustrating to have NO idea if he's better, worse, the same. He's such a maniac, I feel like even a 5 minute game of fetch in our tiny yard is dangerous. I don't want to keep walking and playing with him if I'm rupturing his discs bit by bit each time. But I want him to have a happy life

Any ideas on how to examine him? Thanks so so so much.