ts123
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Post by ts123 on May 17, 2013 21:18:46 GMT -7
Background. My dog (I'll call him T) had back surgery 2.5 years ago. You guys were a great support then! IVDD in lower back. He has a neurological condition called Cerebellar Hypoplasia. At the time, he was given only a 10% chance to ever walk again due to his neurological condition. He shakes non-stop, falls when he walks, etc. After surgery and months of PT, he was about 50-75% back to normal. He still falls all the time but he regained a ton of strength in his one hind leg - other side weaker. Anyways, about 6 weeks ago, he started yelping at us when we went to touch him. Not his back, but near his face/neck. Xrays looked OK on the last ones taken of him. Back in Feb, he started to have weird episodes where he'd grunt when we picked him up and he would not have a bowel movement for a few days. Once he did, he was back to normal. These episodes came about every 4 weeks since Feb. Yelping started last month. He is on metamucil now to help keep things regulated. We knew he was very prone to another back injury just due to how much he falls and runs into things - there is nothing to prevent it. The surgeon who did his back surgery said he'd be surprised if he never had another issue just to how much he bounces. We started acupuncture 3 weeks ago (he's had 3 treatments). Acupuncturist did not have high hopes with his neurological condition, but wanted to try a few weeks. Due to shaking, he is just getting the B12 acupuncture. We see him gaining almost a little more strength in one leg, but no relief of pain at all. He is on gabapentil and tramadol. We are at a loss on what to do. We can not do crate rest because of his neurological condition. Crating is bad because he just shakes and bounces - hitting his head and back on the sides of the crate which can make things 10x worse. We have been limiting outside activities - no running or chasings things, etc. I could potentially try to limit him to a certain room in our house so he doesn't walk so much. Bottom line is, our vet is very concerned. He is very frail along his back as is and we are both concerned about what another surgery would mean for him. Vet has mentioned the possibility of doing an MRI, but just concerned in general about him having a surgery with his delicate situation now - much different than 2.5 years ago. --What is your dog's name? We'll call him T  --What breed is your dog and did you specifically get a diagnosis of IVDD? Dachshund. Not specifically, but vet and acupuncturist believe back issues as every symptom points to it. Nothing showing on xray, but that doesn't really mean anything. -- Is there still currently pain - shivering, trembling, yelping when picked up or moved, reluctant/slow to move head or body, tight hard tummy? Yes, yelping. Defensive yelping where if I even go near his head, he yelps. Vet believes issue with upper back/neck. -- What are the exact names of meds currently given, their doses in mgs and frequencies? Tramadol 1x a day, Gabapentin 2x a day. -- Currently can your dog wobbly walk? move the legs at all? or wag the tail when you do some happy talk? Nothing has changed as far as walking. His wobbling is normal with his neurological condition. Still eating food/treats like a champ. -- Do you find wet bedding or leaks on you when lifted up? No -- Eating and drinking OK? Yes -- Poops OK - normal color no dark or bright red blood? Yes Any advice is appreciated. Like I said, vet has mentioned an MRI but we are just very concerned with his fragile back as is - it's nothing but bumps where you can feel nearly every vertebrae - and just his neurological condition on top of it. Do we move forward with an MRI. He was on pred for a while but the yelping actually increased when on it. |
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PaulaM
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Post by PaulaM on May 17, 2013 22:14:59 GMT -7
ts123, sorry to hear T is having another disc problem. My name is Paula, what is yours? There is only one way a disc heals and that is with limited movement the recovery suite provides other wise the scar tissue trying to heal just retears causing more pain... in T's case his area should be a well padded recovery suite perhaps...such as with sides of memory foam? With T's special circumstances if you are not able to crate him, surgery could be the best option for him. This page will help refresh your memory about a disc episode and how healing happens: www.dodgerslist.com/literature/healingpage.htmI doubt Pred caused increased pain... it was more that the pain meds were not adjusted properly. Pred can take 1-2 weeks to get swelling down and some neck discs need pred for more like a month... in the meantime there's pain if the proper Rx is not on board. And still to this day the pain is not even being masked yet fully. Tramadol is short acting and would need to be given at least every 8 hours. Methocarbamol could also be added to the Tramadol/Gabapentin mix as vets see the need to address the pain stemming from muscle spasm so often associated with a neck disc. Are you doing all the extra things to help with a neck disc? www.dodgerslist.com/literature/cervical.htmLet us know that you are addressing the pain issues with the vet in the morning...healing just can't get underway until pain is fully controlled dose to dose of the right pain meds and 100% STRICT crate rest 24/7 only out to potty ....for a full 8 weeks or it may be that a consult with a board certified surgeon (ACVIM) or (ACVS) to see about surgery. This page will give you some good pros and cons in help you decide: www.dodgerslist.com/literature/healingsurgery.htm |
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ts123
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Post by ts123 on May 17, 2013 22:50:22 GMT -7
Thanks Paula! The limited movement of course is hard since the only time he doesn't shake is when he's sleeping. He shakes every moment he is awake - often large tremors which I can see putting more strain on the neck and back. His neck and back are constantly moving. Keeping him calm is key as his shaking does lessen a bit. Need to just get him to sleep - a lot!
Just him having the surgery the first time was very unique in a way. The specialty surgeon had never done the IVDD surgery on a dog with this particular neurological condition. Even the PT researched physical therapy exercises in humans with the condition who had back surgery and came up with unique exercises for him.
I will give our vet another call in the morning as I did talk to her early tonight again. He was on the methocarbomal prior to getting the acupuncture and coming up with the gabapentin/tramadol combo. I will call and see if she wants me to put him back on that again and then also the tramadol of course (increasing that). Will work on the food thing/softening the kibble and will look into the others as well.
Thanks again for reaching out late at night - appreciate it! Off to try to confine him to a small area in the home and lay a ton of blankets,comforters, and pillows in there. He'll still shake and put pressue on his neck/back, but it wouldn't hurt to try to keep him in that small area at least.
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StevieLuv
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Post by StevieLuv on May 18, 2013 8:40:50 GMT -7
Hi ts123, my name is Maureen. We came up with a way to pad a recovery suite because our Stevie has refractory epilepsy and her seizures can be quite violent. The same sort of need to keep her confined, balanced against the need to keep her from getting hurt in the crate if it happened when we weren't around. A memory foam mattress topper can be cut up to fit the sides and bottom of the crate or recovery suite. The pads for the sides need holes poked in them to secure them to the sides of the crate with zip ties or twist ties. Zip ties are safer because you can make them tighter andcut off the excess, and not have a wire that can potentially come loose and be a hazard.The pad for the bottom can be put into a garbage bag and taped shut (after you get the excess air out) to keep it from being soiled by urine or feces. I hope that this gives you an idea or two. I know how hard it can be to manage IVDD with another serious neuro condition. Keeping you both in thought and prayer.
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ts123
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Post by ts123 on May 27, 2013 10:46:53 GMT -7
Just a quick follow-up. We started T on a new med schedule the other week. Tramadol 2x a day, Gabapentin 2x a day and the Methocarbamol 3x a day. He has been doing well the past week and a half and we've restricted his access to just a small portion of our house. This morning, he was just screaming at us. In so much pain. He would yelp if I even walked downstairs. Took a trip to the e-vet.
Still walking like normal (well, what is normal for him), deep pain sensation there, reflexes were good, etc. She said no surgeon would operate on him right now as we just do not know exactly what is going on. She wants us to increase Tramadol to 3x a day - do 1/2 a pill v. 1/4 of a pill if needed, and also start him back on prednisilone - keeping Metho and Gabapentin the same. Our vet mentioned it previously and this vet did today that if we would consider surgery again, an MRI is what will be needed to see exactly what is going on. Is what he has going on even operable? With his neurological condition, she said an MRI of not only his back/neck but of his brain as well is probably what will be needed.
At least he's resting comfortably here at home now. Extra meds made a difference. We'll see how he does over the next few days and will talk to our regular vet further about an MRI.
Thanks again for all your help!
Edited to add: He continued acupuncture as well but we were seeing no changes. This past week was the last session. We discussed briefly adding in cold laser therapy.
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Post by natureluva on May 28, 2013 6:22:06 GMT -7
Hi, if this were my dog, I would have a Board Certified neurologist evaluate him and perform an MRI (if it is a financial option for you). That way they will know what they are dealing with and whether it is operable.
Usually when a dog gets an MRI, it is done right before surgery. So if the neurologist sees an operable condition, he/she may want to operate at that time so the dog does not have to be put under anesthesia more than once.
Glad T is resting comfortably. Given his pre-existiing neurological condition and the fact that you cannot do crate rest, an evaluation by a Board Certified neurologist sounds like the way to go.
Please let us know how things go. Best wishes, ~Lisa
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ts123
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Post by ts123 on May 28, 2013 14:05:04 GMT -7
Quick question. We have a holistic vet close to where we live who does chiro care in some dogs with back issues (not all of course), and uses acupuncture, cold laser therapy, herbs, all holistic type options. However, I do know chiro adjustments can be controversial at times in these cases. Does anyone have any good reading material around this? I did read a little bit on this site: www.dodgerslist.com/neurocorner2/chiropractic.htm I have a coupon for a free consultation with her, so I could go and see what she things at least with regards to cold laser therapy, perhaps some herbs. Would it be best to get an MRI done first and determine if chiro care might be an option? We are all just really trying to avoid surgery at all costs with his condition. Perhaps we wait and see how he does back on the pred. We were able to decrease his tramadol back to 1/4 today and he is doing well. So, perhaps the pred might be working? Hard to say of course. The good news is that if we do not go in the room he is in, he won't move a muscle - so he's getting some really good rest in with not moving! Also, to note he still has full mobility, deep pain sensation, good reflexes (the vet was actually surprised at how well they were but perhaps due to the adrenaline). He's still walking the same as he always has for the most part. We are just having issues with pain. |
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Post by natureluva on May 28, 2013 14:15:40 GMT -7
Gosh, I would not do chiro on T, especially since you don't know what is wrong with him. If this is a disc issue, then chiro would NOT be good. Think about this - if you had a bulging or herniating disc, would you want someone doing manipulations on your back? Heck no. Chiro could also cause a bulging disc to blow. I just wouldn't chance it.
Acupuncture and laser are wonderful to reduce inflammation and stimulate nerve healing. Acupuncture also induces a state of well-being. I had both done on my dog during and after his IVDD episode.
If you want to avoid surgery, the only thing you can do is ASSUME this is IVDD and treat it as such with 8 weeks of strict rest to heal the disc and meds to mask the symptoms. The other option is get the MRI and learn exactly what you're dealing with. It's really hard to guess with neurological diseases.
Wish I could offer more definitive advice - sorry! Perhaps other members will chime in. Best wishes, ~Lisa
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ts123
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Post by ts123 on May 28, 2013 14:25:16 GMT -7
Ok - thanks for the insight. I couldn't tell from the link about but yes, you make perfect sense. We were not seeing any improvement at all with acupuncture but the acupuncturist we saw did not have high hopes with his condition anyways. Perhaps I'll visit the holistic vet and talk more about doing cold laser therapy and herbs. She's not the same as the person who did the acupuncture previously - different practice. I'll also talk to our vet again as perhaps we just do the MRI and go from there.
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Post by Pauliana on May 28, 2013 22:05:20 GMT -7
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ts123
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Post by ts123 on Jun 1, 2013 22:48:16 GMT -7
T qualified for free laser therapy at our vet's office since it's new there and they are hoping to get clients talking about it, etc. Anyways, he starts laser therapy on Monday. Every other day for at least 2 weeks. Perhaps 3.
When I found out this news, I did cancel our appointment with the holistic vet. I spoke to our vet as well. Thanks for the list Pauliana! Our vet recommended a neurologist who is actually on the list you posted, so it was good to get that reassurance.
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PaulaM
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Post by PaulaM on Jun 2, 2013 7:43:36 GMT -7
Can you get a neuro consult as soon as possible this week, that should be step #1. Is there a stumbling block that keeps you from getting a neuro consult appointment? Finding out what the neuro problem is and whether it could possibly controlled with meds would be immensely helpful in helping the current disc problem. The only way the disc will heal is if there can be limited movement of the neck/spine. His meds are to deal with a different phase of healing…that of getting inflammation down and give comfort from pain during that time.
Can you update us on the pain issue. Is his pain fully under control dose to dose of the 3 pain meds? are you consistently doing 1/2 of Tramadol pill or the lower dose of 1/4 tablet? Why is no anti-inflammatory on board (either a NSAID or a steroid) to work on the swelling in the spinal cord? Pain meds do not work on reducing inflammation they only mask pain.
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ts123
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Post by ts123 on Jun 4, 2013 17:57:54 GMT -7
He has Cerebellar Hypoplasia - he was born with it and there are no meds, cure, etc. Nothing to stop his symptoms. He was born in a puppy mill and due to the inbreeding, he's missing part of the cerebellum in his brain. Anyways, Neuro at one location booked and I was on a cancellation list. He had been doing OK and I was waiting to hear when the neuro would be next out to the MRI place since they didn't know his schedule. Tonight, major set back and even after all the pain meds and increasing the tramadol, he was still in so much pain. (and yes, he's been on pred the past week and a half or so).
Since he's not down, they won't do an MRI/surgery consult until next Tuesday and the university also won't see him until Thursday. I'm not going to keep him in pain for a week when the meds are no longer keeping him out of pain. They said the only way they could do an MRI tomorrow is if we brought him in tonight through the emergency care and met with the emergency vet. There are several board certified surgeons there of course who do a lot of IVDD and back surgeries. I have both my vet and the e-vet we saw last week sending referrals tomorrow for the MRI just in case he decides to be a normal dog like he was at the e-vet last week with all his adrenaline.
Thanks again for all the support. I'm a nervous wreck - much more than I was for his surgery 2.5 years ago.
Anyways, my husband is taking him to the e-vet tonight and he'll have a consult and then hopefully MRI tomorrow. Ugh. I just want my little guy to feel better.
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StevieLuv
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Post by StevieLuv on Jun 4, 2013 18:13:11 GMT -7
Poor little guy. I hope all goes well with the eVet andthe MRI. Keeping you in thought and prayer.
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ts123
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Post by ts123 on Jun 4, 2013 19:33:54 GMT -7
Just heard from my husband. T of course acted like a little gentleman at the evet. He did start to knuckle on his hind legs though when walking which we had not seen before - and he did grunt when she was feeling areas on his back. Other than that, he was walking around and being a normal dog. No squealing. No loud noises. Typical T when he goes to the vet - so much adrenaline that nothing phases him.
She is recommending an MRI but it's up to the surgeon tomorrow to decide. We will get our vet's referral sent over asap in the morning. The neurologist is there once a month and tomorrow he is there. He has been booked when we've called but the vet tonight said he will often see emergency patients with neuro issues if they are there. So, hopefully he might consult with the surgeon.
They are keeping him in the ICU section of the hospital tonight on a Fentanyl drip.
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ts123
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Post by ts123 on Jun 5, 2013 19:11:59 GMT -7
T is now home. The neurologist and surgeon would NOT do an MRI on him and will not consider surgery at this point. I asked if we could just do the MRI (we have now had 3 vets recommend it) to see what we are dealing with and was told no. They did at least confirm it is his neck (he did not present with back issues today but he could've had so much adrenaline). They increased▲ tramadol to 1/2 pill 3x a day and also increased ▲ gabapentin to 3x a day. Steady dose of daily pred and methocarbamol 2x a day. They want to try this for at least 1-2 weeks and see how he does. They sent him home with a Fentanyl patch as well. They said there are risks associated with the surgery and the MRI as well. How some dogs come out worse after the fact, etc. (yes, I know all this - I just want at least an MRI to see what is truly going on). Anyways, I think I was on the phone for at least a half hour asking question after question. What are the risks of him coming home and doing nothing? I got the - well, he could get worse. Confirmed he could go completely down at some point.
I immediately called our vet who was very upset they wouldn't at least do an MRI to see what is truly going on. He is still knuckling today on his hind legs - one side worse than the other. She suggested we immediately call the surgeon who did his last surgery and talk to him, get his thoughts, etc. He does not have an MRI machine at the hospital where he works and that is why we did not go to him. Anyways, I left him a message and hope to hear from him tomorrow.
We are at a loss at what to do. Our vet is very frustrated and also confirmed that she did send one other neck dog there and they would not consider surgery. He acts almost normal when being evaluated which is the major problem but he did yelp when they were moving his neck and then did not want them to touch anywhere near his head. Bottom line, he should not be in this much pain and I am beyond frustrated. The fentanyl patch should help for 72 hours. For now, we just wait for his old surgeon to call and keep him as comfortable as possible in the meantime.
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PaulaM
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Post by PaulaM on Jun 5, 2013 20:09:01 GMT -7
I hope this combo of meds/dose and frequency will get the pain under control. Pain control is essential to get the healing process underway. Knuckling on rear legs can come with a neck disc. Do let us know what his past surgeon recommends. I'm sorry this is so hard for all of you.
What is the dose in mg for his meds?
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ts123
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Post by ts123 on Jun 5, 2013 20:39:42 GMT -7
Pred - 5 mg, 1x/day
Gabapentin - 25 mg, 3x a day
Methocarbamol - 125 mg, 2x a day
The only way to keep him from shaking a lot is for him to be sleeping, so the one good thing about an increase in all the meds is he'll sleep much more (hopefully) which would then lessen his shaking. The vet at the hospital today (not our normal vet) did also suggest perhaps continuing the cold laser therapy and focusing acupuncture on the neck v. the back - so that may be something to consider if the other surgeon agrees to keep doing what we are doing currently.
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PaulaM
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Post by PaulaM on Jun 5, 2013 21:41:04 GMT -7
Prednisone 5mg 1x a day is a taper off of the level of anti-inflammatory. Since he has pain/swelling, have you advocated for being back on the anti-flammaory dose which is usually 5mg 2x a day. I'm glad to hear the lower dose pain meds are sufficient in controlling pain… so your vet still has more pain control options if need be. How much does T weigh? Acupuncture and Laser light therapy would be a good combo to help with pain.
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ts123
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Post by ts123 on Jun 6, 2013 9:08:27 GMT -7
Vet is off today and I don't exactly trust the people at the place we saw yesterday. I'll call our vet tomorrow re. additional pred.
I'm not sure if he's on a lower dose of pain meds since we increased it to the 25 mg 3 times a day and he does have the patch on now as well. I am not at all knowledgeable on the meds/dosages/etc. When I talked to our vet yesterday, she did mention Valium as a possibility if we don't see improvement with pain.
Here is full list of meds:
Prednisone 5 mg, 1 x/day (I will call vet about this)
Tramadol 25mg, 3x a day
Gabapentin 25 mg, 3x a day
Methocarbamol 125 mg, 2x a day
Fentanyl Patch
Reasons why I'm frustrated: T obviously is much different at the vet v. at home. They told me to keep e-collar on him so he won't reach his patch. He stood up, lost balance like normal, and fell forward with floor stopping e-collar and obviously hurting his neck because he squealed and cried out a bit. I again called the e-vet and told them what meds he was on asking if I can increase anything. Before they told me no, the first thing the vet says is "Well, he didn't do any of that here (re. the squealing)." From now on, I will record him when he is awake so that if he does squeal again, cry, etc. I can get it on camera. One of those things where I feel they don't fully believe me or perhaps think I'm overreacting.
I do this for our vet very often with T and is actually how we first realized he had issues. He checked out fine during the exam but when I showed her video of what he did at home, she immediately was concerned it was a back or neck issue and that was when we immediately started him on the meds.
He weighs 12 pounds (usually between 12.5-12.8).
If the surgeon who operated on him previously agrees to try this higher med dosage for a bit, I'll call the acupuncture person again. We were focusing mainly on his back last time and he only had 1 neck acupuncture. So, we at least now know to focus on the neck since he does have cervical IVDD.
One question I'm hoping someone can help me with: On the increase of Tramadol, he is very sleepy. The good news is that he is sleeping which means the tremors from his neurological condition are greatly decreased where he rarely shakes. This is obviously good from the standpoint of the neck perhaps healing. What is considered normal in terms of how sleepy he should be? Obviously I know there's a point at which too much is too much re. pain meds and being very doped up but I don't know if he should really be sleeping all day. Is that OK?
Thank you guys so much. We need to continue to be advocates for ensuring T gets the best care possible and we appreciate all the advice, knowledge and information on questions to ask, etc. Our regular vet is amazing and we're so thankful that she treats T and the rest of our crew as her own. I was actually telling her about Dodgers List last time I was there and she immediately went to the website and was going to refer clients to it as an extra resource as they work through neck/back issues.
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PaulaM
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Post by PaulaM on Jun 6, 2013 9:28:08 GMT -7
In T's case the sleeping can be a healing thing to reduce his HC symptoms as long as he is eating, going to the bathroom normally. Once the Fentanyl patch wears off, then you will see how effective the remaining pain meds will be and whether there needs to be adjustments made. Thank you for sharing Dodgerlist with your vet!! How about giving her some of our N/C literature too. It is available here… just tell Linda what you want: www.dodgerslist.com/literature/litorder.htmLet us know what your surgeon's take is and which direction he suggests. |
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ts123
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Post by ts123 on Jun 6, 2013 22:26:16 GMT -7
Thanks for the link on the literature. I called the e-vet to inquire if T had a bowel movement there (as a side note, he did have one tonight finally. Constipation is a side effect of some of the meds, so we're going to get some canned pumpkin tomorrow for him).
Anyways, while on the phone, the vet who oversaw T's hospital stay yesterday told me to go get a second opinion. She did not say anything about what the surgeon and neurologist there said (they of course would kind of trump her with their specialty), but she did suggest we get a second opinion. Thought that was very odd . . . . I also did confirm that if his previous surgeon wants him to have an outpatient MRI, they would do that for him. I have a call in to the surgeon to see if he wants to see him or just review everything and perhaps wait until we take off the fentanyl patch to see how things are going and where we are at.
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ts123
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Post by ts123 on Jun 7, 2013 7:48:54 GMT -7
I spoke with the surgeon who did his prior surgery. He said the neurologist we saw is one of the best there is and he does respect his opinion and takes it into account when evaluating dogs. With that said, he did ask a few times what they said about why they wouldn't do an MRI. Since he is not down, it's not an emergency and he said it's very difficult to fully evaluate a dog on a fentanyl patch. Since we have to take it off on Saturday, he'd like to see us on Monday. He will evaluate him. If he thinks medical mgmt. is the way to go, he said he'll tell us that (it would give us a peace of mind as well), but based on what we've said and how he is at home, he thought MRI may be needed. If so, he'll have the bloodwork and EKG I believe on Monday and then get MRI scheduled back at where we were. He did say he would not do a myocardiogram in his case - MRI only.
From there, he said we can rule out things such as tumors, etc. If it is IVDD, we can see just how severe it is. We can talk about if surgery may be an option or if medical management really should continue to be tried first. He was very honest about everything. Anyways, we have an appointment with him on Monday morning.
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StevieLuv
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Post by StevieLuv on Jun 7, 2013 10:54:20 GMT -7
Thinking of you - keeping you in thought and prayer.
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Post by Pauliana on Jun 7, 2013 20:15:24 GMT -7
Praying for T! Let us know how his appt goes on Monday with his former surgeon. I have a feeling he will get things going in the right direction for you and T. Many dogs are stoic and avoid showing pain at the Vet and that does complicate things. We had that problem with our dog too.
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ts123
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Post by ts123 on Jun 11, 2013 21:00:14 GMT -7
Just a quick update. T is now walking pretty much what is normal for him again, is wanting to chase the cats, wanting to chase birds outside, etc. Don't worry, stopped immediately from all of that. This all started to happen on Sunday pretty much out of nowhere. We were in shock.
Met with the surgeon for about an hour and fifteen minutes on Monday morning and T had not had any meds since 10:00 the night before. No MRI as the meds seem to be helping. He did agree with neuro and confirmed neck issue v. back. Even though the fentanyl patch knocked him out for a few days, it was a good thing. He slept more which means he shook less which helps to then reduce the inflammation. That combined with the increase across the board on meds seem to have been a great thing for T! Even though we started meds about 6 or so weeks ago, he explained of course how necks can be more painful and take longer for inflammation to come down - specifically in T's case because he shakes non-stop when he is awake. He also didn't want to do an MRI as if he gets worse next week, it could very well be a different disc causing the issue, so he doesn't want to do things that he doesn't need.
He has not seen T in nearly 3 years but could not believe how well he was doing and said he was very happy with the result of his surgery. He admitted he's never done back surgery on a dog with cerebellar hypoplasia as most people who have dogs with cerebellar issues choose euthanasia, so T is a bit of a success and goes to show that these dogs can do well.
Anyways, next steps - keep him on same level of meds for 2 weeks (but start reducing▼ pred to every other day starting the middle of next week). Continue our crate rest situation we have set up for several more weeks. He is still sleeping a lot and agitated/anxious. The surgeon said that is very common with one drug in particular that he is on (I can't recall what it is now). He does better when we are near him, so we've been sleeping on the living room floor next to him for the past 4 nights to help keep him calm and less anxious. We plan to do that for a few more nights. We will also do a blood panel to see how his body is doing on all the meds since he's been on them for some time.
The surgeon said T is very likely to have these issues more often now. He'd prefer to keep him on the gabapentin and tramadol long term - perhaps for the rest of our life. I asked our vet about it and she agreed that it actually might not be a horrible idea with his condition and we really need to be proactive. So, we can have that conversation down the road. It would be a lower dose and I need to do some research on long term effects of everything but both our vet and surgeon recommended looking at it long-term.
Anyways, hopefully T continues to improve. He has not yelped, screamed, or cried in about 6 days. He is still grunting and doesn't really want to be picked up when we have to take him out, but he is doing well. Surgeon was wondering if the grunting is more of him getting old or perhaps the digestive issues he's had - don't appear to be painful if that makes sense. He was only urinating once a day for several days and is now up to two times a day. He is back to drinking water normally again as well! One of his favorite "toys" has always been his blankets and beds. He loves to try to attack them and chew them. Well, he's now doing that again which makes trying to keep him quiet and still very difficult!
Thanks again for all of your support during this time. I cried much more during this episode than I did 3 years ago when he needed surgery. This forum has been a wonderful resource and really helps me be the best advocate I can for my pets.
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StevieLuv
Helpful Member
Conservative Treatment 3x. It really does work!
Posts: 1,335
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Post by StevieLuv on Jun 12, 2013 7:54:32 GMT -7
Thanks for the update! Good news all around |
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PaulaM
Moderator.
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,928
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Post by PaulaM on Jun 12, 2013 9:09:31 GMT -7
So happy to read your post this am…and the good direction T is going in!!!!
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ts123
New Member
Posts: 28
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Post by ts123 on Jun 13, 2013 20:48:15 GMT -7
Setback today with T yelping a few times - which he has not done in 6 days. We have not changed his meds and it has been the same. I can tell he's in pain with his neck as he's not wanting to turn his head and keeps sleeping again with neck extended out v. curled up. Squealed when taking a bite of wet food from dish we were holding up for him. Gave him his tramadol early tonight. We can give every 6 hours but we've been doing every 8 - so vet OK'ed to give at 6 hours if needed.
Last time I spoke to the vet, she asked if I thought he might need another fentanyl patch. She said she wouldn't be opposed to giving him one as it helps to take away the pain and really does knock him out a bit as far as sleeping which is good so he doesn't shake much which is needed to heal. Has anyone else done multiple fentanyl patches - giving one about 5 or 6 days after the last one? Perhaps we should just do the tramadol every 6 hours first and try that? Any thoughts? Thanks! I just worry about the fentanyl patch since it's such a strong narcotic, but I also don't want him to be in pain.
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ts123
New Member
Posts: 28
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Post by ts123 on Jun 14, 2013 18:49:32 GMT -7
Just wanted to say that T crossed Rainbow Bridge tonight while in our arms. We had sent video of T today to the surgeon and both he and our vet agreed with things and supported the decision to ensure he was free of pain. His neurological condition was just not in his favor this time around and today was a day I wish I could forget. Another fentanyl patch, increased and extra dose of meds, pain reliever injection and things were getting worse and his condition was getting worse as well. I want to thank you all for the wonderful support. Also, if anyone does come on here who has a dog with a Cerebellar disorder, I hope you share the success story we had with T the first time around. The surgeon was able to give him 3 more wonderful years with us.
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