Pamela's Shaggy 6/25 conservative

My 9 year old, 13lb, long haired miniture daushand named Shaggy is a black and brown beautiful male who recently has been diagnosed with IVDD. This happened on 6/5/2013. The vet at the time took ex-rays which show narrowing in two of his discs. They gave him IV injection Methocarbamol 100mg and IV injection Dexamethasone Sodium. Then I was given Methocarbamol Tab 750mg and Tramadol to give at home. Vet is an hour away. By the time I got home and put Shaggy down to relief himself, I was dismayed to find out that he was dragging his back legs. I of course was very distraught and thought that maybe by morning he would be ok. Called the vet and explained what happened and the immediate reaction was "Looks like he's going to need surgery and to get him there so they could refer out to a specialists. I could not stop crying as my husband said he would not spend that kind of money. I was going to the vet thinking that my option was to put my baby down and I was not ready for that! On a whim, I pulled in to another vet closer to my house who actually attends the same church as we do. He just happened to not be busy at the time and was able to look at Shaggy and assess the situation. He said yes, it was IVDD and I had two options. One was surgery which he gave Shaggy a 95% chance of healing and the other was the laser light therapy at 85% and a whole lot cheaper. I opted for the laser route and he agreed that it was probably the better choice and less invasive for Shaggy. So, my hope was returned! He started the light therapy on that day, 6/6/2013 and we scheduled 4 more days after. I was sent home with Gabapentin 100mg which I give 1cap twice a day and Prednisone 5mg 1tab twice a day for 7 days then 1 tab once daily for 7 days and then 1 tab every other day until gone. I keep Shaggy in cage and only take out for potty break. The first two days in the kennel, I changed bedding a few times due to wetting. It was three days before he was able to go #2 and it was hard, black, and not much of it. His next one was better. Right now he is able to wobble around to relief himself. Does not lift leg up yet. I'm thankful for those little things as I thought he was permanently damaged. Little did I know. I forgot to let you know that his appetite has been just fine and have been making sure he gets the pumpkin in to keep stools softer and digestive moving smoother. Have read about the Pepcid but not sure if he needs it. seems to be ok. Let me know what you think. Thank you so much for the dedication of this site. Reading all the success stories has really increased my faith that I too will have my baby running around again.