gfoak3's Sweet Pea 6/15 conservative Neck Rott Mix

Welcome to Dodgerslist.  My name is Paula what is yours and your dog's name?

First thing to know is that it IS in the cards for your dog to get back to enjoying life after recovering. What can make a great deal of difference is your own self education. Knowledge is the best defense in fighting and winning with this disease. Reading others posts on the forum can be of comfort. But the meat of what you need to know is on our main web page. 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

Can you fill us in on a few more details so we'll be  better able to support you?

-- Is there still currently pain - shivering, trembling, yelping when picked up or moved, reluctant/slow to move head or body, tight hard tummy?  Tramadol is usually prescribed 3x a day as it has a very short half life in order to fully control pain.  More on the pain meds used with a disc episode:  www.dodgerslist.com/literature/healingpain.htm

-- What are the exact names of meds currently given, their doses in mgs and frequencies? With Carprofen, a stomach protector should be in use… Pepcid AC.  The FDA and manufacturer pkg insert indicate gastrointestinal problems are side effects of using NSAIDs. The natural defenses of the stomach to shield against stomach acid is hindered when taking NSAIDs. Serious gastrointestinal toxicity such as bleeding, ulceration, and perforation, can occur at any time, with or without warning symptoms. Phrase the question to your vet this particular way:" Is there a medical/health reason for my dog not to take Pepcid?" If there is no reason, we follow vets who are proactive in stomach protection.  It is good to be knowledgeable about each of your dog's meds. This directory is in alpha order:
www.marvistavet.com/html/pharmacy_center.htm

-- Currently is  your dog wobbly walking? Paws knuckling? 

-- Eating and drinking OK?

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

Great info on setting up the recovery suite, how to do 100% STRICT crate rest 24/7. Look on the right for the pink box:  www.dodgerslist.com/literature.htm

SweetPea (she's got a 100 names..) is doing better today.

The first day she refused to walk, and wouldn't bear weight on her L front limb. She actually got 'stuck' a few steps from her bed in the middle of the night, being unable to stand on the hardwood.

Today is day 3. She is weight bearing... she even wanted to chase something last night when we were trying to get her to go on the front lawn. Our house and yard are full of steps. The only place we can get to without steps is the front lawn. In an urban area, it was full of distraction, making it a challenge to get her to go.

I even tried stimulating her tooshie to no avail. She went a little bit with my husband this am, and we are adding pumpkin to her food starting tonight.

She is in a carpet-ed furnished room in our basement (the only place with no stairs, the only place without hardwood floors). She is a cuddler and it's killing her to not sit with me on the sofa. The room is the farthest/quietest we can get (eg. no mailman to incite her), and very small. She is nearly 100% confined to her bed.

First night she couldn't lay down on her side without yelping: now she is able to do this. She still avoids head-shakes, and her gait is still abnormal, but no knuckling.

Her tramadol (100mg 3x day) had worn off by the time we got up and she was not in distress. We keep dosing her nonetheless to keep her calm and comfortable and ahead of the pain.

I think her case is much more mild then several others I've read about here, so hoping for the best. It will be hard for ME to reduce her activity once she heals. She's my hiking buddy and loves nothing more than a ball chase. I think light walks will probably have to be her new MO...

Sweet pea is the biggest couch potato you'll ever meet BEFORE this incident. She is not crated, but also is rarely even stepping off of her bed. The couch has been blocked. The open floor space is enough for about 3 of her beds, and she is responding well to "stay" when we approach and she might try to get up.

Like the other rotti poster, sweet pea prefers to be on her side and her crate is not conducive to that. Our house is a sea of calm, no kids or other animals to worry about.

Our two biggest challenges:
She likes to violently shake her head (that thing dogs do to shake out water that became engrained in their psyche). She attempted to do this again and yelped and is now not weight bearing on her left again.
Peeing and pooping without walking. Hoping this improves with time. Her fluid intake is down a bit, not helping things. She routinely holds her pee 16+ hrs before this issue came up... You would have to drag her off her bed and make her go outside . Bladder like a tank and not uti susceptible (she has never had one).

Sighing. Overall about the same as yesterday, but her glee over eating dinner (softened with water to get her some extra fluid, laced with pumpkin and caprofen) caused her to do her happy head/full body shake and then she screamed.

So...not any worse, and repeating mistakes that I feel powerless to control.

I've been sitting with her (next to her on the floor) reading each night for a few hours. Tonight I'm upstairs letting my own neck rest (it got shot full of steriods today, like mother like daughter).

Just wanted to thank you to all of the responders, I realize my responses are scattered and don't always address your questions.

Lisa - I desperately want her upstairs but then we'd have to be okay with five stairs to get outside. No stairs by keeping her down here, It doubles as my husband's man cave so she gets at least a few hours of company each evening.

Jude - thanks for the support. I'm lucky this is NOT a jumper, she never has gotten into anything . Wishing the best for penny

Pauliani thanks for the tip on Pepcid, I'll ask when we make our followup appt.

I'm not a huge fan of gabapentin (I've had all these drugs for my own neck ) because it makes me dizzy and floaty feeling. The tramadol is good for now, just wished it lasted longer so we could go to work for longer.

gfoak3's Sweet Pea 6/15 conservative Neck Rott Mix, having a "big dog" topic is a good idea in concept. The concern I have is an owner needs to stay in their own dog's thread so we have the history of past posts to avoid making a harmful comment. That important history would be lost in a general "big dog" topic.

Any harness that prevents pulling stress to the neck would be good for the spine. If Gentle Leader works for Sweet Pea to help you control her from darting off at potty times and keep to the minimal footstep idea during conservative treatment do use it.