Paul & Katie's Shiloh 6/25 Conservative Corgi RIP

--What is your dog's name?
Shiloh

--What breed is your dog and did you specifically get a diagnosis of IVDD?
Corgi. Yes.

-- What was the date you saw the vet and started 100% STRICT crate rest 24/7?
Incident happened evening of June 25 and medicine started. Saw the vet June 26, 2013.

-- Is there still currently pain - shivering, trembling, yelping when picked up or moved, reluctant/slow to move head or body, tight hard tummy?
Yelping when picked up or moved. Some shivering and trembling. Holds head up, reluctant to lay down head. Tight hard tummy. Red and swollen penis. Bit off to toenails.

-- What are the exact names of meds currently given, their doses in mgs and frequencies?
Prednisone – 10mg twice a day
Tramadol – 25 mg three times a day
Methocarbomol – 250 mg once a day
Diazepam – 2.5 mg twice a day
Gabapentin – 100mg three times a day
Pepcid – 20 mg twice a day

Herbs:
Double P II – one capsule twice a day
Concentrated Hindquarter Weakness – one capsule twice a day

Homeopathic:
Discus compositum – half tablet, 2-4 times a day

Restorin ointment – 3 times a day


-- Currently can your dog wobbly walk? move the legs at all? or wag the tail when you do some happy talk?
Completely down and no tail wagging.

-- Do you find wet bedding or leaks on you when lifted up?
Wets bedding or pees when trying to move to go outside.

-- Eating and drinking OK?
Yes

-- Poops OK - normal color no dark or bright red blood?
Very constipated.

This is very long winded but here are all the details…Shiloh is a 6 year old corgi. His first disc episode was in January of 2013 while we were on vacation and his grandma was watching him. She took him to the vet right away and got him on prednisone and pain meds but he was completely down in the back and was incontinent for a short period. We started 8 weeks of crate rest and within a week of getting him back to our home he could stand up on his own to drink water and within a few more days could take wobbly steps. He also received acupuncture for a couple weeks while he was on crate rest. At the end of the 8 weeks he could walk, was still a bit wobbly but was continually improving his walking. We were thrilled.

On the evening of June 25 it became apparent that Shiloh was having another disc episode. We immediately crated him and still had medication left from his last episode so we started the prednisone, tramadol and methocarbamol again (see doses above). We took him to his regular vet the next day who confirmed that it was another disc. At that time he still had deep pain sensation and was still able to move his back legs somewhat when walking with the sling but his toes were curling a bit. He could also still wag his little corgi nub. We were very bummed that we were going down this road again so shortly after his last episode but felt confident that he would recover. We immediately called his holistic vet to set up more acupuncture but could not get an appointment until the next week. In the meantime Shiloh’s pain was not being controlled with the pain medications. He was shaking and yelping when being picked up. Also he stopped moving his back legs and all and when walking in the sling his back toes would drag in the grass. He was also extremely constipated (causing him to strain when trying to go and even more pain) even though we had been feeding him some plain pumpkin with his watered down kibble. There was one or two nights where he was in really bad shape so we gave him another tramadol. We took him to our regular vet said that there was not much else they could do but gave him a doggie “morphine” shot (can’t remember the exact name of it) and hoped that acupuncture would help. Once seen by the holistic vet she could tell he was in extreme pain but tried to do as much acupuncture as she could. She put him on some herbs and Valium, and said she would come back two more times that week. Even after the first acupuncture there was a noticeable difference, he seemed more like himself. After the 3rd session that week he seemed to be in no pain-he wasn’t helping any more and seemed much happier. Things were really looking up!

Unfortunately she did not have any openings this week. This past Wednesday we noticed that Shiloh’s penis looked very red and inflamed so we took him into his regular vet. They thought that the sling we were using (we were using a neck tie) was putting too much pressure on that area and gave us Resortin cream to put on him twice a day. We switched to using an ace bandage as a sling. He started dribbling pee more in his pen and seemed to tense up when we got ready to pick him up. He started yelping again when being picked up, we think because in the process we would put our arm under his sheath to pick him up. Late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning we woke up to see Shiloh lying in a pool of blood. He (unbeknownst to us before this) has neuropathic pain and chewed off two of his claws on one foot down to stumps. There was a lot of blood but luckily we had a styptic pencil and got the bleeding to stop after about an hour. We took him to the vet the next day to get bandaged up (luckily he only chewed his claws and no flesh). They prescribed gabapentin to help him with the neuropathic pain.

Despite all of these medications, today Shiloh is still yelping and whines when he is picked up. He still knows he needs to go outside to pee, but in the process of trying to scoot himself toward the front of the crate he pees and squeals and yelps as we pick him up. Once outside he tries to turn around and walk back inside without peeing or pooping. Also when we try to express his bladder he sometimes yelps out in pain. Today he seems very painful, with heavy breathing, refusing to lay his head down, continued yelping when picked up. Given the amount of remedies he has received and given that he has almost been on crate rest for a month without much long-term improvement we are just unsure how long to extend this process in the hope that he will heal, especially since he seems to still be extremely painful. We love our little guy to pieces and want to keep him around but we are losing hope and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!