Sue's Chi 2019 surgery 4.5wks— Chines Crested Puff

Hi, Sue and welcome!

What's your girl's name?
Is she on any medications at this point in time?

If she can wobbly walk then it goes without saying that she would also have to have deep pain sensation. So no need of doing that pinch thing. Often many general DVM vets get it wrong, so there is nothing you would likely learn, that leaved just irritating your dog.

Walking is a very good PT. Most dogs who can walk generally do not like their owners doing the bicyles, extensions as they can do that on their own with walking!

Underwater treadmill is an absolutely best kind of therapy is re-learning the art of perfecting walking. If it is in your budget, something to see if you girl could use as exercise in keeping in shape after a surgery as well as learning to walk better.

The movement of the hip joints and muscles and the changes in pressure on the paws from the underwater treadmill triggers spinal cord communication with the brain. Water bouyancy makes it easier than leg movements against gravity. There is not only the potential to regrow damaged neuronal pathyways but also for neuron to muscle re-education to learn the art of walking again.

Sue for how many weeks does your surgeon want for post op crate rest which includes supervised PT?

What PT did your surgeon direct? Of ten when a dog can walk, even if wobbly, the pT is sometimes a walk to and from the potty place. Let us know what your surgeon directed.

I completely understand about expenses. Have you tried care credit?

That's helpful as you can get 6 months interest free.

It also lets you break the cost down to a monthly basis.
There's also a link on how to do water therapy at home at:www.dodgerslist.com/literature/watertherapy.

Thanks and I have watched this and do utilize these exercises along with the classical   Music ,of course!!! She is getting stronger each day

I wish it were warmer as I could utilize a baby pool   I don't know if the bathtub would work Because I have glass doors and the tub is not very big

I did get a set of stairs for the future and have been looking at ramps

So upon reading many of the stories and success with conservative, I hope I made the right Decision to do the surgery. The MRI showed a Slipped disc and the vet stated he took a lot of debri out of the spinal canal. Was this something that may have been treated conservatively. ??

I do t know I was led to believe that her chances would be 50/50 without surgery to ever walk again.

Although she seems to be recovering well from surgery , I worry about the outcome overall and her chances of this happening again. Is there a test that would tell me if this is Genetic???

Also should I increase the physical therapy and walk her around more to strengthen her legs . She does not seem to have much muscle tone.  I am doing leg pumps and bicycle 2 sets of 20 each
With massage before each session 3 times A day

She is also standing much better and I do t have to hold her back end up as much
She also tries to hop when walking but does walk with support.

Surgery has been Three weeks today. Maybe I will try to walk her in the tub tomorrow. So far so good. She is eating, drinking, pooping and peeing outside.  Trying to be patient and hope she will walk normally again

Chi's Father or Mother did not have it ,however there is a female in her pedigree that produced 2 dogs with it and an offspring of hers that had produced some also. So there is that consideration

She is improving and now noticing here at Three weeks getting very restless in her crate, whining to get out, although I knew this would be coming.

Super good report!!! With time she very likely will improve her gait, knuckling.

Glad to hear there is going to be a slow and gradual pace to getting her back to family life. You might like to take a look and see how you can adapt your home to be back friendly.

Determining how you are going to ease back into more normal activity.. The idea is to gradually give more freedom under controlled conditions. Not free reign of the house and yard immediately! LOL Take a look at our information and then come up with a plan to gradually increase activity over about a month's time following the end of crate rest. Also check out how to teach four paws on the floor! www.dodgerslist.com/literature/AfterCrateRest.htm

What about some  home modifications so that you can reduce the stress on the spine in the future. No more stairs, ramps up to furniture, or blocking furniture all together. All those ideas and more are in this link: www.dodgerslist.com/literature/protectback.htm


We love it when members have a mind to pay forward and help another. We invite you to hop on to our educational bandwagon team in any way that makes you happy. Education about disc disease is our number one mission! We wish we did not have to hear of another dog that was put to sleep because of disc disease nor one denied the correct principles of crate rest to help them heal. 



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What was included in cost (MRI?, days stay, ER? PT? meds for home, sling, etc.)
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We are counting on hearing future updates from you!

Sorry to hear about Chi

The single most important thing to do is immediately crate her to prevent further damage to a very suspicious sounding disc episode.

Get to the vet first thing in the morning as soon as possible to get a diagnosis. If this is indeed a disc episode then anti-inflammatory, pain meds, Pepcid AC would be the treatment. Do not delay in getting vet help.  Hours matter with spinal cord danage.

What meds was she sent home on? What meds did they give her at the clinic?

Refresh your self on anti-inflammatories steroids versus NSAIDS  dodgerslist.com/2020/04/18/steroids-vs-nsaid/


Please keep us posted on the diagnosis, meds Rx’d.

Good news, Sue. I hope all continues to go well today and it was just a case of grogginess from the anesthesia.

Hi my name is Sue and My dog’s name is Chi.
Chi is a 6.5 yo female Chinese crested with a history of IVDD
3 years ago Chi had a ruptured disc and was operated on successfully. dodgerslist.boards.net/thread/6618/sues-surgery-5wks-chines-crested 

I was on this forum and found it extremely helpful during this time.
Chi has been doing very well since her surgery and pretty much back to 100 %. For a long time

Last week [June 1?] I noticed that she did not want to come up the porch steps, and this was one of the first signs that something was wrong 3 years ago
We do have a ramp in the house for the bed
But we didn’t put one to the outside steps as there are only 2.

Tonight [6/8] I took her to the Vet for an X-ray and a Lyme test.
She was negative for Lyme, however, there was evidence of disc calcification on L5 and L6, arthritis on L7 and S1 shown on X-ray.
Her original surgery was more in her middle back.
We discussed some options for treatment
Since she did not seem to show any signs of pain
I opted out for the Gabapentin at this time.
The Vet gave me some Glucosamine chondroitin and Omega oil treats to try.
Well she doesn’t like the treats so will have to try another brand or way to give them. A couple of questions

Do you think I should try the Gabapentin??
Would crate rest be appropriate at this time?
She is walking and even running normal,
Should I just try to limit her activities?
We will build a ramp for the outside steps. What else can I do?
I realize that the calcified disc is a time bomb so I am just trying to avoid a rupture that would injure her spine.
Thank you for your time