Hillary, thank you for posting on the Care and Support Forum. I'm sorry that your Rocky is suffering from a disc episode. This IS the place to get specific help for your Rocky's disc episode. Conservative treatment is a viable path....know you will be able to commit to it by taking some time to get up to speed on IVDD. More on that later.
Conservative treatment is all about getting pain fully in control by meds and limited movement of the back so as not to do possibly permanent damage to the nerves.
--- absolutely no chiro-- understand why that is the case:
www.dodgerslist.com/literature/chiropractic.htm--- avoid any massage - again the goal is limited movement of the back. When Rocky is off all meds and there is no more pain, then there is provision for some very, very light least aggressive range of motion and massage that we can explain to you.
Right now a few more details will aid us in zeroing in an any issues that need attention.
-- double check the methocarbamol. A 500 mg dose may be quite high for his weight.
-- how much does Rocky weigh?
-- How many times a day does he get 5mgs of Prednisone. For how many days on that dose?
-- Do you see any signs of pain on the unusual of only one pain med (methocarbamol)?
IF you are seeing pain, then advocate that any of the pain meds be given 3x/day (every 8 hours).
=Methocarbamol works on the pain of muscle spasms.
=Tramadol is the general pain reliever.
=Gabapentin works on nerve pain.
There should be no sign of pain from one dose of meds to the next. Have no patience with pain as it does hinder healing. Look for your dog to be acting their normal, perky self when pain is fully under control round the clock.
SIGNS OF PAIN:
◻︎ shivering-trembling ◻︎ yelping when picked up or moved
◻︎ slow to move ◻︎ tight tense tummy
◻︎ arched back, ears pinned back ◻︎ head held high or nose to the ground.
◻︎ restless, can't find a comfortable position
◻︎ slow or reluctant to move much in crate such as shift positions
◻︎ looks up with just eyes and does not move head and neck easily.
◻︎ not eating due to painful chewing or in too much overall pain
◻︎ holds front or back leg flamingo style not wanting to bear weight
◻︎ not their normal perky selves
How are you doing with expressing the bladder, expressing for poop? While on pred and just learning you would expect to express for urine every 2-3 hrs so that his bedding stays dry. As you become proficient and when he is off of pred expressing can go to even every 6-8 hrs. Do not hesitate to go back to your vet and express in the clinic where the vet tech can give you pointers if you are finding he is still leaking urine in his bedding. Good videos and tips to help you get more out of another lesson if you need it:
www.dodgerslist.com/literature/Expressing.htmConservative treatment is all about getting the disc to heal. The focus on these next 8 weeks is to allow the disc to form secure scar tissue. Nerve healing may or may not come back in that short of time.
KNOWLEDGE IS THE KEY TO IVDD!
Our goal is to help you maneuver things that can be overwhelming with an IVDD diagnosis in caring for your dog. Getting quickly up to speed on intervertebral DISC disease helps you in understanding the why of what your vet advises and the ability to bring things to the table in working together to help heal the disc. You will be very amazed how quickly you can learn a lot about just one disease which a vet is not able to know in great detail for every single disease known to cats, dogs, birds, and many other species they treat.
Keep in mind the key word in the name of the disease is DISC.
#1 Take a look so you can visualize just why the need to be strict about crate rest for the DISC is so important in preventing a surgery
#2 How/why meds are used while the DISC is healing. A good review of the many things your vet mentioned about his diagnosis, the Rx’d meds, crate rest, other stuff that you may not have fully processed during that short vet visit.
#3 The very best thing you can do for YOU, the caregiver, and for your dog is to read and learn as quickly as you are able. Calm your mind by being “in the know” how long each the 4 phases of healing is expected to take. What treatments for which phase? At what point would a surgery be considered? This is the page to bookmark and return to in the next days to have a full understanding of the now and the future of living many happy years ahead with your IVDD dog. Here is the link to bookmark: www.dodgerslist.com/healingindex.htmThe guest board is a temporary Guest courtesy to get immediate help until you can register. I encourage you to register and login. That way all the features of the Forum are available to you, making it faster to reply and get an email alert about replies. It also makes is far easier for us to track your dog and give the best assistance. Illustrated what to expect during registration: www.dodgerslist.com/forumads/RegisterFORUM/register.htm
