Jus, conservative treatment is not expensive. It is not rocket science either on how to treat. All you need from the vet is
1. Meds so that Mash is not in pain and can heal in comfort
2. a crate or other recovery suite so that Mash will be limited in movement. It is the vertebrae in the spine when walking that push on the damaged disc which in turn push on the cord to cause loss of bladder and bowel control. Do know that nerves can heal!! So stay strong, stay postive and never give up hope for your Mash.
3. You'll need a vet to learn how to express for urine. This is to keep bladder infection from starting (urinary tract infections -UTI). Please view the video and the tips so that when you get to the vet you will get a whole lot more out of the lesson: Link with tips and video:
www.dodgerslist.com/literature/Expressing.htmTramadol (how many mgs are you giving?) are your giving every 8 hrs to keep pain away?
—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.
— Anti-inflammatory drug is to work at the root cause of the pain (inflammed tissue around the spinal cord.) The anti-inflammatory will take approx 7-30 days to resolve all that swelling. So that is why in the meantime actual pain meds are used to provide comfort from pain as they work in one hour.
SIGNS OF PAIN let us know what you observe:◻︎ 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
There is good hope that Mash will recover by healing his disc and by self healing his nerves too. These things just take time and cost you nothing.
Save your precious £ to purchase necessary pain meds and the anti-inflammatory drug from your vet and also for the cost of the vet visit. Once you have the meds all that is needed is to make sure he is limited in movement by the recovery suite. Only out of the recovery suite when you express his bladder. You CAN do it!
Jus, so that we can do our best to help in making sure you get prompt information about Mash, please do take a moment and register for the Forum. The 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
