Scott's Theo 6/18 conservative

Hello,

New fella here after 57 hours of pure anxious hell.

Theo, our 4.5 year old male 13.2 pound miniature dachshund -- never allowed to take stairs/jump onto or off of any furniture/has never tripoded since we've had him from 8 weeks old onward, went for a walk with our daughter this past Thursday morning (6/18/20) and upon arriving back home all was well... Theo waited around while she prepared his breakfast, he ate it with his usual enthusiasm and then went over to sit on his Park-It Pad (a little foot cushion we have for him on the floor that he's had since puppyhood)... when our daughter re-entered the living room from having brushed her teeth she thought it odd that Theo didn't immediately sit-up and follow her into the kitchen while she prepared her breakfast. She went over and noticed he looked "sad, worried, bothered" and said his name in a way that always excites him, he sort of lifted his head up and put it back down on the pad. She then got a couple of his favorite toys and tossed them, he ran after them and would stop short of retrieving them and return to his pad. We immediately became concerned about a GI issue ~ Theo has had two episodes of bad gas in his lower GI previously that presented itself in such a way that we took him on both occasions to the ER... one resulted in us making the decision to never have him chew and eat certain kinds of dry jerky snacks, the other -- that he truly cannot tolerate any diary even though he loves it.
We started going over what he had eaten in the past 12 hours, nothing was out of the ordinary with the exception that my daughter did recall him getting a small piece of raw onion off the floor before she could grab it... we Googled that and found know real evidence pointing toward that being the cause of his feeling poor.
I tossed some toys to and away from him, again a waning interest that always resulted in him walking back to me, concern on his face and in his eyes.
We examined him for bug bites and anything we could see visually -- nothing, but we did find it odd that his belly was very hard and trembling. We became more convinced that this was a GI issue (somewhat consistent to how he presented the past two times)... while I called the ER I tossed him another toy which he instinctively chased -- he stopped short of it again and walked back to me more tentatively and with a slight yet noticable arch to his back. Never any back issues with him previously and with two prior GI issues, we assumed perhaps gas or time for a poop (I became a little worried in the back of my head though - having had a Doxie in my past that had back issues that resulted in a successful surgery: the reasons why Theo has never been allowed or encouraged to jump, tripod or use stairs).
Daughter walked him, he did in fact have another poop and reported that his gait was "normal, fine" -- thusly putting any suspicions I was starting to have to rest.
The ER said to bring him.
Due to Covid, they came out to get him and then performed a basic exam on him while we waited anxiously in the car... an hour or so later the Dr. called and said they couldn't find anything out of the ordinary with his GI and that the exam showed him to be in great health but yes, he seemed apprehensive and was guarding his stomach.
Also, due to Theo having two luxating patellas and being a dachshund the attending physician did an initial neurological exam and also found nothing out of the ordinary. A back exam raised no alerts -- the attending did ask us if Theo normally sits down on a mid-spine pressure test... we confirmed yes to that as he can take a light touch to his mid-back as a sign to "Sit".
She asked if we would sign off on x-rays and full blood labs... yes, of course.
Three hours later she called to say all the labs were fantastic, the x-rays, again, showed nothing out of the ordinary regarding his GI -- but that the part of the GI x-ray that inadvertently also showed his spine was showing four discs with calcification (not unexpected by me, also not welcomed of course either but I know it to be more normal than not because of the breed and... on a previous x-ray, a year ago, for his luxating patellas, the same thing was noted by that particular Vet) the Dr. suggested going home with him and monitoring him as well as starting him on

Gabapentin (1ml every 8-12 hours) and Diazepam (1 quarter of a 5mg pill every 12 hours).
The rest of Thursday night he was dopey and vocally chatty (his usual response to meds that also cause sedation as a side effect), we cuddled him, fed him and he went off to bed with our daughter in her bed (where he always sleeps).
Friday morning we began him on Diazepam (the script had to be filled outside the ER so there was a slight delay in getting that into him). Our daughter took him on a more amended shortened walk... no issues peeing or pooping but she said his rear legs were different: very ✙wobbly and "like they weren't his".
By mid-afternoon Friday our daughter wanted the ER number to talk to a physician as she was unhappy with Theo's gait on another 2nd short walk... as a result of that call they wanted to see him again.
That visit didn't net much more than a reassurance that not much had changed because he wasn't really willing to show his true/current/new gait to them at the hospital (probably due to stress and not wanting to be there), they gave him an injection of Methadone... home we went.
We continued the Gabapentin and Diazepam on schedule.
Our daughter was growing more and more displeased with his gait as were we... an early AM Saturday morning stir in bed found Theo trying to ✙crawl (not walk) from under our daughter's covers on her bed to get more comfortable. She got up and harnessed him for a short walk and came home very distressed. Theo was having great difficulty supporting himself at all and that while taking a few steps forward "was more or less  ✙dragging both of his rear legs behind himself."

We immediately called the ER to let them know we were en route.
They found a very large forward progression, to quote the Dr. "if I were to stage rate this, yesterday would have been Stage 1 and today I would call this Stage 3 IVDD"... she suggested admitting him overnight, transporting him Sunday (6/21) to another hospital for prepping for an early Monday morning MRI.
We agreed while having our hearts crack in half.
We called the ER throughout Saturday night to check in, each time we did Theo was resting comfortably in their Neuro ICU.
His next thorough exam/eval was Sunday AM with their Neurologist... I hesitantly called for the results (basically bawling for the first portion of the call while talking to the front desk and waiting for the Dr to pick up) the doctor picked up the phone and said, "Great news. Theo [6/21] is walking... albeit very wobbly, very unsure and uncertain, but walking nonetheless and his tail is wagging." It was like the darkest clouds had parted ways and the sunshine, and every good thing in the entirety of the Universe, had broken through.
She went onto say, "This is a huge improvement from yesterday but does pose a serious dilemma... I don't think we should move forward on the MRI, yet at least, because it could net us a false/positive." She continued on to say that with his improvement, an improvement that could be true improvement (a reduction in swelling and inflammation) or simply a stubborn breed, the dachshund, that was simply annoyed off and had had enough of being carried around and poo-poo'ed and sweet-talked to and had finally decided to walk to get the medical staff to leave him the hell alone to do his business (he had taken a sizeable pee and poop while solo walking)... and that the MRI would/could lead a surgeon's hand in making a correct or incorrect decision in what or which disc needed attention.
In any event the doctor felt strongly that we should delay on the MRI and instead keep him an additional night in ICU to monitor progress... she also said she was confident enough in his progress to release him to us that day even though we/our family and the Dr. agreed that another night was good for monitoring -and- would buy us much needed to time to prep the house for his arrival home on Monday.

Monday morning arrived with more positive news... Theo was walking with just a touch more improvement (the Dr. sent us two photos and a short video of him walking through the ICU as part of his Neuro exam -- my wife and daughter, having seen him at his worst on Saturday were impressed and joyous whereas I will admit, I cried, having not seen the worst of his gait Saturday before he was admitted into ICU: he looked wounded, unsure, small and very fragile).
We completed the final bits around the house:
His Condo (his crate from his puppy days was cleaned and reassembled)
Egg-foam, 1 inch thick, had been cut into two layers, packed into a garbage bag and taped off and placed on the plastic tray
His favorite wooby went on that with various blankets rolled and placed around the edges of the mattress area for his head
Clip-on water dish purchased and installed on the inside of his Condo

An absolute homecoming to see him and have him with us again after the long discharge process from the hospital ~ what an ordeal that not only all this has befallen Theo BUT during a pandemic no less ~ and two long nights away from us.

The Dr. is set to see him in 14 days baring anything before that date.

The remainder of Monday (yesterday) into today, Tuesday (6/22-6/23)...

We are walking him (no more than 7-12 steps) for bathroom breaks -- we have tried using a sling but he won't do anything business-wise with it under his rear flank so we have stopped using it... he was quite constipated after the hospital's food and general refusal of water -- his stress plus intake of meds more than likely being the culprit -- but he is pooping (a little bead of fresh blood on his last stool just an hour ago (Tuesday 6/23) that worried us for a second until we realized it was also on the end of a very dry stool that was then followed by a more clay like and wet sand like orange stool that would indicate he's now processing our food -- sweet potatoes & white rice) and peeing without assistance.

His forward stride is nice and somewhat confident while his lateral turns are very wonky and sponging with an occasional cross-legged wobble moment. He lost his rear balance on this most recent walk and stumbled into soft grass with just his flank going down (we caught him just after) as well as, on a move forward that resulted in his rear left paw inverted -- we quickly righted it.
He's being a trooper and super hero throughout. He is a true Champion!

His meds (as of current)...
Diazepam ~ 1.25mg every 8-12 hours
Carprofen ~ 12.5mg every 12 hours
Trazodone ~ 25mg every 8-12 hours
Gabapentin ~ 1ml every 8-12 hours

[Moderator's Note. Please do not edit 
13.2 lbs  4.5 y.o.
Carprofen as of what date?:  12.5mgs 2x/day for ? days, then test for pain/neuro
gabapentin  ?mgs in one mL:   ?mgs dose (1mL) which 8 or 12 hrs?
diazepam 5mg tab: 1.25 mgs which 8 or 12 hrs?
Trazodone  25mgs  ?x/day]