Angela, very good to hear Dolce slept comfortably during the night. Glad you experimented to find a smaller dose of ACE was the solution. This is the case with meds, honing for what is right for each animal. And good job in make recovery suite smaller.... Does he now only have room enough when he lies down to be able to fully stretch out the legs? He can easily turn his body around?
Which med had he been on ... was it Vicodin or was it Valium?
When you report "had a reaction" it would be better for our understanding if you also report what you saw.
Vicodin or was it Valium? What did you see as a reaction? Do you believe your vet is dosing Methocarbamol at a such a high dose because he understands you work 2 jobs and there is no one to give a 3rd (3x/day) dose?
PRED TAPERIt is prudent and wise to maintain the level of pain relief by always, promptly giving the pain meds 3x/day. The time to reduce pain meds is when the test for pain pred taper starts to be able to accurate assess if more anti-inflammatory level pred is needed.
Is Pred is now in the taper test for pain /neuro as of 10/19? Has it now been lowered from the anti-inflammatory level of 5mgs 2x/day? Since you have been reporting pain it clearly is not time to test for pain, you already know there is still painful swelling going on. It would be time to extend the Pred 5mgs 2x/day for maybe a 5-7 day course maybe a 14-day course. Let us know what your vet Rx's instead of tapering today. RULE OF THUMB
pain on the taper = swelling =
back up at anti-inflammatory dose, pain meds and Pepcid AC
Is there a person who could express his bladder that overflows due to reflex during the mid day? Did you get a hands on top of your hands expressing lesson from your vet?
PAIN RELIEFMethocarbamol lasts for about 8 hrs. That is why is is very typical that you will reported on this Forum vets prescribing 3x/day dosing. It keeps the level of metro more even in the body so that pain does not surface. Is there a neighbor or anyone who could give the daytime dose if your vet would Rx for 3x/day?
While on only one pain med (methocarbamol that relaxes muscles, are you observing if overly relaxed not able to control his muscles? This is the problem with high Metho doses one does not know for sure if there is neuro damage or the effects of large dose of Metho.
Have you seen any other methocarbamol side effects: In addition to being a muscle relaxant, methocarbamol also has some sedative properties. Sensitive animals will salivate or vomit.
So since methocarbamol is not working to provide the full comfort from pain, then it is your job to work with your vet to advocate on behalf of Dolce. There is no one size fits all pain med cocktail. You are the eyes and ears for the vet to report what you observe at home and advocate (speak up) for Dolce.
Discuss with your vet about using a different more typical approach to getting pain in control
-- Methocarbamol every 8 hours, then it can be at a lower dose of 125mgs or even 200 mgs 3x/day
--- Gabapentin now 3x/day should be helping to control pain. If not, then.....
--- add Tramadol as the overall analgesic. Also has short half life and is Rx'd every 8 hrs.
PEPCID AC on board now?-- While on pred it is a must to protect the stomach with an acid suppressor: Pepcid AC (famtodine) Buy it at the grocery store ONCE you have verified:
DO Phrase the question to your vet in this particular way:
Is there a medical/health reason my dog may not take Pepcid AC (famotidine)?
If there is no reason, we follow vets who are proactive in protecting the stomach by giving doxies 5MG Pepcid AC (generic name is famotidine) 30 mins prior to pred. Doesn’t need it, we wait til there is problem…are NOT answers to your question!
Deep Pain SensationMany general family DVM vets do not have the training to correctly identify deep pain sensation. You likely also do not have that ability. Please do not use the electric toothbrush anymore... no tickling or pinching toes either. All that can do is possibly cause too much movement with jerking to the back....not good at all for Dolce.
BATHSBaths are also a dangerous situation of a wet dog, slippery, too much movement to the back. Consider a much safer way to clean urine off the skin and fur:
--- where necessary trim with scissors fur away from genitals to aid in cleaning.
--This tip and many other good ones comes including how to set up the mattress system from our supply list at the Main Dodgerslist web site.
dodgerslist.com/2020/05/14/strict-rest-recovery-process/Use unscented baby wipes for quick clean up on your doxie. Marjorie's tip: boil and cool decaf green tea to dampen a washcloth. It is mild with acidifying, antibacterial properties to neutralize urine on skin and fur to avoid rashes from urine scald + leaves a clean earthy fragrance.
White vinegar in a spray bottle to disinfect and remove the urine ammonia smell from floors, etc. Best is to have two spray bottles, one filled with plain white vinegar the other filled with peroxide. A spritz of each on urine and poop disinfects and completely removes the odor... good on linens, floors and other hard surface. Pre test peroxide for color fastness on important fabrics. At big box stores such as Costco you can purchase 2 qts hydrogen peroxide for about $3.00 and 2 gals of white vinegar for around $3 too.
