Jessica, welcome to the Forum. Since you answered
currently you are still seeing pain, clearly the pain meds are not yet correctly prescribed.
Call in to the ER facility where Milo was seen. Report each sign of pain and describe the circumstances when you observed pain: nearing next dose of pain meds, when having to move such as at potty time or trying to reposition in the recovery suite. Any vet there, would be able to access Milo's files and be able to adjust meds without causing a risky to the healing disc transport port in. Vets who know IVDD understand limited movement is a key component in conservative treatment to allow the disc to heal.
Advocate for:
1) Prednisone at the anti-inflammatory level dose of 10mgs TWICE a day.
2) gabapentin for nerve pain every 8 hours for this pain med which lasts about 8 hrs at a proper level.
3) tramadol as the general analgesic every 8 hrs
4) methocarbamol for muscle contraction pain every 8 hrs.
pain med reading reference regarding addressing each of the 3 sources of pain with a multimodal pain med approach
4) Pepcid AC (famotidine) Milo is showing
red flag signs of prednisone damage. Do not wait on getting
pepcid AC on board PLUS advocating for a 2nd GI tract protector called
5) SUCRALFATE. This is nothing to fool around with when on prednisone!
SUCRALFATE so you know why you are advocating for it:
marvistavet.com/sucralfate.pml
PEPCID AC (famotidine)
By the time we notice black or red blood in the stools, things can quickly go from bleeding ulcers to a life threatening perforated stomach.
Ask if your dog has any health issues to prevent use of Pepcid AC (famotidine)? (doesn’t need it, we wait til there is problem…are NOT answers to your question!) If you get a “no health” issues answer, then go to the grocery store to purchase over the counter Pepcid AC containing one single active ingredient (famotidine).
Excellent reading for you about use of anti-inflammtories during a disc epidode:
dodgerslist.com/2020/04/18/steroids-vs-nsaids/ Did the ortho (ACVS) vet you saw on 11/17 say the disc was in the back or the neck? There are extra things you can do at home to help the neck disc heal, such as softening hard kibble, raising food/water dishes, etc. More info here:
dodgerslist.com/2020/05/05/cervical-care-tips/Let us know you are doing the very STRICT rest that is required for disc healing to happen in.
STRICT means:
◼︎no laps ◼︎no couches ◼︎no baths ◼︎no sleeping with you
◼︎no chiro therapy whys:
dodgerslist.com/2020/04/22/chiropractic/◼︎no meandering at potty times.
◼︎no PT for conservative dogs during 8 weeks to heal disc
◼︎At home laser or acupuncture for severe neuro damage is best.
◼︎ Transports are always a risk to the disc of too much movement. Vet visits must be weighed risk vs. benefit for dogs with little to mild neuro diminishment.
Learn and scoop up all the good tips and ideas for doing conservative treatment, here:
dodgerslist.com/2020/04/22/healing-discsPotty time is limited to only footsteps, no walking around
Setting up a “recovery suite” with room service!