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Post by Autumn & Charlie on Feb 27, 2021 12:40:37 GMT -7
Here are my answers to the questions: 1. Not a lot of pain. He’ll seem restless at times but overall seems to be okay. 2. He is 21 pounds and currently on 25mg rimadyl every 12 hours, 100mg gabapentin every 8-12 hours and methocarbamol every 8-12 hours. The vet did not prescribe a gastric protective but based on what I’ve seen on the boards I’ll ask about adding that. [Moderator's note: please do not modify
21 lbs 4 y.o.
date of 100% STRICT rest?
Neuro appt Mar 3
Rimadyl as of 2/16: 25mgs 2x/day for ? days, then test stop
gabapentin 100mg ?x/day which every 8 or 12 hrs?
methocarbamol ?mgs ?/day which every 8 or 12 hrs?
needs GI tract protector, Pepcid AC, on board w/Rimadyl! ]
3. Eating and drinking okay. He’s not a big eater usually and that hasn’t changed. I’ve been adding a bit of chicken to make sure he eats enough to take his meds. 4. Charlie is at errier mix (wire hair) and 4 years old. I’m Autumn. 5. initially presented with panting and shivering on 16Feb and we took him to the emergency vet. They said he had back pain and put him on cage rest for at least 2 weeks, carprofen, and gabapentin. He seemed okay until 21Feb when he started to decline and become more wobbly in his hind legs. We took him to the regular vet 22Feb and she said he had some propioception deficits and gave him another 2 weeks of cage rest, rimadyl and gabapentin. He again seemed to decline so we went back to the regular vet 25Feb and she gave him an X-ray which showed some narrowing between L2 and L3 (or maybe L3 and L4 - my husband and I heard different things). She referred us to a neuro and we’re going to see him on Monday 01Mar. Our vet doesn’t seem all that concerned as evidenced by the initial referral being to a clinic that couldn’t see us for 2 months. I did some legwork and had them refer to a clinic that could get us in sooner. We don’t have any official diagnosis at this point. 7. He can control his bladder. We take him out on a leash and the only trouble he has is balancing enough. He has had some poop accidents but I think he just doesn’t know how to tell us he has to go out. The vet said on 25Feb that he had good anal tone. 8. He can sort of walk but it’s very wobbly and has difficulty placing his back paws and he seems very weak in his back end. He does still wag his tail when he gets excited.
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Post by Romy & Frankie on Feb 27, 2021 16:09:04 GMT -7
Welcome to Dodgerslist!, Autumn. We are glad you’ve joined us all. We’ve got valuable information we’ve learned from the vets Dodgerslist consults with and our own experiences with IVDD since 2002 to share with you! Learn more about us and how we team up with veterinarians: dodgerslist.com/about-team-dodgerslist/Disc disease is not a death sentence! Struggling with quality of life questions? Re-think things: dodgerslist.com/2020/04/18/hope-quality-life/It is essential that Charlie be on very strict crate rest. Out of the crate only for pottying or needed vet visits. It is the immobility enforced by crate rest that will allow the disk to heal. Here is some information about how it works.
When pottying it is important to allow Charlie only the minimum amount of steps. If you can lift him, carry him gently to the potty spot. If he is too heavy for you to lift, at 21 lbs, think about a pee pad right outside his crate so he can do his business with very little movement.
Here are some tips on taking care of Charlie during crate rest. dodgerslist.com/nursing-care-during-the-disc-episode/
The restlessness could be a sign of pain. What is the dosage of methocarbamol? Are you giving the gabapentin and methocarbamol every 8 or every 12 hours? If you are giving it only 2x daily move to 3x daily. These medications do not last long in the body and usually must be given every 8 hours to provide good pain control.
We have information about meds typically used during a disc episode here: dodgerslist.com/meds-used-during-disc-episode/
You are right, Charlie should definitely be on a stomach protector like Pepcid AC. This is because all anti-inflammatories, like carprofen, cause excess stomach acid which can lead to GI tract issues. You can buy Pepcid AC at any drugstore or supermarket in the US. You can also buy a generic containing one single active ingredient, famotidine. i.ibb.co/DCN9611/91x-Aj-s00z-L-SY355.jpg
A medication chart is useful to see patterns, have dates and specific facts handy as you discuss things with the vet. You can download a sample and a blank form to use with your dog's meds at the link below: dodgerslist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/med-chart-printable.pdf
When our dogs are having a disc episode it is very frightening. It becomes less so when we learn all we can about it. We have a lot of information on our main website. You can use the orange search bar at the top of the page for specific topics.
www.Dodgerslist.com |
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Post by Autumn & Charlie on Feb 27, 2021 16:24:23 GMT -7
Thanks for your quick reply! I think he’s restless because he’s bored but I’ll try dosing every 8 hours instead to see if it helps. We are able to carry him and then place him outside for potty time. I feel lucky he’s small! One question about crate rest - our vet said we were allowed to have him rest quietly next to us on the couch or bed as long as he doesn’t jump and we always place him on/off it. Is that actually bad advice?
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Post by Romy & Frankie on Feb 27, 2021 16:28:18 GMT -7
At Dodgerslist we support Strict crate rest, this would mean no couch sitting. The reason for this is that dogs can do the unexpected in a heartbeat and the dog may suddenly jump off in response to a noise or something he sees through the window. If that were to happen there could be further injury and an increase in neuro symptoms like problems walking.
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Post by Autumn & Charlie on Mar 1, 2021 18:12:26 GMT -7
Charlie saw the neurologist today and they did a CT scan. He just called and said we’re still waiting on the full read but he looked at the images and thinks there’s a large disc herniation in his mid-back that is protruding in both sides of the disc. They tentatively scheduled him for surgery tomorrow afternoon but will call again when they have the full read. Any ideas on what it means to have disc material on both sides? He said it wasn’t that common.
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PaulaM
Moderator. 
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,528
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Post by PaulaM on Mar 1, 2021 19:27:27 GMT -7
Autumn, it is more typical as you will see in the animation clip below that the tear (herniation) usually happens on one side just as the neuro related to you. Hope you will get your answers with the full read on the CT. In the meantime, boning up on surgery may lead you to information you want to know more about when you speak with your neuro next. Dr. Isaacs, Neurology (ACVIM) on surgery: Dr. Isaacs answered alot of questions we've had about surgery. You will find it worthwhile to read his answers about surgery: dodgerslist.com/2020/05/12/dr-isaacs-surgery-answers/More excellent info to help with conservative vs. surgery decisions: dodgerslist.com/2020/02/10/surgery-vs-conservative/ |
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