Welcome to the Forum. Donna or Lola? I'm sorry to hear your boy has been and is
still suffering with pain for some length time.
Call the vest asap to get the pain meds adjusted asap, first thing Mon morning or if you have seen an ER vet where your dog how has a file, any vet on duty can handle med adjustments over the phone today.
#1 thing to do if this would be a disc episode. Treat as if this is a disc episode (until you know it is not) by employing STRICT REST inside of a recovery suite (wire crate, 8 panel ex-pen). No Chiro treatments!!
Let us know if your dog has been Rx'd and your have been carrying out STRICT rest to allow the disc to heal.
STRICT rest 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.
POTTY TIME strictness Carry your dog to and from the recovery suite to the potty place and then allow a very, very few limited footsteps. See our large breed tips on maintaining safety for your dog's healing disc AND safety for your own back during potty times:
dodgerslist.com/2022/02/10/large-dog-care-tips-ivdd/ Using a sling (long winter scarf, ace bandage, belt) will save your back and help to keep a wobbly dog's back aligned and butt from tipping over. Do you have a Help 'Em UP front and or the back harness, that would give you the most control.
A harness and 6 foot leash is to control speed and keep footsteps to minimum as you stand in one spot.
An ex-pen in the grass is an excellent alternative to minimizing footsteps with the physical and visual to indicate there will be no sniff festing going on!
#2 NEXT call and get a referral from your local vet to a board certified neuro or ortho surgeon asap. These specialists are at universities and at private practices in the USA. strategies:
dodgerslist.com/2020/05/10/find-ivdd-vet/ Find an ACVIM board certified neuro surgeon:
vetspecialists.com Find an ACVS board certified ortho veterinary surgeon:
online.acvs.org/acvsssa/rflssareferral.query_page?P_VENDOR_TY=VETSHow vets develop their diagnosis: Differential diagnosis is the method the local DVM or a specialist uses to formulate possible diseases, to rank them and to make an educated guess which is the cause of the symptoms. With ranking the most likely of diseases, the top ranking disease then dictates the treatment.
What did each the three vets you saw give as the name to their top disease? What where the credentials of each of those vets? (general 4-y DVM, specialist neurologist, or specialist ortho?Here are on the Forum we are not vets. There is only one disease we know a lot about. Once we have a diagnosis, there are lots of helpful things we can share about disc care during conservative treatment or after a surgery.
That being said we have had many dogs on this Forum with root signature pain. This is something to discuss if your dog has.
It would help to supply accurate details:
What are the vet treatments/chain of events including the date? --- date true STRICT crate rest started
--- date of each vet (dvm or specialist) visit
--- Each vet's Diagnosis and treatment: name of each med (mgs; x/day)
Extra info for the anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID or steroid like prednisone. Taper days do not count in getting inflammation resolved.
date steroid prednisone started:
?mg ?x/day for HOW many days, then date taper started
--- date of evidence of 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. With neck discs it often takes a combo of 3 pain meds each working on a different kind of pain and dosed promptly every 8 hrs: (traMADol as the general analgesic, methocarmol for muscle contraction pain, and gabapentin for nerve pain)
SIGNS OF PAIN: ⚙︎ ? shivering-trembling ⚙︎ yelping when picked up or moved
⚙︎ ? tight tense tummy ⚙︎ arched back, ears pinned bac
⚙︎ ? restless, can't find a comfortable position
⚙︎ ? slow or reluctant to move in suite such as shift positions
⚙︎ ? not their normal perky interested in life selves
➕if a neck disc:
◻︎
8/7 head held high/ nose to the ground
◻︎
8/7 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
◻︎
8/7 holds front or back leg up flamingo style not wanting to bear weight
Learn about Prednisone. An informed owner is a dog's best defense when taking an anti-inflammatory. What your job is, how to arrange for a Plan B with your vet.
dodgerslist.com/2020/04/18/steroids-vs-nsaids/ Be informed on each med your dog takes:
www.marvistavet.com/pharmacy-center.pml --- date of each neuro decline (identity back or front legs)NEURO DIMINISHMENT SIGNS 1.
? Pain caused by the intial disc tear & inflammation in the spinal cord
2.
? Wobbly front leg walking, legs cross
3.
? Nails/toes scuffing floor
4.
? Paws knuckle under
5. Weak/little leg movement, can't move up into a stand
6. Legs do not work at all (paralysis, dog is down)
7. Bladder control is lost. Leaks on you when lifted. Can no longer sniff and then pee on that old urine spot outdoors.
8. Tail wagging with joy is lost
9. Deep pain sensation, the last neuro function, a critical indicator for nerves to be able to self heal after surgery or with conservative treatment. If surgery is not an option (for whatever reason) then the best option is conservative therapy.
Surgery can still be successful in the window of 12-24 hours after loss of deep pain sensation. Even after that window of time, there can still be a good outcome. Each hour that passes decreases that chance. Precious hours can be lost with a vet that gets DPS wrong. Trust only the word of a neuro (ACVIM) or ortho (ACVS) surgeon about DPS.
A quick overview of conservative treatment vs. a surgery:
dodgerslist.com/2020/02/10/surgery-vs-conservative/
