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Post by Sarah & Nietzsche on Oct 27, 2023 9:10:09 GMT -7
[This post is being marked. If there are any corrections/additions please make them in a new post. Thanks bunches!]
★1 11 pounds
Rimadyl 25mg - 2x day
Gabepentin 100mg 2x dayGiven at 6am and 6pm.
Still on Rimadyl.
No stomach protectors.
[MED LIST/HISTORY- Moderator's Note. Please do not edit
11 lbs 6 y.o.
9/20 very wobbly rear legs, knuckling with back right paw.
10/27 slight wobble
Rimadyl as of 9/22: 25mgs 2x/day for 36+ ? days, then test STOP: _ pain _neuro
gabapentin 100mgs 2x/day
Nietz needs needs GI tract protector, Pepcid AC, on board for duration of Rimadyl! ]
★2 Miniature Dachshund. 6 years old (08/11/2027), Nietzsche. My Name: Sarah
★3 The emergency vet informed us she was 99% certain it was IVDD with his presenting symptons. We did not get an MRI as she did not recommend that since we were instructed to do conservative treatment since he could still walk (even if he was super wobbly!)
--The emergency vet met with an ortho while he was at the hospital. We have a referral to see a neuro but didnt want to put him through travel while he healed.
★4 conservative treatment 09/22
★5 He does not show any signs of pain.
★6 He has always been eating and drinking normally. Struggled to poop for the first couple days as it seemed painful on his back but he has been good for the last couple weeks. Nothing suspicious/ abnormal about the color or consistency of stool.
★7 When it happened he was wobbly walking and would occasionally fall down. Now [Oct 27] he walks with a little wobble, no longer any arched back (he has super bowed back legs so this is mostly consistent with his normal walk now)
★8 He is doing both number 1 and 2 like normal.
Background: On 09/10 he had his first injury which we believe may have been caused by trying to jump on his human papa when he got home from the airport. Saw his normal vet on 09/12 and they thought he might have just had a strain even though i was worried about his back because he had showed some pain when it was touched at home. They only did xrays on his back right leg as he reacted to some pain there. After a week of limited activity to help heal what we thought was a sprain, he reinjured himself during play time 09/20. He immediately had symptons of wobbly walking, minor hunched back, and some paw knuckling with back right paw. Normal vet said she would refer us to an othro for further evaluation - this process was slow. On 09/22 - I ended up taking him to a local animal hospital that has both neuro and ortho doctors. The emergency vet said it was 99% likely he has IVDD. The ortho that saw him said the same. Recommended conservation crate rest for 4 weeks since he could still walk on his own. Reading up on this site, we opted to go with the full 8 weeks to be safe. He has a pack and play pen (36") with a flat circle bed on the bottom as his new home.
Questions: Will he need to be tapered off his current medication?? Is it normal for him to be on them this long - our general vet does not seem super familiar with IVDD and the emergency vet recommended we reach out to normal vet for all meds. We have just continued to get refills.
Is it normal to go for PT (hydro, laser) after the 8 weeks even in conservative treatment cases?
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PaulaM
Moderator. 
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,555
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Post by PaulaM on Oct 27, 2023 9:31:45 GMT -7
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PaulaM
Moderator.
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,555
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Post by PaulaM on Oct 27, 2023 10:08:40 GMT -7
Sarah, welcome to the forum. So glad to hear that you have been doing some reading eight weeks of rest is what it takes to make sure good scar tissue on the disk has been formed. The meds of Rimadyl to reduce painful swelling and gabapentin to appear to be doing the job!! However no one (you or the vet) will know if Rimadyl has completed the job until it is stopped and the pain med gabapentin also has been stopped. The usual is for vet to call for a 7-day or even a 14-day course of Rimadyl (anti-inflammatory) then it stops along with gabapentin so that YOU at home can assess for pain. At each Rimadyl refill, had Nietzche shown signs of pain or increased neuro damage to warrant a refil?
No one wants a dog on Rimadyl if there is no work for it to do. Then what remains is just being subjected to serious Rimadyl side effects. That is the reason for the short 7- or 14-day course. If the stop would show pain, then vet tries another 7-day course. I can take anywhere in the range of 7-30 days before all painful swelling is gone. Nietzsche has been on Rimadyl non-stop for 36 days now! Time to stop and assess if all pain is gone. Check with your vet and let us know --- date Rimadyl will stop? ---Gabapentin usually would stop same date as Rimadyl. However, it is the vet's call if he chooses to begin backing down gabapentin over serveral days then stop. Let us know the details about gabapentin if backing down.STOMACH PROTECTION
It would be a good idea to understand why being proactive against bleeding ulcers is a good idea for the future. The three reasons (√change in routine, √neuro damage, √anti-inflammatory) why to protect and the meds that are used: dodgerslist.com/2020/05/06/stomach-protection/Nietzsche will graduate from healing his disc on Nov 17. So mark your calendar. At graduation, you'll give us an update about current his neuro status. From there we will be able to provide you with lots of useful information to slowly and safely transition him back to family life and activities. |
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Post by Sarah & Nietzsche on Oct 30, 2023 11:53:52 GMT -7
Thank you Paula for the prompt reply!!
He was not exhibiting signs of pain - our general vet made it seem to us that he needed to be on them during his recovery. I think this was a miscommunication possibly.
We spoke with the vet this morning and she directed us to stop Rimadyl today (10/30).
[MED LIST/HISTORY- Moderator's Note. Please do not edit
11 lbs 6 y.o.
9/20 very wobbly rear legs, knuckling with back right paw.
10/27 slight wobble
Rimadyl as of 9/22: 25mgs 2x/day for 36+ days, 10/30 test STOP: _ pain _neuro
gabapentin 100mgs 2x/day; week of 11/6 100mgs 1x/day; week of 11/13 stop ]
If he does great this next week, then move him to 1x a day for the 100mg gabapentin and then if another week goes by successfully - we can stop it fully.
We are looking forward to weening him off the drugs the next couple weeks and keeping a close eye on any signs of pain.
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PaulaM
Moderator.
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,555
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Post by PaulaM on Oct 30, 2023 12:24:55 GMT -7
Sarah, so glad to hear Rimadyl has finally stopped. It won't be until pain med gabapentin has full stopped that you have the answer if all painful swelling is actually gone. Looks like final dose of gabapetin will be on the date Nov 13??
Usually graduation day would not be until there has been at minimum a full week off of all meds. So graduation day may turn out to be not Nov 17th but Nov 20.
Will be looking forward to hearing from you his current status on the 20th. Of course, if you have any questions before then, we are here and welcome your posts!
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Post by Sarah & Nietzsche on Oct 31, 2023 10:10:44 GMT -7
That makes sense, we will look to mark his graduation as November 20th so we can have a the full week without meds before we start to slowly introduce him to activity.
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