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Post by Katie DeC on Mar 27, 2024 7:26:44 GMT -7
[Original subject line: Poh, mini doxie, herniated disc]
My 6 year old female mini dachshund, weighing 16.75lbs.
She goes for surgery on a herniated disc between her t3 and t4 vertebrae this morning. Today is Wednesday March 27,
symptoms began Thursday March 22, with apprehension to stairs and pain when picking her up. Gave her Meloxicam and Gabapentin. Got her into the vet Friday, was told to give her 100mg of gabapentin 2-3x daily and 7.5kg dose of meloxicam 1x daily. She did well over the weekend with rest. Monday things took a turn, I couldn’t even touch her without pain, called the vet and they prescribed 0.35ml of methocarbamol every 8 hours for 4 days. Tuesday morning she [3/26] stopped using her back legs. Tuesday evening we took her to the emergency vet at the local college, so blessed they are so close to us… I was told to give strict crate rest by normal vet with meds but I couldn’t shake her leg function, and although she wasn’t yelping in pain, she couldn’t settle or get comfortable so I called emergency vet and they said to take her in. Initial physical exam showed she still had feelings in back feet, great sign but surgery was recommended after the CT scan showed quite a bit of white pressing on the spinal cord. They said her chances of walking again are 85-90% with surgery. Over night she did well, really well, and said her back right leg even seemed to get a tiny bit stronger and neurological tests went well. She is a strong, willful girl. I hope we were right to opt for surgery, and now I’m wondering about post operative care. I do not know the grade of her injury unfortunately, I didn’t really know this was a thing until reading this page… any advice, kind words, or opinions are gratefully accepted.
Thank you for all that you do.
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PaulaM
Moderator. 
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,549
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Post by PaulaM on Mar 27, 2024 11:38:22 GMT -7
Welcome Katie! As you learn more post-op, please do keep us updated on how Poh is doing, etc. When things develop quickly, there is not much time to understand your dog's disease. So as soon as you can, do read the things I flag. Knowledge is the key to caring for Poh now and understand living with her many happy years ahead. 🚩 For the big picture, check out "Shortcut Thru IVDD" highly recommended: dodgerslist.com/2020/06/26/time-and-ivdd/🚩 Print out and put on your fridge the ROADMAP to understand each of the 4 phases of healing and what it takes for each phase ROADMAP: Avoid dangerous detours with the Conservative Roadmap for your fridge. VIEW, DOWNLOAD and print: dodgerslist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Roadmap-for-Fridge.pdfi0.wp.com/dodgerslist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Roadmap-promo400.jpg🚩 Poh will like come home on meds. Handy to keep tract of doses given PLUS make notes of patterns you might observe for the next time you are in touch with the vet or surgeon.
MEDICATION CHART- Useful tool for quality communications with your vet.
D/l a sample and a blank form to use with your dog's meds dodgerslist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/med-chart-printable.pdf
🚩 Setting up the recovery suite-- lots of tip and ideas to make the next weeks of post-op rest go smoother: dodgerslist.com/2020/05/14/strict-rest-recovery-process/🚩 PREP for Discharge day!I bet your mind is flooded right now with concerns, questions for the surgeon. Now is the time to jot those things down. Here's a starter list of questions to which you can add some of your concerns to ask your surgeon: dodgerslist.com/2020/06/03/discharge-day-list/This page is good reading by Dr. Isaacs, ACVIM (neurology) as he explains many post-op questions for our IVDD community: meds, crate rest, PT and discharge day. dodgerslist.com/2020/05/12/dr-isaacs-surgery-answers/When you can, do register and log in. It is good for you and helps us best track Poh. With registration, you can receive email alerts when someone has posted. Timely interaction/communications is needed when helping your dog.
TIPs for posting on the Forum ➡️ QUICK REPLY: Easy, fast and recommended! Go to the "Quick reply" typing area at bottom of your dog's thread to write a reply. Quick Reply allows scrolling up to a previous post & back down to the "Quick Reply" typing area to continue your own post.
 We look forward to helping you carry out the home care your surgeon directs for Poh. Don't hesitate to bring up any particular questions here on the Forum as they come to mind. |
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