Welcome Molly, we are glad you are here. Adhering to the single most important care (STRICT rest) for the IVDD disc episode Lady is experiencing will give her every possible opportunity to not only heal the disc but with time to repair any nerve damage you report as a limp. Lady is a good candidate for the Conservative Treatment she was prescribed!
First is to make sure of two things.
1)
No pain at all should surface! Pain should be in control fully, round the clock, day and night in control. Sounds like she is still yelping. That needs to be reported so your vet knows the Rx prescribed still needs some tweaking to get it just right for Lady's needs.
Pain meds are effective for about 8 hrs. Lady gets meds every 12 hours. So sounds as if pain might be surfacing nearing the next dose. Don't have any patience with pain. Pain hinders healing. Contact your vet to report pain.
Use a med chart to see patterns and keep dates, events handy for quality communications with your vet.
**A medication chart is useful to see patterns, have dates and specific facts handy as you discuss things with the vet.
D/l a sample and a blank form to use with your dog's meds
dodgerslist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/med-chart-printable.pdf2)
STRICT REST? Please confirm that we're on the same page as to conservative care.
The hallmark component of conservative treatment is the very STRICT crate rest part (no PT, little movement). With little blood supply discs are much slower to form good scar tissue than it takes a blood rich broken bone to heal. Those weeks of a cast for a broken arm to heal is similar to the recovery suite being a kind of cast for the disc. 100% STRICT crate rest 24/7 for 8 weeks provides limited movement to allow good strong scar tissue to form.
STRICT rest means:
◼︎no laps ◼︎no couches ◼︎no baths ◼︎no sleeping with you
◼︎no chiro therapy WHYs:
dodgerslist.com/chiropractic/◼︎no walking around, meandering at potty times.
◼︎no PT for conservative dogs during 8 weeks to heal disc
◼︎Attach water/food bowls inside recovery suite. ◼︎How to set up mattress system for the suite plus many other tips in carrying out STRICT REST:
🚩https://dodgerslist.com/strict-rest-recovery-process/
◼︎ avoid dangerous detours. Follow the "Roadmap." Tape it to your fridge. D/L and print out:
dodgerslist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Roadmap-for-Fridge.pdf◼︎ 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. Vets who know IVDD often take phone updates & adjust meds via a phone call.
POTTY TIME strictness
We carry our small dog to and from the recovery suite to the potty place and then allow a very, very few limited footsteps.
With Lady's 46lbs you will want to look at potty time options that still maintain her not doing more than a few MINIMAL footsteps to take care of business plus are safe for your own back. Use a sling (long winter scarf, ace bandage, belt) to save your back and help to keep a wobbly dog's back aligned and butt from tipping over.
Fill us in on the Carprofen Rx.
For how many days is she to take 100mg 2x/day. Usual is to Rx maybe a 7-day or even a 14-day course. Then with the stop of Carprofen comes YOUR job to monitor if any pain surfaces. No one knows how long to dose carprofen. It is only the stop that lets you and the vet know if another course is needed. Read up on how carprofen (anti-inflammatory) works during a disc episode, how to plan with your vet for a PLAN B should pain surfaces when they are closed and more.... 🚩 dodgerslist.com/steroids-vs-nsaids/
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Read about the 3 reasons to protect the stomach during Carprofen
CRATE REST to heal a discWe have observed dogs doing less than 8 weeks of conservative crate rest can have a relapse to the early healing disc. We do also see that some few dogs whose owners prefer less crate rest do fine with fewer weeks of rest. There is no way to tell ahead of time which category the dog will be in.
At Dodgerslist we are very cautious and follow the vets who do recommend 8 weeks of rest having seen too many dogs on the Forum re-injure a disc with less crate rest ending up with more pain and may need a $4000-8000+ surgery.
8 weeks of rest is of course not scientific proof, just an observation over many years since 2002 and many, many 1000's of dogs. The focus of the 8 weeks is getting the disc to form good secure scar tissue. I can say that I've not observed since being here since 2007 a dog harmed from 8 weeks of rest, but I have observed too many being harmed with less crate rest.
QUESTIONS:
- For how many days is she to take 100mg 2x/day.
- What date did you begin STRICT REST?
- What action did the vet take regarding reporting of yelping still.
Pain meds: ?mg ?x/day
Look forward to your next update to let us know Lady is able to rest in comfort in her recovery suite. And what your solution to minimal footsteps at potty time with a 46lbs dog is currently.
