Kieber has IVDD.

[TexasRanger]

Kieber (2yr old, Doxie/Min Pin/Chi) suddenly could not stand up yesterday night and was moaning in pain. Rushed him to the ER vet and they took x-rays and diagnosed him with "suspected intervertebral disk disease". Sent him home on 4-6 week kenneling, only allowed out to potty on leash. Also put him on Carprofen 25mg, Gabapentine 100mg, and Tramadol 50mg.

When they did the physical eval they found he COULD walk, but his gait was very stiff, almost Frankenstein/marionette like. He also kept his back hunched and his tail was held "upside down", if that makes any sense. He also defecated on their floor. His stool was its usual color, but it was loose and HUGE. There was a drop of blood at the end. He'd been having accidents for the past several days and the vet didn't think the loose stools were connected to his back, but I think they might be. While there they gave him some IV pain meds and took X-rays.

X-rays showed:

Decreased disc space at L5-6, L6-7, no luxation, no fracture noted

They then sent him home and said I should make an appointment with my regular vet in the morning.


He ate the small amount of wet cat food laced with his pills (a miracle), but refused water and didn't go potty when I set him outside and did a sort of "dance", were he would hold up one hind leg and then the other. At the vets he growled (not like him) at a woman near us, but was otherwise very "zoned out" due to meds/pain. He did (also not like him) freak out/fight the vet when she tried to look at his ears/teeth.

Vet was able to get him up and walking, but he started limping on his right front and had some stiffness in his neck. She agreed with the ER vets diagnosis and will call us in a few days to see how it's going.

Tonight he is walking better when we take him out to the yard, but still holds up one front leg from time to time and is still trembling. He has learned that the wet (now dog) food is laced with pills and has started biting us when we try and get the pills into his mouth.

Sigh, this is going to be hell for both of us.

 

[busannie]

Annie has had 1 "episode" of IVDD in her neck which caused her severe general pain and lameness in just 1 front leg, and 1 episode (years later) which didn't seem as painful, but caused more significant neuro signs, stumbling when she walked, etc. The first time I remember thinking she was never going to get better 2 weeks- may as well have been 2 years for how long it felt- into her recovery (still frequently screaming when people tried to pick her up), it took a while before I saw real improvement, but then it was pretty fast and steady. The second time, it was more of a gradual, fluctuating progress back to her normal self. In both cases, I did crate rest for 6-8 weeks, then slowly returned to normal activity, but the first time she was acting "good" after 5 weeks or so, and the second, she was still a little wobbly at that point.

She was on pred/robaxin/tramadol, but the meds your boy is on are common too. I also started her on Adequan maybe 2-3 weeks after her first injury, when she just didn't seem to be recovering quickly. I don't know if it helped, but I figured it probably couldn't hurt, and there are others who've used it for IVDD with apparent success. She did seem to improve pretty steadily after that, but it may have been coincidence.

You may try joining Dodger's list for current advice as well, I think those individuals stay pretty updated on the current protocols, and many have (unfortunately) more experience than me. Even the neuro vets here refer people there for info on day to day care, etc, but I would still run anything you try/change by your vets to be safe. Oh, when Annie was doing well after her first injury, but still not allowed back to regular activity, I did swimming in our tub, I'd fill it to where she could just barely touch, and would lure her with her ball from end to end. I didn't do it as much the second time because I didn't have a suitable tub anymore, but I feel like it helped, and her vet had given the ok for it at that point.

When Annie was better the second time, I did notice that she was still reluctant to pick up large items (big tennis balls, etc), I think opening her mouth that wide probably still caused her some discomfort for a while. I would wonder if that may not be contributing to Kieber's reluctance to eat, and possibly the biting when you try to pill him. Maybe try giving soft food or watering his food down for a couple weeks, it could be painful for him to open his mouth/chew.

Annie was super easy to medicate at that time, but she's on some meds/supplements now, and is currently pretty hard to medicate. Pilling her is difficult, as she clamps her mouth shut like an alligator, and when you do pry it open, she flings her head with it open, and her teeth are gross. She too finds pills in most things, or refuses them once she's determined they're "poisoned". I've found that if I freeze gravy into ice cube trays, I can warm up one cube daily and give her crushed pills in that. I've also had good luck with cooked hot dogs for her, velveeta and cheese doodles (the crunchy texture helps hide the hard pill, IME) for other dogs, and a co worker swears by braunschweiger, those would probably be my go-tos after the gravy. If giving pills in something, I always give a plain piece before and after, with the one with the pill in the middle, in hopes that they get greedy and don't chew.

It's really hard to see them like that, especially when they don't seem to get better quickly, but lots of dogs make full (or close) recoveries, so give it time. Hope he feels better soon

 

[TexasRanger]

Maybe try giving soft food or watering his food down for a couple weeks, it could be painful for him to open his mouth/chew.

Annie was super easy to medicate at that time, but she's on some meds/supplements now, and is currently pretty hard to medicate. Pilling her is difficult, as she clamps her mouth shut like an alligator, and when you do pry it open, she flings her head with it open, and her teeth are gross. She too finds pills in most things, or refuses them once she's determined they're "poisoned". I've found that if I freeze gravy into ice cube trays, I can warm up one cube daily and give her crushed pills in that. I've also had good luck with cooked hot dogs for her, velveeta and cheese doodles (the crunchy texture helps hide the hard pill, IME) for other dogs, and a co worker swears by braunschweiger, those would probably be my go-tos after the gravy. If giving pills in something, I always give a plain piece before and after, with the one with the pill in the middle, in hopes that they get greedy and don't chew.

Those are good suggestions. I got him to eat the pills this morning with a mix of ground beef and wet cat food. His poop has firmed up and he is drinking a little more.