Sylke had a relapse

[JayLu50]

It has been many years since Sylke went down in the rear - and she had a full recovery - she has suffered a relapse of sorts - while her rear legs work - she can no longer bear weight on them without discomfort. She does well in a sling - I'm thinking it is time for a cart for her.

[CarolC]

Hi! So good to see you again, but sorry for the circumstances. I was looking back through earlier posts and if Sylke was 6 when she had the back trouble, she would be 12 now. You say she's having discomfort. Do you think it is definitely a disk again? I've had 2 senior dogs go down. In one I think his hips had a lot to do with it. In the other, it wasn't exactly a disk problem, just age related degenerative changes that gradually affected his ability to get up and walk. My dog with hip problems did well on pain medication and continued to be mobile for a while until it started bothering his stomach. Did they try any kind of pain meds for her? Could it possibly be arthritis?

[JayLu50]

Yes the vet feels it is due in part to arthritis - but on the day she had a relapse - she had little response to pain stimuli in her hind legs. This has returned very quickly but she is still kept sequestered in a small area for rest, on pain meds and antiinflammatory meds. She is doing much better now and has control of bladder and bowels - a very good sign. I am going to start the ROM exercises I did for her during her last confinement and massage as well.

[CarolC]

on the day she had a relapse - she had little response to pain stimuli in her hind legs.

Oh, boy. That plus the discomfort, I see what you mean. But if she retained bladder control and you are resting her, and already know everything to do to promote healing, maybe she will turn out not to need a cart just yet, I guess time will tell. I read an article once, something to the effect that dogs who experience gradual degeneration of the spine over the course of months or years have time to develop work arounds to compensate for the damage to some extent. If a healthy dog acquired the same degree of damage through sudden traumatic injury, the symptoms would be much more dramatic. I wonder if you are dealing with a different type of condition this time, more age-related, but I don't know. I do know that, even though I was experienced with having a down dog, I was about as stressed when Merlin went down as if I'd never done it before. And you probably weren't expecting this. Maybe with the rest and meds, she'll improve enough that you can keep her going a while longer with the ability she still has. Anti-inflammatories are wonderful. Plain old analgesic pain medicine is great too, because in my own experience it helps you keep moving instead of feeling like not moving, and with arthritis they recommend you keep moving. If after everything it appears she will continue to need help getting up and walking , please let me tell you what I learned about preserving my own health caring for a large down dog. There's stuff they don't tell you and it's important .