new to this: how do you provide water?

[CarolC]

So, I did go to see her at the vet's office. She did show some signs of improvement, including some bowel and bladder control, so that was good to see.
Unfortunately she was still in pain and seemed quite weak. Her poops are still quite soft, but not outright diarrhoea anymore. she has lost some weight, so they are upping her food intake. She is still inhaling her food, so it was good to see.

The soft stools may have something to do with the medication. Usually stools in paralyzed pets do not change much compared to what they were before paralysis. Prednisone can make them hungry and thirsty. The pain usually goes down as the swelling goes down and the area starts to heal, whether the pet remains paralyzed or not. Normally these dogs are not on lifetime pain medication or anything like that, it gets better.

Since you really are seeing some improvement in bowel and bladder (wonderful!) then you will probably want to read up on the crate rest recovery treatment. Some dogs with a disk problem can recover gradually through 6-8 weeks of strict crate rest, allowing the bulging disk to recover. Activity prevents recovery, which is why strict crate rest is recommended.

http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/CrateRRP.htm

http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/conservative.htm

Here is a good explanation of why it seems to take so long, but why it is important to give it time.

Strict confinement is crucial and is considered the cornerstone of conservative therapy for IVDD (the dog is kept in the cage at all times and only taken outside to relieve him/herself). In order to accomplish the goals of preventing further extrusion of the nucleus of the disk and to promote healing of the outer layers (the annulus) of the disk, strict confinement is necessary. Activity can easily push more of the nucleus into the spinal canal and dramatically worsen the neurological status. It is not uncommon to see dogs that have “gone down” after a short course of pain relievers given without insuring that the owner would enforce strict cage rest. A typical IVDD case requires up to 6 weeks of confinement. This time frame is based on the time it takes the annulus to heal by scar formation. Fibrous scar tissue takes 3 weeks to begin to be laid down and scar formation reaches its peak at 6 weeks. So strict cage rest is followed for the initial 3 weeks. After a recheck exam that shows improvement, slightly more freedom is granted. At 4 weeks more freedom is allowed if the recheck exam shows substantial improvement. After 6 weeks have passed, healing should be well underway and the recheck exam should show a more nearly normal neurologic status. Then cage rest can be discontinued, but lifestyle changes designed to help prevent a recurrence should be followed – that is weight control, limited stairs and jumping.

[janetz]

thanks, CarolC.

looks like she isn'd doing so well today. Although some reflex has come back on the bladder and bowel control, it's not a lot. In the meantime her front legs are loosing strength and pain reflex. Pain/ distress seems to be increasing as well.
I have to be honest, I'm not very optimistic at this point. Hubby is coming back tomorrow evening. In the mean time vet is running a few more tests to see, if there could be other causes to the deterioration at the moment, but at this point it looks like we are just grasping at straws.
We have discussed the option putting her down at this point. I can see the life just draining out of her.
Will give her some more time to see, if things improve until the weekend, but I can;t stand to see her suffer so much for so long. Basically just preparing for the worst right now.
I;m so heartbroken right now... I don;t even know what to say...

[Caritrueb]

Crate her! Don't let her move around too much. These dogs sometimes have really down days. I know the situation may be different then mine but my Lola will have weeks of good days and then all of sudden one day she just won't feel better. Could the meds be rough on her tummy? That alone will seem like she's checking out. Do you have any pain killers that you can give her?

[janetz]

Crate her! Don't let her move around too much. These dogs sometimes have really down days. I know the situation may be different then mine but my Lola will have weeks of good days and then all of sudden one day she just won't feel better. Could the meds be rough on her tummy? That alone will seem like she's checking out. Do you have any pain killers that you can give her?

She's constantly crated at the vets. Additionally she is on 2 different kinds of pain killers at the vet's already. Her diarrhoea seems to have gotten better at the moment. The vet is switching her antibiotics to see, if it will help, so we are hoping for that to do something, but the delayed pain response in the front paws is very troubling right now in itself.

The hope right now, is definitely to see if the meds can be adjusted to improve her condition and whether that is the root of her discomfort. But I am trying to not get my hopes up too much... I don't know...

[CarolC]

There is something called myelomalacia that happens in a very small percentage of disk injuries. I think they used to say 3% but lately they've been thinking it might be a little higher. If the vet decides that is what is going on, it is something they have not found a treatment for. I am mainly just mentioning the name of it, so if the vet mentions it you will have heard of it before, but I hope they will find she is just reacting to medication or something instead.

http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/Myelomalacia.pdf

[janetz]

There is something called myelomalacia that happens in a very small percentage of disk injuries. I think they used to say 3% but lately they've been thinking it might be a little higher. If the vet decides that is what is going on, it is something they have not found a treatment for. I am mainly just mentioning the name of it, so if the vet mentions it you will have heard of it before, but I hope they will find she is just reacting to medication or something instead.

http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/Myelomalacia.pdf

Thanks CarolC. Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but that pretty much describes what is happening with her at the moment.
Honestly reading this, it sounds like euthanasia as soon as possible is the best plan, as in this case further deterioration and pain is expected...

[CarolC]

Well, it is a very uncommon occurrence, but it's probably best to be aware of the possibility. One of our moderators had her dog being treated at the Univ. of Penn and they told her that her dog had it, and they were wrong, he lived many more years. Here is her post about that.

I know what you are saying about drop dead dates. I have spent so much time online reading the medical info on Waffles condition and listening to the vets . The surgeons at Univ. of Penn had him dead the first day. And I mean dead. They told me that he had something called ascending /descending myelomalacia.This is a condition that can be seen in a very small percent (like 3%) of dogs that undergo acute intervetebal disc extrusion. The inflamation at the extrusion can travel up or down the spine. If it goes up it affects the breathing of the animal and is fatal. So just hours after his surgery they told me that they believed Waffles was showing signs of this condition and be prepared for a phone call that night to ask if they could put him down.
Obviously I never got that phone call

[janetz]

Well, it is a very uncommon occurrence, but it's probably best to be aware of the possibility. One of our moderators had her dog being treated at the Univ. of Penn and they told her that her dog had it, and they were wrong, he lived many more years. Here is her post about that.

I know what you are saying about drop dead dates. I have spent so much time online reading the medical info on Waffles condition and listening to the vets . The surgeons at Univ. of Penn had him dead the first day. And I mean dead. They told me that he had something called ascending /descending myelomalacia.This is a condition that can be seen in a very small percent (like 3%) of dogs that undergo acute intervetebal disc extrusion. The inflamation at the extrusion can travel up or down the spine. If it goes up it affects the breathing of the animal and is fatal. So just hours after his surgery they told me that they believed Waffles was showing signs of this condition and be prepared for a phone call that night to ask if they could put him down.
Obviously I never got that phone call

I do hope you are right... Called the vet's office but the vet is busy right now and will call me back. we'll see...

[janetz]

I just came from visiting her.
She seems the same, if not worse. I brought some treats, which she didn't take. I think that's as good a sign I'm going to get from her. I can feel it now. She is done. Hubby is on the flight and unless a miracle happens in the meantime, we will put her down tomorrow morning.