Can't Afford Dogs IVDD Surgery. Don't Know What To Do.

[FiveYearOldDoge]

How's it going guys? I just need some help, guidance, or advice, anything really. The day before yesterday my dog was fine the majority of the day, playing, running, barking and then out of nowhere she just couldn't walk. One of here hind legs wasn't working at all and the other was struggling. We took her to an emergency hospital and they told us she had a problem with one of her spinal disc's either bulging or being ruptured. They told us surgery was the best option and even then did not guarantee a full recovery. The next day both her hind legs and tail we unresponsive.

They gave us an estimate for 6300-6500 USD. The myelogram (X ray with contrast enhancing dyes) alone is about 2500 USD. We can't afford it. They told us about CareCredit but the monthly payments would still end up being too much. I called about 15 other clinics and hospitals and only two actually performed the surgery but their next available appointment isn't for another week. I was also given the phone number of a nuero specialist but their estimate was higher than the hospitals.

We asked if a doggie wheel chair would be okay as well as asking if she would be in pain. They said the wheel chair was fine, however, in the majority of the cases they've seen the pain persists. Its obvious that our dog, a chihuahua, is in pain. She shivers and she can't lay down because her head starts to rise on its own. She can't stay seated for long periods because her front legs get tired.

The only other option we have right now is euthanasia. I, along with my family, don't want to do this but understand that we cannot leave her in the state she's in. It would be cruel.

Please, if you can help at all, somehow, with anything please do. If you know of any helpful resources or alternative solutions please share. We don't want to lose a member of our family.

If you read all of this, thank you.

[critters]

Is your baby at home? Many, many people treat IVDD medically. Everybody has an opinion, of course, but it can be treated with such things as prednisone or NSAIDS, pain killers, muscle relaxers, PT, or rest. Usually they are done in some sort of combination. You would probably have to learn to express poop and pee. It takes practice, but plain old people CAN learn it, but not every vet is willing to teach it, and not all of them think we can do it. They forget that THEY weren't born knowing how to do it, either.

In my experience, NOT every vet is willing to work with a handicapper because they take more time and energy. You may have to kiss some toads before you find a prince or princess!!

[CarolC]

I agree with critters about the rest and prednisone or other anti-inflammatory medication.

I am assuming this is in her neck?

In a case of a cervical (neck) problem I would not hesitate to use all the meds available, including steroids, muscle relaxers and pain meds. The vet can give you the right combination, some meds cannot be used together, like NSAIDs with steroids, so be sure to get medical advice on the meds.
With strict crate rest, you can hope the swelling will go down and gradually she will get more comfortable and hopefully get her function back.

She probably doesn't want to be handled right now. One thing you can do is be sure to warn her before you try to pick her up, and do it extremely carefully. Neck problems can be really painful at first.

You are looking at probably 6-8 weeks of strict crate rest, only out to potty, otherwise in the crate 24/7, even if she starts to seem better. Letting her out early is like taking an angelfood out of the oven when it looks done but isn't really.

If you can't afford surgery, all you can do is try the rest, and it may work. In the future she may have recurrences, but you will know what to do.

There was a Yorkie named Dukie here with this problem and he was on a low dose of prednisone for months. He gained some weight on the medication but they did treat his neck problem successfully.

If she seems to be getting more painful or having trouble breathing, you will have to decide what to do, but hopefully she will slowly improve.
Right now perhaps you can arrange some sort of support for her by rolling up dishtowels or whatever and putting a rubber band around them so she has a little pillow to rest her chin. If she has a stuffed toy the right size, you might put that under her chin for support. Elevate her food and water bowls so she does not have to bend to reach them.

It sounds like she really needs some strong meds right now to get her comfortable enough to rest. We are coming into the weekend and a lot of vets are only open Saturday morning. If you start her on meds today and she still isn't comfortable enough, be sure to let the vet know asap so they can get her something stronger. There are plenty of really effective pain meds for dogs, but the vet is depending on you to report whether it is working.

As critters said, if she is not urinating on her own, you will need to help her by expressing her bladder. Please post if you need details on this, we have them here.


http://geocities.com/mrsvrs99/boquetsdiscdisease.html
http://dreamemporium.com/Nyssas_Gift.html

[FiveYearOldDoge]

Is your baby at home? Many, many people treat IVDD medically. Everybody has an opinion, of course, but it can be treated with such things as prednisone or NSAIDS, pain killers, muscle relaxers, PT, or rest. Usually they are done in some sort of combination. You would probably have to learn to express poop and pee. It takes practice, but plain old people CAN learn it, but not every vet is willing to teach it, and not all of them think we can do it. They forget that THEY weren't born knowing how to do it, either.

In my experience, NOT every vet is willing to work with a handicapper because they take more time and energy. You may have to kiss some toads before you find a prince or princess!!

Yes she's with us right now. She doesn't move much except to readjust herself when she is uncomfortable. The vet gave us Prednisone and Tramadol. She is definitely calmer than when she first lost he hind leg mobility. She pees when we pick her up, I'm assuming because we end up squeezing her bladder. As far as pooping goes well last night she was a bit restless and when we picked her up her tail started moving all over the place and she eventually pooped. When she finished her tail went back to being limp. Again I'm assuming that her tail moving was just a muscular response/reflex to the pooping.

The thing is though, She can't keep her head down when she lays down. When she relaxes or tries to go to sleep it lifts back up by itself and she has to actively lay back down. Right now she is laying at an angle and is able to keep it down but it looks like she's having muscle spasm behind her shoulder. The spasms/twitches happen every now and then. Its not constant.

We just want to make sure she isn't/won't be in pain or suffering.

Thank you for taking the time to help out and provide insight.

[FiveYearOldDoge]

I agree with critters about the rest and prednisone or other anti-inflammatory medication.

I am assuming this is in her neck?

In a case of a cervical (neck) problem I would not hesitate to use all the meds available, including steroids, muscle relaxers and pain meds. The vet can give you the right combination, some meds cannot be used together, like NSAIDs with steroids, so be sure to get medical advice on the meds.
With strict crate rest, you can hope the swelling will go down and gradually she will get more comfortable and hopefully get her function back.

She probably doesn't want to be handled right now. One thing you can do is be sure to warn her before you try to pick her up, and do it extremely carefully. Neck problems can be really painful at first.

You are looking at probably 6-8 weeks of strict crate rest, only out to potty, otherwise in the crate 24/7, even if she starts to seem better. Letting her out early is like taking an angelfood out of the oven when it looks done but isn't really.

If you can't afford surgery, all you can do is try the rest, and it may work. In the future she may have recurrences, but you will know what to do.

There was a Yorkie named Dukie here with this problem and he was on a low dose of prednisone for months. He gained some weight on the medication but they did treat his neck problem successfully.

If she seems to be getting more painful or having trouble breathing, you will have to decide what to do, but hopefully she will slowly improve.
Right now perhaps you can arrange some sort of support for her by rolling up dishtowels or whatever and putting a rubber band around them so she has a little pillow to rest her chin. If she has a stuffed toy the right size, you might put that under her chin for support. Elevate her food and water bowls so she does not have to bend to reach them.

It sounds like she really needs some strong meds right now to get her comfortable enough to rest. We are coming into the weekend and a lot of vets are only open Saturday morning. If you start her on meds today and she still isn't comfortable enough, be sure to let the vet know asap so they can get her something stronger. There are plenty of really effective pain meds for dogs, but the vet is depending on you to report whether it is working.

As critters said, if she is not urinating on her own, you will need to help her by expressing her bladder. Please post if you need details on this, we have them here.


http://geocities.com/mrsvrs99/boquetsdiscdisease.html
http://dreamemporium.com/Nyssas_Gift.html

Thank you for the response. I greatly appreciate the help.

The problem isn't actually in her neck, its about 1-2 inches below her last rib. She seems to have trouble getting comfortable but I'm not to sure what to do considering that we've tried putting soft blankets under her chin in a bunch of different ways trying to see what would help. Right now she is kind of on her side but not totally, more so at an angle. She has problem keeping her head down but at this angle she seems to be able to rest but still seems a bit uncomfortable as she keeps readjusting. Right now she is on Tramadol and Prednisone. The Tramadol seems to be helping her calm down and relax a little but I'm not to sure if the prednisone is helping.

[critters]

Typically, pred is terrific as an anti-inflammatory. Maybe she needs a little more?

[CarolC]

OK, I was thinking it might be in the neck because you described her not wanting to lie down. Having it in the lower back is really a much better situation. That's good news.

You will find some good information about medication and other topics on Dodger's List. I recommend reading about Conservative Treatment, which means rest and medication, which is what you are doing.

http://www.dodgerslist.com/healingindex.htm

Also, for what it's worth, I don't think it's true that pain usually continues with a disk problem. If the disk ruptures and she becomes fully paralyzed, the beauty of paralysis (if there is any such thing) is it doesn't hurt. If the disk is merely bulging and putting pressure on the spinal cord, rest and medication will help it slowly heal over the course of 6-8 weeks. The pain subsides with time. Your only question then is how much function she regains once the disk has had some time to heal. If she becomes mobile again, then your issue is trying to ensure she doesn't do it again, which can be tricky with dogs and maybe especially little dogs who are always jumping off of sofas, and just going up and down the stairs is pretty active for a small dog. But with strict rest, I would hope and expect her to be feeling quite a bit more comfortable after maybe a couple of weeks, which is why they remind you NOT to slack off on the STRICT crate rest early, when they start to look and feel better. Do the whole term of crate rest, don't deprive her of even one day of it. If her disk is partly healed or even mostly healed and she does something active and reinjures it, you could have a setback. It has happened to dogs on this website, so you really need tough love to keep her crated as long as they recommend. For example, if you started counting 8 weeks from Sept 8, you are looking at resting her till the first week of November.

[FiveYearOldDoge]

Hey guy's, I just wanted to give an update.

We went to another vet today and they told us that even if we tried surgery her chances of full recovery were still uncertain and she believed conservative treatment to be the best option. Since our Chihuahua wasn't taking her medicine nor eating due to us mixing the medicine with her food. She told us the best thing would probably be to crush the pills up, mix it with water and use a syringe to give it to her that way. We also told her about her problem keeping her head down when laying down and she said it could be due to her being unable to get comfortable or even the Tramadol taking affect. Either way she gave us the option of giving her Buprenorphine instead. The vet said it might be easier since it was a liquid and she wouldn't have to take the full dose as long as she got some on her gums or under her tongue she would be fine. We decided this would be easier for everyone involved. The vet told us in a weeks time we could start physical therapy to make sure her hind legs don't stiffen up too much. She also gave a 50/50 chance on recovering use of her legs. We're happy that there is at least a chance she will return to her normal self even if it is a bit toned down considering that we will make sure she doesn't resume her usual jumping shenanigans . We will be going back in a week for a follow up appointment. Hopefully everything works out.

I'm truly thankful for everyone's help here. Honestly, thank you all so much for taking the time out of your days to help our little buddy. I'll try to post updates if anyone is interested. Thanks again : ).

[CarolC]

That's true, surgery is no guarantee, either.

My dog had buprenorphine and it is really good stuff. It may make her a little loopy, but that's fine! She needs to rest.

It would be helpful to read about the difference between passive and active physical therapy. For example range of motion is passive, and resistance is active. When a disk is healing, you want to have the least activity possible. I think Dodger's List believes that during the strict crate rest period under conservative treatment, just the activity involved in changing position during the day is enough and currently they are not recommending even passive therapy. Recommendations have varied over the years, as best practices change.

http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/m ... rcises.htm

Yes, please absolutely DO update. And rest assured, even if she does not get her former ability back, amazingly she will still be her same happy self. Dogs do not sit and think "Why me", they just seem to adjust to the new normal and get on with life. Even if the new normal turns out to be not walking, she'll still be the same sweet spirit you have always loved, and you will figure things out together.