5 Ruptured Discs

[CarolC]

One thing it said in my pill book is that antacids should be given 2 hours separate from Baytril or the antibiotic doesn't absorb.

[slipmonki]

If you worked for a vet, then I would assume you would know more about all this than I.

I am just going by what my vet did for my pups.

I gave my dogs a 1/2 a pepcid tab. They run between 10-16 lbs.

Cindi

Ha ha. Don't make that assumption. I was young, I was basically a glorified pet sitter, and it was a long time ago. It's just that I remember tapering off certain things, and this isn't one of them. I don't at all trust my memory. If it really is what needs to be done, though, I'm going to be a little peeved with the neuro for not telling me.

[slipmonki]

One thing it said in my pill book is that antacids should be given 2 hours separate from Baytril or the antibiotic doesn't absorb.

Good lord. Well, I guess I can give her 1/4 of a Pepcid (based off of Cindi's 1/2 pill for 10-16 lb dog) when I first wake up, give her the deramaxx shortly thereafter, and then give her the baytril at night before bed.

Any idea if this will affect the ester-c (or if the ester-c will affect this) I've been giving her?

[slipmonki]

Darn it. In all of the technical discussion, I forgot to mention that I think she gave her little tail a wag today. I'm not 100% sure because she did it right after we went outside for squeeze-pee time, as in right after she finished urinating, so her tail could have just been moving from the lifting. Either way, I was excited.

[Cindidoxiemom]

Awwwww I still remember the first time I saw Oscar's tail wag post op.....it is a special moment.

Keep doing what your doing! Maybe...we can get our pups togeter for a play date someday! I can show you Oscar's cart, and how well he gets around in it.
Cindi

[CarolC]

we went outside for squeeze-pee time

Good one!

[dachshundmom]

Looks like you made your first post the day my doxie stopped using her back legs. The beginning of your story sounds just like mine, so I know what you're going through. She started acting funny on Saturday night, and by Monday morning she was dragging her back legs. I rushed her to the vet, beside myself because I assumed it was IVDD and knew usually the options were surgery or be put to sleep. The vet confirmed that it was IVDD, but told me that since 24 hours had passed since the initial injury that surgery was not an option. He is big into hollistic care, so he suggested acupuncture treatments and herb supplements along with steroid treatment, pain meds, diarrhea meds, muscle relaxers, and omega 3. Only one week has passed, and she can already stand on her back legs again though she isn't walking. She poops/pees freely and often, though she has no control over when and where.

Another thing that has helped Lexie TREMENDOUSLY is water therapy. My vet told me to work her legs for her as much as possible, but she's a bit chubby, so it was hard to hold her up and work her legs at the same time. So every night I fill the bath tub up enough to make her float but her feet still touch the bottom. I get in the water with her and sit behind her, working her legs on and off for about 20-30 minutes. When I first started doing this, she could not stand on her back legs at all. After only one week, I've noticed a ton of activity in her leg muscles during and after the therapy each night. My vet was totally impressed that I had been doing this and encouraged me to continue. It sounds like it might be able to help Lady, too.

The road to recovery can be long and very hard. I am already completely worn thin, and it's only been a week. I am a young college student myself, so I understand where you are. Just hang in there - talking about it really helps. I hope Lady gets better soon!

[CarolC]

Hi Dachshundmom in Ohio, I am answering this message in your other thread--catch ya over there!

[slipmonki]

Thanks, dachshundmom!

It seems that you're doing things a little differently from the norm. I'm sure CarolC has already addressed that stuff, though.

Lady's doing well. Our biggest problem right now is family, neighbors, and flat out strangers looking at her and then looking at me, and then talking to me like I'm abusing her. I brought her to my mom's house yesterday and got berated by her for crate rest (cruelty) not putting her to sleep (the wrong decision) not having a wire cage (torture), etc. Then, I took her up to Starbucks so I could study, and was met by a very pleasant woman.

BIDDY (running over to my table): My curiosity finally got to me! I want to look! Oh....oh. How old is she?

ME: Four.

BIDDY: Four WHAT?

ME: Uh, years?

BIDDY: WHY is she so SKINNY?!?!

ME: She just has major back surgery and-

BIDDY: Yeah. But WHY is she so SKINNY?!?!

ME (in noticeably ticked off tone): Well, she's been paralyzed for THREE WEEKS so her muscles have ATROPHIED. See that cut running down her spine?

BIDDY (glaring at me): Oh. (walks away)

ME (staring after her): Yeah...why is your butt so weird looking? (mature, I know...leave me alone)


Now, I know it's useless to get upset about this. But at a pretty young age, I've done what I've needed to do and been there for the pup more than most would have been. The last thing I want to hear after everything I've been though with her for the past month is disapproving judgment.

Oh well. It's time for Lady's Jane Fondas (i.e. ROM exercises).

[slipmonki]

Yet again, I'm back with more questions.

1. Crate rest. Is it OK for me to be sticking her in the car and driving for relatively long periods of time (45 minutes)? She sits up the whole time, watching me and the passing cars, enjoying all of it. But she doesn't seem to rest much during the ride. Also, I try to be as gentle with my braking and shifting as possible, but on occasion I'll have to get on the brakes or turn a corner, and sometimes her poor little body falls over. I try not to drive her around too often, but sometimes I know I won't be home in time to express her and so I take her with me (this has happened once in the week since surgery, but I see it happening again)

2. Tell me if this is horribly misguided. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I am in class from 8:30 AM until 5:30 PM. That's 9 hours, plus an extra half hour for getting there and getting home. I express Lady right before I leave and it's the first thing i do when I get home. I also give her a smaller amount of water on these days so she won't get so full. I know the rule is no more than 8 hours, but am I going to hurt her by going an extra hour and a half 2 days a week? We haven't seemed to have any problems thus far.

[CarolC]

You can't believe some of what people will say (or maybe you can). There are nice ones, too, but there are some rude ones. One lady in New York City was spat at when she took her wheelchair dog for a ride out on the sidewalk.

http://www.handicappedpets.com/cgi-bin/msg/webbbs_config.pl?read=17389

A gal in Australia (or New Zealand) had her dog outside who has trouble walking, and she hooked her foot under his rear to help him stand and some guy in a passing care started hurling insults at for her abusing her dog!

Another lady had a dog with a foot surgery and she'd been told by the vet to exercise the dog outdoors to toughen up the foot, and other people in the park accused her of cruelty!

None of these people know what they're talking about. It just goes to show that you can do everything right and there will still be people who think they know better and will speak out of their ignorance or bias. What's also sad is, if you were doing all this work for a human, like your disabled husband or elderly grandmother, you would get lots of community support because other people would have some idea what that is like. But you can do just as much lifting and cleaning and worrying with a pet but nobody will understand why you are tired and feeling stressed out--it's just a dog. If they only knew!!

What matters, and all that really matters is, you have a happy dog with her whole life ahead of her. You're tired, people are mean sometimes, but your dog is happy. Tom wrote some really perceptive things about caring for a disabled pet. He pretty much covers all the bases. I especially like the part about My House is a Mess Because of My Needy Pet. He has a section on people's attitudes, too.

http://www.geocities.com/petinspiration/

I always think that when I have my dog out in public, there will be some people who will see her and maybe shake their heads. But someday they may be in a position to make a decisoin about saving a pet, and they will remember seeing my happy dog and decide to give their pet a chance. Anyway, I hope you don't have any more of that kind of negative input for a while--you don't need it right now. Hang in there!

[CarolC]

OK, this is my two cents, as I don't have definite answer.

Yet again, I'm back with more questions.

1. Crate rest. Is it OK for me to be sticking her in the car and driving for relatively long periods of time (45 minutes)? She sits up the whole time, watching me and the passing cars, enjoying all of it. But she doesn't seem to rest much during the ride. Also, I try to be as gentle with my braking and shifting as possible, but on occasion I'll have to get on the brakes or turn a corner, and sometimes her poor little body falls over. I try not to drive her around too often, but sometimes I know I won't be home in time to express her and so I take her with me (this has happened once in the week since surgery, but I see it happening again)

I'd lean toward no, not such a good idea, on that one? Especially the falling over part? You might ask the surgeon, though--he is the one who knows how stable the surgical site is. My dog came home from her fusion with bone cement and staples and they said the back was stable, but it still scared me. I'd say if you can avoid it, I would avoid it. You might have to put her in the car for a trip to the vet, but is there some way you can avoid other trips for now? It won't be a problem to have her travel like that in a few weeks after she gets off crate rest.

2. Tell me if this is horribly misguided. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I am in class from 8:30 AM until 5:30 PM. That's 9 hours, plus an extra half hour for getting there and getting home. I express Lady right before I leave and it's the first thing i do when I get home. I also give her a smaller amount of water on these days so she won't get so full. I know the rule is no more than 8 hours, but am I going to hurt her by going an extra hour and a half 2 days a week? We haven't seemed to have any problems thus far.

I've been in the same position and wondered the same thing. There have been some times when my dog has gone beyond 8 hours before being expressed, and we have survived. I don't like it, and I try to avoid it, but the world didn't come to an end. A couple of times I have seen messages on this message board from people who take their paralyzed pet to boarding when they are on vacation, and the pet is only expressed twice a day on the weekends, which would be every 12 hours. However, I have had good luck avoiding bladder infections by expressing 4 times a day so we stay with that. It seems that some pets are better about not getting infections than others--some just get more. If your dog is currently on Baytril, it may be giving a little bit of protection against UTI, you could ask the vet if that is the case.

Then there is another angle--the expressing. Going back and forth on that as well...you have a small dog so she is easier to express and it's easier to tell if you've got her empty. However, this is your first week and most of us find we develop a better touch at expressing with time. I was expressing very conscientiously after I brought my dog home from the hospital, but she got a UTI the second week. It turned out I wasn't expressing as well as I thought I was. In fact, the vet expressed her after I had just done it and got a flood! Anyway, they put her on antibiotics and by the time the pills were gone, I was better at expressing.

It is not uncommon to put the pet on prophylactic (preventive) antibiotics while you are learning to express. You might discuss that with your vet. Some pets (Cindi's dog and Beth's dog Waffles for example) were on long term antibiotics to prevent infection.

Let's put it this way. I'm not sure this is part of the question but, if I had a choice between giving my dog 2 45-minute car rides so I could express her on time, or leaving her at home and resting but getting expressed 9 1/2 hours apart, I'd go with the leave her home and express 9 1/2 hours apart.

Those are a couple of real "judgment call" questions. In all of this, there is going to be a little experimenting and seeing what works with your pet.

Hope this helps a little bit.

[slipmonki]

Thank you thank you. I don't like the idea of driving her around, but I don't know if it's going to be avoidable for 5 weeks. Going to school for 9.5 hours is enough to make me feel guilty but still allow me to live, but it's a different issue when I have to go all the way across town for work and fmaily responsibilities. Those days can easily run over 10 hours. I can't trust my roommate to take care of her when he's in and out. The night I brought her back from her 1st vet stay, he had her on the couch with him. He wasn't paying any attention, and when I walked in the room she got excited and jumped off the couch. Her weak legs gave out from under her and she writhed around on the floor for awhile trying to get herself back up. Then, a week later, he was holding her and he dropped her about a foot, right on her freakin back. And then, after I went to the 2nd vet, who gave me the bad diagnosis, THAT VERY NIGHT, he was walking through the living room and accidentally kicked her, sending her into this mad screaming fit that wouldn't end. Not leaving her in his hands EVER again.

Eh, we'll figure it out.

[Cindidoxiemom]

Before Oscar heads out with me on a road trip, I give him a benadryl. About 30 minutes before we leave I give him the pill, and it helps calm him down. CHECK and see if it would cause any interaction with any other meds you are giving, but it is an idea.

I agree with Carol, that movement like she is experiencing in a car isn't so good. Do you have her contained in a small crate?

We have all had times where we have had to go over 8 hours between expressing. As I'm sure you know, it isn't just the UTI's you have to be concerned about, in addition, the bladder can stretch to such an extent that the bladder wall muscles weaken, and when she regains feeling, it will be hard for those muscles to work.

Have you asked the Vet Techs at your vet if they could come by on your school days and express her? I had two Techs that I trusted in my home and with my puppers, and they took care of Oscar when I had day trips and overnight trips. I think I payed her 10 dollars a day or so.

Oscar and Sage (one of my non IVDD dogs) are both on prophylactic anti biotics to prevent UTI's. So far so good. Sage is going on 4 years with no UTI, and Oscar is about to reach the one year mark.

I would take her in and have her urine looked at now...and then every 3 months if there are no symptoms. If there are symptoms, she should be checked immediately.

Cindi

[Anonymous]

I agree with Carol, that movement like she is experiencing in a car isn't so good. Do you have her contained in a small crate?

Why didn't I think of that? Packaging is everything. I drive my dog across town twice a week and it is a 40-minute drive on the expressway varying from 70 mph to gridlock and back. My dog is in her crate which is on the front seat sideways. I figure that way if we have a sudden stop she can only be thrown 4" against the side of the crate instead of a foot forward against the door.

When I set her on the passenger seat (with something under it to level it so she doesn't ride at an angle), I pull the seatbelt out all the way and run it through the carrier handle and latch it. That way the crate is seatbelted in and can never tip.

My dog's crate is just big enough for her, and then I tuck a fleece blanket in around both sides of her, sort of of like styrofoam peanuts (or maybe it's more like a doggie burrito, dunno).

Here is a picture of her in her crate with her snuggle blanket to cushion her.

By the way, I love-love-love this kind of crate for a paralyzed dog, it is so much easier to get her in and out through the top. You do have to be very careful not to drop the lid on her head when you're closing it. I've done that several times with my dog.