Annie may very well have IVDD . . . give me some hopeful stories!

[dachsiemom]

As pleased as I was by Annie's report yesterday, it has still been bothering me. I e-mailed a vet friend of mine last night, and she responded, telling me that to her, it does sound like the early stages of IVDD. She asked if my vet had prescribed prednisone (which my vet didn't) and told me the conditions to watch for which require immediate attention at our local 24-hour animal hospital. She did say that given the symptoms we've seen thus far, a myelogram is a bit of overkill right now, but didn't rule it out for later on.

So . . . all you experienced survivors of IVDD (IDD), please give me some perspective here:

1. Is it possible for a dog to exhibit early signs and they remain just that--early signs? (Annie hasn't yelped for 48 hours now.)
2. If I'm understanding some of the stories shared with me earlier, dachsies ARE capable of recovering from these early stages with crate rest and medication, right?
3. How "loyal" would you be to your vet, in this situation? (I've asked my friend, who lives a ways away from me, if she'd be willing to take a look at Annie. I don't want to put her in an awkward spot, but I want to do what's best for Annie.) Would you push for the prednisone? Is there something else I should be considering here?

We're doing our best to take good care of the girl. She's been a little more active and playful the past 48 hours, but I'm still very, very wary with her. She's such a sweetie . . .

TIA for all your help and encouragement! I appreciate everything you've shared with me.

dachsiemom/tle

[Mark]

To answer some of your questions . . .

Collectively we have been thru 4 IDD's . . . so I'll try to answer your questions from our prespective.

1. Yes. for sure.

2. Yes, total crate rest . . . the only time out is to be *carried* out to go potty. Other than that . . . they eat, sleep and spend all their time in the crate.

3. Any vet who is not pursuing this the way many of us *know* it should be pursued . . . we would drop like a bad habit, without a second thought.

By "playful" . . . do you mean she is out of the crate?

Good luck, please do keep us posted and we are sending those wonderful DBB Dachsie Healing Rayz :rayz: :rayz: :rayz: :rayz: :rayz:

[dachsiemom]

Mark,

The words "crate rest" did not come out of anyone's mouths yet around here. She's been mostly "snuggling," though she really WANTS to be running around. She's being carried outside to do her business. She spends most her days in her crate during the work week, sleeps in her travel kennel. Which brings me to another question: her crate is actually sized for a dog a size or two larger than her, to give her room to move during her days while we're at work. Is her travel kennel a better place to keep her?

The crate rest question is on my list for my friend.

[Mark]

Hi again,

Crate rest means other than potty time . . . 100% of time in a crate *just* large enough for her to turn around in. It is S.O.P. in the case of any signs of IDD.

I should add that of the 4 we've gone thru . . . 2 recovered fully without surgery and 2 had the surgery and fully recovered. :)

[dachsiemom]

At the risk of sounding really stupid . . .

Annie is not one to take crate time quietly. If she knows we're home and the other two dachsies are out and about, she'll bark up a storm and get pretty worked up.

Will she settle into this over time? (She will paw at the floor of her crate and the door.)

Dh thinks I'm overreacting here . . . I love him dearly, but I'm trying to avoid surgery for the little gal, and we're also dealing with a job situation which means we don't have loads of extra cash for back surgeries for our furbabies (not that we would want surgery if we did, anyway . . .)

[Mark]

It's hard to say if Annie will settle down in the crate eventually. I suspect that if the crate were sized for her more properly that there would be little room for the antics you describe. A treat filled Kong might be of great assistance too.

With one, we set the crate up in the middle of the room so that all that goes on was in view and with another . . . even going so far as to set the crate up so that she could see out the window when we were gone. I just know that in these cases . . . it must be done.

You are not overreacting . . . take it from us and the many others here that have been thru this.

Good luck . . . keep us posted . . . and of course, more DBB Dachsie Healing Rayz :rayz: :rayz: :rayz: :rayz: :rayz: :rayz:

[dachsiemom]

Annie is not a happy camper. I have her in her travel kennel right now, and tonight I'll stop by the store and pick up a wire crate sized for her. (She and the other two have larger crates just so they have room to stretch a bit during our work day.) She was very cooperative about eating her breakfast in her travel kennel. (They've always slept in their travel kennels.) Now, though, she's fussing some because the other two have snuggled into bed with dh, and she's stuck on the floor in her travel kennel. She's quiet until I go into the room or she hears me moving about the house.

Thanks for the continuing support. I'm pretty sure I must sound almost neurotic here . . . just trying to do what's best for our little gal!

dachsiemom/tle

[Mark]

You do not sound neurotic! Like everyone else here . . . you just love your furkid. :)

Good luck and keep us posted.

RAYZ :rayz: :rayz: :rayz: :rayz: :rayz: :rayz: RAYZ

[LisaH]

Dachsiemom:

My Annie is going through the same thing right now! I took her to her regular vet group, where they prescribed Deramaxx and rest for 3 weeks. In the meantime I asked my sister to check with a vet friend at U of California's Davis Vet School, as to whether this is the right thing. Here's what her vet friend said:

"My suggestion would be for your sister to take Annie to a Board-certified Neurologist who also does neurosurgery (not all of them do) or to an Board-certified Surgeon with special training and interest in neurosurgery of the spine. If Annie has disc disease, surgery may be helpful, or necessary, and even if surgery isn't indicated these specialists know how to treat this disorder as well as other spinal disorders. To find an Neurologist near her, your sister can check the website at www.ACVIM.org. On the home page are links to "Find a Specialist Near You". Check the Alphabetical and Geographical Listing of Neurology Diplomates to find the names of ones nearby. Then from the home page again, access the Searchable Database to find the address, phone number, etc. of individual Neurologists.

If a nearby Neurologist can't be found, I would suggest looking for a Board-certified Surgeon who does neurosurgery. The website to check is www.ACVS.org. On the home page click the Find A Surgeon box on the left side of the page to access their search page. Choose a State or Province, and search using each of the first three Type of Practice choices, and each of
two of the Surgical Emphasis Choices - Small Animal General and Orthopedic, and Small Animal Orthopedic. Not all of these surgeons will do neurosurgery, but one can call them and check. Your sister's regular veterinarian might also be able to help in the search. If her veterinarian drags his/her feet about referring, run, don't walk, to some one else! You don't have to be "referred" to see another one."

So I located a neurologist/surgeon and am taking Annie there tomorrow. I strongly recommend that you go to those sites and see if you can find a specialist for your Annie.

Best of luck!
LisaH and Annie

[jshepard]

My Rudy had surgery for a slipped disk in her neck 6 months ago today. We were treating her for extreme pain for 3 weeks (predinsone and muscle relaxers) and then were referred to a specialist. We couldn't even touch her with out her screaming in pain. I was very scared about surgery, since I had heard all of the horror stories about that. The doctor performed the surgery the same day after a mylogram revealed a large slipped disk in between her C2 and C3 vertebre (sp?). The vet called right after the surgery and said that as soon as she woke up, she was moving her neck around like normal. After 4 weeks of strict rest, she was back self (actually after day 2 she was back to her old self wanting to jump on and off the sofa and bed, but we kept her on strict rest).
My opinion would be to make sure to find a board certified surgeon. If you are in the D.C. metro region (or anywhere within driving distance), I highly recommend the Vet. Referral Center in Springfield, VA. The surgeon was amazing and I would trust him again and would recommend him to anyone. He said that out of every 10 surgeries on dogs with IVDD he does, about 8 of them are dachies....

I hope I haven't rambled on too long, my point being that...I know it's horrible to see our babies in pain, but things will get better, and if you happen to need surgery, it will be fine. The surgeon explained to me that the recovery after the surgery will be much less painful than what she is feeling now.

Good luck!

[dachsiemom]

Well . . . we're now five days out from the last time Annie yelped in pain, on Monday evening. She's been crated solidly for the past 48 hours, and she seems to be adjusting as well as one would expect.

My dh still thinks I'm completely overreacting, but I think he's afraid that if he overrides my decision and something happens, he'll regret it himself, deeply. So we'll keep following our present course.

I've looked up the neurosurgeons, and they're two hours away from us. Not a bad drive, but the earliest I'd be able to get her down there would be in about five week. I think we'll see how this all goes. I'm not sure how long we should keep her crated---at least two more weeks---but since we're doing this on our own (with no prescribed amount of time from the dr.), it's a little bit harder to guage.

Here's hoping for lots of healing for all our suffering furbabies! :rayz: :rayz: :rayz: :rayz: :rayz: :rayz: :rayz:

[Heide]

Its so important to keep her completly confined to her crate, as she needs very little room. Just enough to turn around. She needs to rest and relax. Noo playing around.
Carry her out to do her business and then right back to crate.
I had the same thing with my Casey. I did everything as the vet said but it spread so rapidly up her spine. I lost her. I still miss her something terrible. The vet sent her home on complete confinement and prednisone. It didnt do nothing though. It was too late for surgery at this point. I blamed it all on my vet. I hated him after that and swore I would never take another of my animals to him; I did not.
I just dont think he knew the seriousness of this. i was very mad at him.
I miss her so
Heide:crying:

[LisaH]

dachsiemom:

Sounds like you're doing right by your Annie. My dh thinks I overreact too, but I know he worries about our Annie as much as I do! He likes (a) having me do the medical research and make the decisions about Annie's care and (b) simultaneously claiming I'm being hysterical!

I took Annie to the neurosurgeon today, and she said that since Annie is doing well on the anti-inflammatory meds and she can't pinpoint the source of the pain, it would be premature to consider surgery. We're going to let Annie finish out the meds and keep her quiet for several weeks. (This woman said crate rest isn't necessary if the dog is a couch potato and doesn't jump on furniture or climb stairs.)

If it would make you feel better, maybe you could get a second opinion from a vet in your area about prescribing Prednisone or another anti-inflammatory. But the rest is the main thing, along with being ready to rush Annie to the doc if anything changes.

Wishing Annie all the best!
LisaH and the other Annie

[LisaH]

One more thing--I reread your posts and see that you have several dachsies. The neurosurgeon did indicate that crating would be recommended if you have other dogs in the house...so there you go.

LisaH

[Heide]

Dachsiemom
You are doing the right thing with the crate rest.
I have good strong feelings about her recovery from this. I just didnt have that good fortune due to a vet that had no idea what he was doing. He by the way sold his business and retired. I am glad that he is not practicing anymore.
I also blame myself for letting her on our bed which is pretty high and then she would jump down. I should of never allowed that. I do not let kamper or maggie on our bed. They have their own couch in our bedroom which is very low to the ground for their own bed.
We wish you the best. You are in our prayers. I know its hard seeing them in that crate and not being able to play with them or looking at those sad eyes saying please let me out. Be strong.
Heide
Kamper and Maggie
:angel: :)

[lotsadox]

You're definitely doing the right thing and NOT overreacting. I've been through this twice. The first time we had surgery on Amanda. She recovered well and is still with us 5 years later. We did not do surgery on Bandit. We used crate rest and chiropractic and she also recovered well and lived to be 16 years old. If your vet has not given you a referral to a specialist, I'd find a new vet. I have a wonderful vet I've been going to for 15 years and both times she called and made appointments for me to go the the back surgery specialists here. They worked me in within the hour for an evaluation and tests. Think about it. My dachsies and sending healing licks and snuggles your way. Keep us posted.