Dogs with degenerative/slipped disc?

[FastHands]

I know some of you have been here, and I have been here before too with a different dog, but the 1st time was a more severe case with rear leg paralysis that ultimately progressed.

This time, my old girl (rescue, at least 11 but probably a bit older honestly) has a slipped disc in her neck. It's been abt 4 weeks since the first sign of injury, and 3.5 weeks since we started restricting her activity and using muscle relaxers and pain meds. She is 99% herself on relaxers and doggy ibuprofen -- she is up and around, going for toys occasionally. She can't stay on the relaxer long-term because it will end up damaging her organs. But when we try to wean her down to 1x/d relaxer, she is in pain.

This is such a mindfuck, because putting down a dog who today was running up to me with a toy seems insane, but to keep her that way I have to risk her going into organ failure and her being in pain before I know about it (because of course dogs hide it) seems cruel and selfish.

I don't even know why I'm posting this, you guys can't fix her. Lol. FML.

[fumbalina]

I have had good experiences with CBD treats for pain management. In fact, the dogs in question got up and ran out the front door to my surprise as they had not even tried in three years.

It will not be successful in all cases but you could discuss trying that for pain management with the vet. There can be ling term consequences so it may not be any better than what you have now. Although it did increase the appetite of one. After I had my 40lb euthanized I found that he was eating 2x what my 70 lb dog was. He was not gaining any weight and I free feed so it was hard to notice.

[FastHands]

Oct 17, 2021 0:05:56 GMT -5 mofongo said:

I’m so sorry:( My guy had a herniated disc and hip dysplasia. We did surgery for the disc, which is a BIG surgery. It fixed his pain and disc issues but he still had spinal damage from the whole ordeal and his fecal and urinary incontinence got worse over the years as well as the use of his back legs. This was in part b/c of his spinal issues/arthritis and also hip dysplasia.

ETA: The surgery process: MRI plus actually surgery was extremely expensive and he was only 8/9 at the time, would not have done it at 11.

Your guy has been on my mind. <3
Yeah we have definitely ruled out surgery given her age (I really think she's probably 12/13 and a purebred boston who had at least a couple of litters before she was dumped).

It's just so hard when she is FINE on the meds (ok and restriction from jumping/stairs which she's salty about lol). But I absolutely won't make her suffer silent organ failure just because I want more of her good days. I just wish i could have like a freckle that would turn red when she starts having kidney damage or something. Is that so much to ask? Lol.

[jaycee]

My old boy lived for 3 years on constant pain meds, although they did not damage his organs. I have no advice, but want to say what an incredible dog parent you are. You can tell you really love the old girl. She is so so lucky to have you and I know she can feel how loved she is.

[mich1]

We had a dog with severe spinal arthritis. The last 3 years of his life we had him on prednisone, gabapentin, a doggie NSAID or a combination of these 3. Prednisone turned him into a raging garbage disposal, so we tried to minimize this drug.

We did have a decent success with laser therapy. It allowed us to drop the prednisone for only gabapentin to keep him comfortable. We did try acupuncture, but think it was unsuccessful and we later put him on the NSAID along with the gabapentin.

[FastHands]

Thanks everyone. She is on pain meds too, but any withdrawal of the additional muscle relaxer and she is hunched and painful to the point where she can't lift her head. It almost seems like without the relaxer she re-injures it? Hard to tell if that is actually what's happening or not. Maybe I'll ask the vet about what we're seeing and whether upping her pain meds might reduce reliance on the relaxer? Idk. I'm trying to find that line between giving her every chance and putting her through cruel experiments. Argh.

[FastHands]

Oct 17, 2021 22:03:27 GMT -5 spearmintleaf said:

My dog was immobile unless he was on the max of available pain meds, and I posted here about it. We were worried we’d have to put him down because he was immobile and we were told it’s a degenerate issue.

Cold laser therapy helped, if that’s an option. Now he’s on the max of rimadyl for his size 1x/day (we give it all during the day so he has max mobility during waking hours) and gabapentin 2x/day. His quality of life seems great now. He’s fully mobile as long as we don’t take him on too long of a walk and wear him out.

Have hope! See how it goes. Personally, if your dog is comfortable on the max dose, I’d do that for a few weeks and see how it all shakes out.

Does your dog have bulging/degenerative discs, or something different? Was he initially on muscle relaxers too or just pain?

My girl is on rimadyl and methocarbamol, which is the issue. If it was just the rimadyl she could stay on that no problem. But she seems to need both for comfort.

[emilyinchile]

I'm sure your vet is on it, but would taking blood regularly be enough to monitor organ failure? We had my senior pup on a steroid for a while to treat her lupus, and because that can cause damage we also looked at her blood (once a month at first when she was on a higher dose, then every 3 months) to avoid causing more harm than good. The vet told me we'd see indicators in those results before we saw symptoms, so it was a good way to stay on top of any problems. We now take blood twice a year just to keep an eye on things since she's 14.

I'm sorry you're in this position, it's so hard as they get older.

[gottadobe]

Much different scenario, but my dog made the decision for me. French Bulldog, young (5), otherwise healthy, happy, active. He had 2 discs rupture and lost his back legs instantly. I chose surgery and rehab and he did amazingly well. I felt it worth the money, even though others in my life did not.

Another dog, my heart dog, 10 y/o Doberman. Undiagnosed cervical issue. I tried pain medication and acupuncture, when she could no longer move without noticeable pain I put her to rest. Hardest thing I've ever done.

I am so sorry you are faced with this decision.

[tacokick]

Could you do regular tests to monitor any potential organ issues? We did that with our dachshund when she was on medications with that side effect. Then you can go from there if it seems to be an issue.

[FastHands]

The only issue with bloodwork would be if it needed to be frequent (like weekly or something), because she is a freaking impossible stick and it's always a traumatic experience. If we could keep it to like every couple of months or even less, that would be totally doable.

I talked with the vet today and she is not doom and gloom at all. She is seeing this as a set-back but not unheard of in the trial-and-error of managing what will be a lifelong condition. She's going to have a compounding pharmacy make some gabapentin that will be a bit stronger than the rimadyl dose she's on but not so high that it'll knock her out, and we'll see if we can cut back to 1x/d of the muscle relaxer at that point, which at her current dose will be ok long-term.

This is a freaking roller-coaster, but it's a high note today and I'll take it.