Ruptured disc in Doggie's back-any experience?

[Katy Belle]

Just needing to hear other peoples experiences please.

Sunday night I woke my beagle up and took her out for her walk. I noticed very quickly that she was very stumbly. Her right hind leg didn't appear to be working very well. So we didn't go for our walk, but just walked around our yard, thinking it was asleep or she had laid on it funny or something. She didn't appear to be in any pain at all.

Sunday night she slept on the couch all night. Very unusual. She always jumps in bed with DH and I.

Monday I called the vet and he couldn't see her until 4. She was stumbly all day, even falling a couple of times coming in the door, walking up a 3" step.

The vet evaluated and xrayed her and thinks its a ruptured disc in her back. He is happy with the fact that she still has feeling in her foot, the nerves aren't dead. He gave her a shot and sent home Prednisone pills (cortisone) and told me to keep her caged for 10 days, bed rest. If this doesn't work, we go to a surgeon, in a bigger town, and he will do a dye test and see if surgery will fix her problem.

So... what are your experiences? Any advice for me? I'm heartbroken over this, of course.

Oh, there was injury, to our knowledge. She never yelped or cried like she had been hurt. Even now, she doesn't seem to be in pain, although she's not fully "herself" either, so I guess it could be that she is in pain.

Thanks for your help.
Katy

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Just needing to hear other peoples experiences please.

Sunday night I woke my beagle up and took her out for her walk. I noticed very quickly that she was very stumbly. Her right hind leg didn't appear to be working very well. So we didn't go for our walk, but just walked around our yard, thinking it was asleep or she had laid on it funny or something. She didn't appear to be in any pain at all.

Sunday night she slept on the couch all night. Very unusual. She always jumps in bed with DH and I.

Monday I called the vet and he couldn't see her until 4. She was stumbly all day, even falling a couple of times coming in the door, walking up a 3" step.

The vet evaluated and xrayed her and thinks its a ruptured disc in her back. He is happy with the fact that she still has feeling in her foot, the nerves aren't dead. He gave her a shot and sent home Prednisone pills (cortisone) and told me to keep her caged for 10 days, bed rest. If this doesn't work, we go to a surgeon, in a bigger town, and he will do a dye test and see if surgery will fix her problem.

So... what are your experiences? Any advice for me? I'm heartbroken over this, of course.

Oh, there was injury, to our knowledge. She never yelped or cried like she had been hurt. Even now, she doesn't seem to be in pain, although she's not fully "herself" either, so I guess it could be that she is in pain.

Thanks for your help.
Katy

This is a very tough time for you. Hope it works out. FWIW it sounds as if you have a good vet.

 

[Scurvy]

It doesn't have to be a major injury. Even landing a little bit wrong when jumping off a couch can cause something like this to happen.

My sister's dog just went through this. He started out much like your dog (though he was obviously in pain), but they weren't told to keep him in his crate at first and he continued to get worse. His back half ended up fully paralyzed - no movement, no bladder control, etc. He did have to have the surgery and though it was a slow recovery, he is fully mobile now.

Sometimes they can get better on their own. It just depends on how bad the disc is, and how bad the swelling in the area is. My brother-in-law's sister had a dog who became paralyzed and ended up recovering. They had to keep her confined to her crate for several weeks.

The swelling around the spine can cause major damage, so the very best (and most important) thing is to keep the dog still. The more movement there is, the more likely that the damage will be worse. If it does get worse then time is of the essence. The more quickly the surgery happens, the more likely that it will be successful.

 

[Parkers_girl]

This happened to my dog a few years ago. One morning he was having trouble walking, cried when he went to the batroom and refused to go up the stairs. I thought he was just sore so I let him rest all day. Well the next morning he wouldn't stand at all, we rushed him to the vet and turns out the disc was pressing on the spinal cord causing paralysis. The vet wanted to try two days of steroids and rest but he wasn't improving so they sent us to a doggie neurologist who had him in emergency surgery in less than three hours. It is a very slow recovery and very hard to only take him on short leashed walks and keep him crated most of the day, but it was for the best. After about 4 weeks he was finally allowed to run around, and he is still running strong today. We don't know what caused it but we are certainly glad it was something that could be fixed! I hope your doggies case isn't as severe as my pup's. I would really try and keep your dog as still as possible to allow the disc to heal. If you notice he's getting worse do not hestitate to bring him back in, once the spinal cord is pinched and paralysis occurs there is very little time to correct it...our doc said something like 24-48 hrs. Good luck!!!!

 

[Pooh Crew]

This happened to my precious little Yorkie years ago. The vet we took him to recommended that I put him down. I quickly left to seek another opinion. I found a wonderful vet who also happened to teach at a chiropractic clinic. He did doggie chiropractic on my baby and gave steroid shots. Within a few days, he was much better. He never required surgery and was eventually fully healed.

I personally do not go to chiropractors, but this vet was a miracle worker for my little guy. Maybe you could see if there's any vets in your area that might perform the same type thing?

 

[Katy Belle]

Thanks everybody. I appreciate your help. It sounds like what we are doing is typical for the problem. She is not paralyzed, just stumbly. The vet said he had never seen it affect only one leg, and sue enough, her other leg became affected the 2nd day.
Thanks so much for your stories and support.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Poor woofy, I'm so sorry to hear this happened to your furry friend. I hope all is well soon

 

[Kath816]

Our daschund had disc surgery by a neurologist almost 5 years ago. Basically the same story others related. We took him to a family friend who is a vet. She had us immediately take him to a neurological surgeon at an emergency center. He had the surgery. I had to keep him in a playpen to keep him as quiet as possible for several weeks. I had to initially express bladder to help him "go." It was a long road, but he can move around now (his back end was paralyzed). His back legs do not move in an actual walk, but he pushes off in kind of a hop. It's not pretty, but it works.

Be prepared for an expensive bill though.

Best of luck!

 

[eab]

My westie did not rupture but she hurt a couple of disks. She recovered with the help of medicine, rest and a wonderful vet. Her back legs were always a little weak after that. My groomer used to do her in stages so that she could rest so that it was easier on her.

 

[rodeo65]

We have peke x spaniel who blew out two discs when she was two years old. She was in pure agony, though. Screaming (I never want to hear an animal make those sounds again!!) and was paralysed in the back end. We took her to the vet who gave her a shot to stop the pain and then referred us to a neuro surgeon. He was amazing!

We got to him at about 5pm and he operated that night. The original vet said that he expected she would have to be put down due to the severity. But, we got the phone call around 8:30 that she was out and had come through the surgery well. The surgery he did removed all of the material in the disc and replaced it with a synthetic. Once he got her on the table he ended up doing all of the discs up to her neck so it never happened again. He said because she had the long peke body it could happen elsewhere. He only charged us for the original two, but because it was emergency surgery and his specialist designation, and the after care she required, the bill was around 2K.

She is now almost 16. She has been prone to back trouble over the years, but glucosamine seems to have managed it well once we got her onto it. Even at her advanced age, she still loves to play and while her back end does give out when she goes around a corner too fast (still loves to chase her buddy dog), she doesn't seem to be in any pain after all these years.

I hope your vet can get her fixed up without surgery!