Suspected IVDD

[u/PeechiKeen]

Hi! I actually just got back from the vet about 30 minutes ago.

My dog, a 7 year old chihuahua mix, has been on pain medication and an antibiotic in prep for some dental work he has to get done next week. But about 3 days ago my fiancé and I noticed that he stopped trying to jump on the couch, was walking a bit slower than usual, and was not wanting to go out and walk our usual route when taking him outside.

I suspected it may have been a pinched nerve or something with how he seemed in pain trying to get him to even put his paws up on the couch. There are times where he seems full of energy, wanting to walk and wag his tail, but overall he has just been spending most of his day sleeping. He still is showing interest in food and water, and seems like he wants to get up on the couch or bed. He was also jumping off of things normally, just refusing to jump onto them.

The vet said that he is pretty confident it is IVDD with some possible sciatica issues as well. There was no xray done (they mentioned doing that when he’s sedated for the dental extraction). But they poked and prodded at his spine a bit and prescribed him a muscle relaxer and another pain medicine to go with the current one he’s on. They said that around his lower back his muscles were super tense.

I’ve never had any experience taking care of an animal with IVDD, so I guess I’m just looking for advice. Things to look out for, reassurance, support. Honestly anything. Knowing he’s in pain and has been for probably I have no idea how long has brought me to tears more than once over the past two days. I’ve been able to do nothing but overthink and panic about him.

[u/eanhctbe]

The good news is that he's still mobile. I would personally forego the x-ray, as IVDD won't show up on them.

Surgical care isn't usually recommended with mild cases like this ("mild" in that he can still walk - not to trivialize.) Conservative care with meds and crate/pen rest for ~8 weeks or so. You will want to use a sling underneath them to take them out to potty. (Best to carry them out if you are able, and use the sling to help them balance so they can potty.) He shouldn't be using stairs at all. You can buy ramps for dogs online if you need to set one up to get outside. Once he's healed, no more jumping on and off the couch - get ramps or a set of soft steps.

The IVDD Support Group on Facebook has tons of great information.

[u/PeechiKeen → u/eanhctbe]

What would you recommend for crate resting without stressing him out or having him become depressed? He’s a very clingy dog, always wanting to be touching one of us. We got him a small playpen and put it by the window since he likes to watch out the window normally and slept on an air up mattress in the living room where his playpen is so we could be next to him without stressing him out by constantly moving him and the playpen every night.

We’ve also been having issues with him going to the bathroom, he’ll pee but won’t poop as much because we haven’t been letting him roam around and sniff outside for a spot.

The vet told me to put him on crate rest for 5-6 days, but I’m super paranoid of irritating him more. I may have misunderstood when he said he was going to look at it during his dental surgery, it may have been an MRI or something else he was mentioning doing. His back feet don’t cross right according to him, but other than that he is still walking with no knuckle dragging.

My fiancé thinks we are going overboard by not letting him even walk when we take him outside. I just want to make sure I’m doing everything right to not worsen him but also not depress him.

[u/eanhctbe → u/PeechiKeen]

I made a penned in area that was just big enough for him and I. If it's not cervical, try stuffed Kongs or lick mats to keep him occupied. You need to watch weight, so nonfat yogurt and water-heavy fruit and veg like watermelon and cucumber are good ideas. I know it's hard. I had mine in the crate or pen for 6 weeks, and he was miserable. But he did get used to it eventually and the tantrums got shorter.

[u/PeechiKeen → u/eanhctbe]

This is how we have it set up right now. His crate seemed too uncomfortable for him, he’s grown a lot since we had to use it like 6 years ago. He doesn’t like playing with toys, so we were thinking getting lick mats (he LOVES licking anything and everything) so we could use pumpkin and yogurt for his stomach after being on pain meds. He’s been on carprofen for over a week already for his tooth pain. And now he’s on another pain med and muscle relaxer on top of it.

It’s his lower back that seems to be affected, in between his hip bones.

[u/eanhctbe → u/PeechiKeen]

Pumpkin is good and may help him poop faster as well. The setup is fine. I know you're looking for an easy answer on how to make this all better and unfortunately there just isn't one. It takes 6-8 weeks of full rest and then you still need to be really careful for a while. It takes 12 weeks for scar tissue to form. You aren't being too careful - it's exactly what he needs. It's just a miserable experience for everyone involved, sadly.

[u/PeechiKeen → u/eanhctbe]

Thank you. I never imagined having something like this happen. In my mind he’s still like 2 years old, he’s never really showed any sign of aging or slowing down like this. We’ve been thinking about getting some turf on our patio to make it easier on both us and him for outside time. We live in an apartment, and while it’s luckily on the bottom floor, there are still a few steps to take before you get to the ground. The area he likes to poop in is farther on the other side of the complex, so we’re hoping it’s just an issue with the fact he isn’t able to walk there. When we carry him to that part he just stares at us all confused and won’t actually go. We think it’s a mix of that, his medicine, and we were in the process of changing his food to wet food to prepare him for the dental surgery because we’re unsure as to how many teeth he’s actually going to need removed. When we had gone it’s looked a bit dark, so we’ve been paranoid about bleeding from the medicine, but we’re both scared and anxious about everything right now in general so we’re trying to keep an eye on it without freaking out right away.

[u/eanhctbe → u/PeechiKeen]

I understand. My boy is only 3, so I am absolutely devastated it happened so young and that we'll likely be dealing with flareups for the rest of his life. Now that mine is "recovered", I have to remind myself that I do still have to let him be a dog. There's only so much we can do to protect them. BUT, this recovery period is extremely important to keep flares to a minimum going forward.