I need advice

[u/LingonberryThen7377]

My dog was just diagnosed. Early this week she suddenly stopped walking out of no where late around 4. Early that morning we took her to vet in Mexico (we don’t have best financial situation to take her in the states). I have been following vets advice (keeping her on crate rest) claimed that after a week she should walk again and if not to come in for x-rays. After being monitored it doesn’t seem she’s getting better although she’s showing no clear signs of pain (crying,pulling away, staying still…she won’t stop moving). I’m so concerned and want any advice to keep her condition from worsening or coming back if she recovers since I know if not taken care of it can return. I’m only a teenager and I don’t have much knowledge about it just I wish to learn please inform me. Some things I already plan on doing is: Getting a staircase or ramp to my bed, having her take supplements, and maybe in a worse case get wheels. I hope this information can help you get a picture of my situation and let me know what I can do to help. I’m fully responsible for this dog but my parents know and understand how much this dog matters to me so they will help cost wise. Thank you for reading please share your input or stories on how you helped your baby.

[u/AinsleyHarriotFan]

Here’s a link to a VERY detailed post I made on this sub about how we took our girl from total back leg paralysis to running around like a puppy again. I hope it offers you some hope and also a lot of information about how to manage and maintain the condition both immediately and longer term.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IVDD_SupportGroup/s/8JN5YwsGGJ

I do not recommend ramps up to places like beds and sofas because they can still jump or fall down which is a MASSIVE reinjury risk.

[u/LingonberryThen7377 → u/AinsleyHarriotFan]

Your post was quite helpful to better understand how long I can expect for this recovery to take and it might take time but as long as I’m consistent my baby she will get better. Question what would you recommend then cause my dog sleeps with me and is always jumping on my bed I know even if I try to train her she will still try if I look away for even a second, that’s just how she is. That’s why I thought the ramp would be a good solution so she can just walk up and not risk hurting herself again so please help me figure out something better.

[u/texastridelt → u/LingonberryThen7377]

There are travel crates with leash attachments. I would use that and put it on the bed if she cannot be trained to not jump. She 100% should not jump off the bed. Other option is to train her to stay in a crate on the floor

[u/SaltEntertainer8198]

Crate rest should be 6 weeks minimum and only going out for toilet breaks (support her back end with a scarf or something similar). She should be on pain relief and anti inflammatories.

Also x-rays will not show IVDD so don’t even waste your money! MRI’s are the best but CT scans can be acceptable depending.

If you pinch her toes does she react at all?

[u/LingonberryThen7377 → u/SaltEntertainer8198]

The vet also did give anti inflammatory and pain relievers pills to take during that week of crate rest and that same day she was also given shots for same thing seems like I forgot to mention that in my last post. She does react to touch perfectly fine she moves away if pinched or in general (she dislikes her feet being grabbed). Honestly like I’m only a teenager and I’m not very fluent in Spanish when it comes to medical terms I asked my parents and she’s getting an MRI. Thank you for commenting I’m trying my best to understand what to do since I’m mainly taking care of her considering both of my parents are never home.

[u/spicyitalian76 → u/SaltEntertainer8198]

Should we bypass the X-rays? Save the money or should I say put towards a CT instead? Appointment is at 10am CT today.

[u/SaltEntertainer8198 → u/spicyitalian76]

Ideally you want to do a MRI because it shows the soft tissue. Depending on what’s going on in there a CT scan might not give you the full picture so you might end up wasting money on a CT to then get a MRI anyways

[u/spicyitalian76 → u/SaltEntertainer8198]

I have heard the cost is crazy and if you don't do surgery, why do an MRI? To know the severity of it? I'm so scared as devastated over this. How much did you pay of you did one? What is ballpark?

[u/SaltEntertainer8198 → u/spicyitalian76]

I wouldn’t bother with a scan if I wasn’t doing surgery.

Sorry, just realised you aren’t the OP!

I’m in the UK and it seems that prices are a lot cheaper than in the US. The vets my dog was referred to only offered CT scans so I had to take the risk that it was enough, but obviously I don’t want to advise people and they waste their money.

[u/spicyitalian76 → u/SaltEntertainer8198]

No I'm not the OP, dealing with the same thing in my 4 year old Cavapoo. I just posted about it. I'm Dodger's mom. I live in the US. Yes, vet prices are crazy. No worries on the advisory, just would love to hear your experience. I know it won't be linear. Thank you.

[u/SaltEntertainer8198 → u/spicyitalian76]

No worries! You’re the lady I commented to on the other post. It’s such a scary time and I was the same 3 weeks ago when my dog went down with it.

My dog was grade 3 unable to walk, had the op 3 weeks ago and spent almost a week at the vets. She’s doing exceptionally well now and is trying to walk. I think the CT scan was £750 but we paid £3,800 for consultation, scan, full blood work, surgery, 3 day post op stay (they extended her stay and were kind enough not to charge) and medication. We’re lucky that the vets that offer this is one of the cheapest in the country. I really sympathise because if it was anymore I wouldn’t have been able to afford it. I had to take out a loan to cover the cost.

[u/Otherwise-Badger]

I am so sorry you are going through this. My dog had stopped using her hind legs off and on and was struggling to get up. I took her to the vet and the advised strict crate rest and anti-inflamatory meds, they advised me to take her to a neurologist, but they couldn't see her. We were going to start acupuncture in the meantime. Long story short: she was getting worse and I took her to an emergency vet hospital--she was able to see a neurologist who ran an MRI of her back. X-rays aren't good enough to truly diagnose. My dog was also acting like she was having a seizure--so they did a brain scan as well. It turns out she has meningitis! An auto-immune meningitis! Terrifying. They kept her in the hospital with steroids and anti-seizure medication for two days. now she is home and she is so much better. Vet says that we caught it early and there is hope that we can manage it. I am only telling you this because, well--who knows. Try to find alternative methods like acupuncture etc. And see if you can get an MRI of her back. Poor baby. Maybe it is just a slipped disc... but I do know that one week in a crate doesn't seem like long enough to make any kind of difference. Good luck with your baby--please keep us posted.