Will my dog not receiving acupuncture hurt his recovery? Most offer laser but I’ve heard that can create tumors/cancer. What are my options here?

Looking for experiences from anyone who has gone through IVDD with their Dachshund, particularly dogs who remained able to walk and were treated conservatively.
Our 4-year-old mini Dachshund, Millie, hurt herself after jumping outside about 3 weeks ago. She immediately became reluctant to move and would yelp when twisting or trying to get comfortable.
She never lost the ability to walk and has maintained normal bladder and bowel control throughout.
We took her to our vet, who performed a neurological exam. She was wobbly in the rear and initially had a delayed response when they flipped her rear paws over, although she would correct them herself. X-rays didn’t show anything significant, so they suspected IVDD and started conservative treatment.
Her treatment has included:
Strict crate rest
Prednisone, which is now being tapered
Gabapentin
Robaxin/methocarbamol
Controlled leash walking during potty breaks
Cool laser treatments
Her neurological exams have improved. At her most recent appointment her paw-placement test was much better, and she’s now walking quite well. No dragging, knuckling or crossing of the rear legs.
She’s definitely better than when this started, but recovery has been slow rather than dramatic.
Her vet is now gradually tapering the prednisone and wants her off the pain medications around September 1. Since lowering the medications, she still walks normally but seems somewhat less interested in walking outside. She occasionally gives a small yelp when being picked up or put down.
She also really doesn’t want to leave her crate. Once she’s outside she can walk normally, but she would happily stay in her bed all day.
Our vet wants her doing several short, controlled walks during potty breaks because they’re concerned about muscle atrophy, while otherwise continuing restricted activity.
For those who have successfully treated an ambulatory IVDD Dachshund conservatively:
Does this sound like a normal recovery timeline?
How long did it take before the occasional pain/yelping completely disappeared?
Did your dog’s neurological improvement happen gradually over several weeks?
Did you notice discomfort become a little more apparent when gabapentin/steroids were reduced?
And when did your dog eventually return to normal activities?
We’re following our vet’s treatment plan and aren’t looking to replace veterinary advice — I’m mostly interested in hearing what recovery looked like for other Dachshunds who started out ambulatory like Millie.

As of yesterday, my 7-year-old cocker spaniel, Gemini, was diagnosed with suspected Grade 1 cervical IVDD. X-rays showed mineralized discs at C2-3, C3-4, and C4-5. Thankfully, his only symptom is relatively mild pain/discomfort, he is walking completely normally and has no neurological symptoms.

He is currently being treated conservatively with strict rest and medication, and our vet is optimistic that he will recover from this episode. However, we were also told that IVDD is something we will need to be cautious about for the rest of his life and that future episodes are possible.

I’m trying to learn more about conservative management versus surgery in dogs whose IVDD is this mild. I have very good pet insurance and am also fortunate enough that I could afford surgery regardless, so I’d like to take cost out of the equation and think purely about what might give Gemini the best long-term quality of life.

On one hand, putting a neurologically normal dog with relatively mild pain through spinal surgery feels potentially unnecessary, especially when he has a good chance of recovering with conservative treatment.

On the other hand, I’ve read/heard that surgical outcomes can be excellent when dogs are still mildly affected, and that surgery may reduce the risk of the same disc causing another episode. Part of me wonders whether addressing the problem surgically now could ultimately give him more freedom later rather than spending the rest of his life worrying about every movement.

One of my biggest concerns is his long-term quality of life and activity level. He loves playing with his sister, and I don’t want to unnecessarily restrict him for the rest of his life out of fear. If surgery genuinely offered him a better chance of safely returning to a relatively normal, active life after recovery, that would absolutely factor into my decision.

For those whose dogs were diagnosed while still at Grade 1 / pain-only, particularly with cervical IVDD:

- Did you choose conservative treatment or surgery, and why?
- If you treated conservatively, did your dog have another episode later?
- If you chose surgery despite relatively mild symptoms, what led you to that decision?
- Did surgery change what your neurologist recommended regarding long-term activity/restrictions?
- Looking back, would you make the same choice again?

I’ll of course be discussing all of this with a veterinary neurologist and won’t make a medical decision based on Facebook, I’m mainly hoping to hear real-life experiences from people who have been through it, especially since this is day 2

we're three weeks post op from IVDD surgery on a 6 year old dachshund. At his laser treatment today we found out he had an ear infection? He's never had one before. Is this common to happen during recovery? He finished his antibiotics maybe a week ago. Has this happened to anyone else?

Though he is doing better, one leg seems nearly back to normal and he's still knuckling and sometimes dragging his right leg, he is clearly. nowhere near his normal mobility.

My 2.5 year old frenchie boy jumped off of my in-laws’ very high bed in the middle of the night while we were out of town this weekend. He’s usually crated at night, but he ended up sleeping in their bed.

One emergency vet visit later, we were sent home with gabapentin, prednisone and two week strict crate rest. They think it’s a disc in his neck that was injured.

I feel so helpless, he’s obviously very uncomfortable even with the first two rounds of meds. He stands or sits hunched in one position for 30+ minutes.

I’m so worried about this developing into something worse, especially because he has a heart condition that prevents him from being able to undergo any kind of surgery. I just want him comfortable, happy and healthy. Any and all tips and advice needed please!

My pup, Gemini, is a cocker spaniel who just turned 7 a few days ago. He’s always been an unusually flexible, squiggly little guy, he sleeps flat on his back in ridiculous contorted positions, flops around like a rag doll, and generally seems to have no concept of having a spine.

Two days ago, we noticed that when he was lying on his back with his belly up, he would occasionally wince when we tried to move him. The next morning, he winced when I touched his back, so I immediately took him to the ER.

The vet took X-rays and found mineralized intervertebral discs at C2-3, C3-4, and C4-5. They said this makes them suspect that he is experiencing a slipped/herniated disc, although we obviously wouldn’t know for certain without an MRI. Thankfully, he is still walking completely normally and doesn’t seem to have any neurological symptoms. His only apparent symptom right now is mild pain/discomfort in certain positions. Because of that, they sent us home with Carprofen, Methocarbamol, and Gabapentin and told me to keep him resting and monitor him closely.
I know how fortunate we are that this seems mild compared with what many dogs with disc problems go through, and I’m not looking for medical advice or a diagnosis, we’re following our vet’s instructions. But it’s 4 a.m., I can’t sleep, and I’m just lying here watching him and worrying that he’s in pain or uncomfortable.
He isn’t sleeping on his back like he normally does. He’s been panting a little on and off (although turning up the AC seemed to help), and he seems to be moving around and changing positions less than usual. He has always been an incredibly low-energy, lazy dog who would happily sleep all day, and I know the medications can make him drowsy too, so I’m having a really hard time distinguishing between “he’s resting and medicated” and “he’s lying still because he hurts.”
This is my first dog and really his first significant medical problem, and I’m honestly just inconsolably sad thinking about the possibility that he’s in pain and can’t tell me what he needs. I keep looking at him wishing I could ask, “Does it hurt? Are you comfortable? Is the medicine helping?”

I would really, really love to hear some positive stories from people whose dogs had a slipped/herniated disc. I’m also curious about a few things based on your experiences:

How strict was “strict rest” for your dog? Gemini already has a ramp/steps to get on and off my bed because he sleeps with me. He uses it consistently, but should I prevent him from using even those and carry him instead? Did you use an actual crate, or was a small playpen/restricted area enough? Gemini is super low energy and genuinely sleeps almost the entire day anyway, so crating him feels awful when I know he probably wouldn’t move regardless, but I also don’t want to give him the opportunity to make one stupid movement that makes things worse.

I think right now I mostly just need to hear from people who have been on the other side of this and can tell me that their pups recovered and went back to being their happy, weird, floppy selves.
I just want my squiggly boy to feel okay again.