Possibly my first serious post here
26greeting my fellow 'mehricans. as some of you may know or have seen in various posts, i have a dog. he’s my first dog ever and he absolutely fucking rocks at being an awesome dog. about 4 weeks ago, he started experiencing some weakness in his hind legs and his regular vet noticed some muscle atrophy in them. based on some other symptoms (knuckling and ataxia) we were given a referral to a animal neurologist.
we saw the neurologist yesterday and she’s recommending an MRI. she thinks it’s most likely intervertebral disc disease (IVDD), possibly multifocal. the good news right now is that he’s still able to get up and move on his own, so it’s probably only level 2 (1 is lowest, 5 is worst). i’ve done some reading and surgical treatment is about 90% effective at this stage. he was still very active prior to whatever is going on right now, so i think he has a good chance at a full or almost full recovery. granted, surgery is HELLA expen$$ive, but that’s a decision we’ll make when we know more.
has anyone here had a pet undergo surgery for IVDD? how was it? what kind of post-op care did you have to do? was there any physical therapy involved? if so, what kind - in home or had to go somewhere? what did you do about stairs (i have a 2 level with the bedrooms upstairs)? any insights are welcome and very appreciated.
in closing, here’s doggo on his birthday last week. the kid is mine too. i know his (the kid’s) smile is wonky, but YOU try to get a 3rd grader to smile on demand and have it look good.
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I’ve never had a dog, but of the people I know who’ve been there, only one had to deal with IVDD. Because of the multiple types of lesion and displacement involved, experiences don’t correspond well. The one case I’m aware of had a poor prognosis for surgery, and the owner was advised that it was unlikely to make enough difference to be worthwhile. It’s very much a YMMV situation.
One of the better articles seems to be here:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.579025/full
Much will depend upon what they find via imaging.
@werehatrack thanks for the link.
yeah, i know we won’t really know anything until the MRI, but i’m just holding on to hope that being able to get up and walk around on his own (though wobbly) is a good sign. i can deal with most situations logically, but this one, not so much.
No knowledge here but love the picture
Your little one isn’t so little!
@speediedelivery ugh… i know! i was looking through old pictures and wondering where the time went.
@carl669 @speediedelivery If you keep feeding them, they get bigger and want the car keys. You don’t really have any other choice.
@speediedelivery @werehatrack unless i just get rid of the car and there are no keys to be had.
@carl669 @speediedelivery @werehatrack Well you will still have the problem that if you keep feeding them they will eventually grow out of kid’s sized clothing and suddenly be in expensive adult sizes. And want the designer kind. Of course you could move to a nudist colony.
Then you might have another fucking problem to deal with though.
@carl669 @Kidsandliz @speediedelivery @werehatrack
Fyi… Getting a kid to smile as they get older isn’t any easier. Mine looks like a serial killer!
Not advice about your dog, but hugs for you!
@mikibell thanks! just last week i was telling my girlfriend about the 3lb bag of dum dums you sent the kid back in the day.
@carl669 I would do it again but you MOVED!!
@mikibell i did! but the kid doesn’t eat dum dums anymore. he’s moved on to more sophisticated candy, like whoppers
@carl669 those could be had in large quantities too … hhehhehehehe
@mikibell oh god no! i’d hide them and eat them all myself.
@carl669
I only like the duds… the caramelly whoppers 
I am sorry, I have no knowledge to share. But prayers and positive karma coming your way that this issue works out positively for all involved.
@tinamarie1974 thank you!
Carl, I’m sending healthy healing vibes to your sweet dog also
@moonhat thank you!
The boy and the dog are both adorable.
I hope things turn out well!
@Kyeh thank you!
As a cat person my normal advice is upgrade to a fucking cat but in this case I hope he is able to make a full recovery.
@yakkoTDI eww… cat. actually, i love cats too, but for my first pet just wanted a dog.
That is really sad. And those kinds of decisions can be so hard to make. I had a cat with cancer. Treated it the first time (surgery). Two good years. Treated it the second time. Shouldn’t have. I hope you get enough information that whatever decision you end up having to make you feel secure in that it was the right one.
@Kidsandliz we’re hoping the MRI reveals all and we can make the best decision possible for him. i think we’re both leaning towards doing the surgery if that’s what the vet ends up recommending.
Our dog had a back problem with back leg weakness a few years ago. The vet said he suspected the dog had jumped off something a little too high and injured his back, but I don’t remember what he said the specific injury was.
He treated the dog with a dexamethasone burst which we ended up needing to repeat about 6 to 8 months later. It seems to have worked, dog’s fine since the second treatment, but I’m careful to lift him off the bed or out of the car. He does OK with a short flight of stairs.
The vet did say if the steroids didn’t work, the next step treatment would be surgery. I’m really glad it wasn’t necessary, at least so far.
Good luck with your dog, I hope he’s fine.
@2many2no thanks! she did mention steroids could be a possibility depending what the MRI shows. we’re really hoping it can be treated with meds and rest, but we’re open to surgery if the vet feels like it would help significantly.
HAHA The wonky smile issue - you just wait. You are only just entering the “why would I possibly smile like a normal person” age (and from there you go to “I’m grown I can do what I want” phase -that would be prior to being self supporting and old enough not to risk social services involvement). The thing on the far left and on the far right (photo 1) are examples of that (8 and 9). Took 29 photos, bribes, and resolving a fight over who got to hold the baby to get one even remotely normal looking one for all 5 of them. Oh, did I mention the mother of that bunch refused to cooperate because, well, her hair?
The process goes something like this (and I left out the other 25 - entire thing took under 2 min as number 30 would have been blurred due to escaping from the couch):
Photo 1
Photo after, “Seriously? Those are your ‘give me one dollar while we are in the dollar tree’ oh so sweet begging smiles?”. Except, well, of course there are 5 of them, one who doesn’t know the difference between eating money and her hands. And she already has hands so no need for money.
Then we have a half hidden head, a semi wonky smile
Finally success after resolving the fight over who gets to hold the baby and some threats of withheld
briberyrewards instituted mid process.@Kidsandliz i feel like i always need to have my phone set to camera just in case there’s a real smile that needs capturing.
@carl669 Except if they notice you whip out your phone in camera mode they will just make a face, whip their head around so you only have a blur of the back of their head or an ear or something. I would imagine like father like son and eventually you whip out the camera and you will get the finger. (grin).
@Kidsandliz
I think you just wore them down! Great picture though, you’ve got your hands full for sure!!
I’m hoping this turns out well. My best to your doggie and your family.
@f00l thanks!
yeah…my sister got her kids their first dog a couple years ago…a beagle pup…just as she was old enough to go to “school”…covid shut everything down.
so she never got proper training/socializing. (they did the best they could on their own.)
now, well last summer, she started having convulsions, and shall we say…emitting… from both ends (2ish yr old beagle mind you) take her to the vet…
she’s got epilepsy…apparently it’s fairly common in the breed…who knew?
@earlyre sorry to hear about your sister’s dog. were they able to manage it with meds?
@carl669 I believe so…
Another key is not letting her get too excited.
Which is such an easy thing to do ya know?
Any update on your dog?
@Kidsandliz no updates. MRI is scheduled for this monday, so we’ll see what they figure out. other than that, he’s acting normal… barking at squirrels, hovering near the kitchen when any kind of bag is open, etc
update: he got his MRI today. he was still pretty doped up when we got him home, so he had to be transported in a little cart. adorable as fuck this one is.
herniated disk in his neck. vet recommended surgery. there’s a meds only route, but since he already had ataxia, it’s not the best route. they saved us a survey slot for Thursday, so we’ll sleep on it and decide on the morning.
@carl669 Glad you have a diagnosis and hopefully if you decide on surgery (and thus go broke) it will be fixed. Tough decisions with our animals. Keep us posted.
@Kidsandliz we decided to go the surgical route. the ex and i will split the cost. it’s still a hit to the bank account, but i guess this is why i have emergency funds in the first place. hopefully everything goes smoothly and he’ll be home friday afternoon.
@carl669 I hope everything goes well. I paid a fortune many years ago for a cat to have cancer surgery. She had 2 good years after that. I hope you have even longer since this ins’t an illness.
@Kidsandliz fingers crossed! we’re hoping for 3-4 years since he doesn’t have any other problems. after his latest bloodwork, his regular vet called and said the results were “boring”.
@carl669 boring is good. There is a time and place to be boring. This would be one of them (grin). I’ll keep mine crossed too.
@carl669 @Kidsandliz
❤
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@carl669 I’m glad you’re able to get him fixed up. I spent a fair amount of time at the emergency vet with my pup and the number of people crying in the waiting room because they couldn’t afford treatment was the worst part. He’ll be fine and you’ll know you made the right decision.
@sammydog01 it won’t be easy, but we consider ourselves very lucky that we are able to afford it. and the dog better appreciate the hell out of this! kidding… we love him and will do everything we can to make him better
I’ve had to send both my dogs in for surgery - though not for this condition.
I hope everything goes as well as it can, I know it’s a hard decision and nerve-wracking to worry about a member of your family.
@Thumperchick thanks! surgery is scheduled for this thursday. he’ll spend at least one night there, and hopefully he’ll be released friday afternoon. i’m just glad his spirit is still intact. he’s still himself, just a hell of a lot wobblier
Praying his surgery goes well!!
@AttyVette thank you!
Best wishes for a smooth surgery and a speedy recovery!
@Pony thanks!
@carl669 Just wanted to let you know that I’m sending out all the healing energy i can muster for your fur baby tomorrow. I’ll be thinking about all 3 of you guys on the big day, all the best to you.
@ircon96 thank you! he goes in tomorrow morning and will be there until at least friday afternoon. at least i know his energy/spirit hasn’t decreased at all. he is not supposed to do stairs right now, so i have them barricaded. during my morning standup, he just strolls into my office. i was like ‘how the hell did he move the barricades?’. so i have him stay there and i go check. nope, all barricades are still in place. i really have no clue how he got on the stairs. i then had to pick up him to take him back down. good times.
@carl669 I’ve been following along with the updates, such an ordeal! My girl is getting up there (best guess, about 14), so health issues are always a concern, but luckily she still acts like a puppy a lot of the time. She has a dental cleaning scheduled for July 27, which will be her 1st time under anesthesia & makes me a little nervous, so i can only imagine what you’re going through. Mine is also a little Houdini, always outsmarting any attempts to rein her in, so i can empathize. At least yours is helping you get in your weight-bearing exercise, what a good boy, taking care of his dad!
@ircon96 our was about 10 when he got his first teeth cleaning and I was a bit nervous about the anesthesia too. he came out of just fine, though he drooled like there was no tomorrow. good luck with the teeth cleaning and definitely take some pictures of the drunken state. i still look back and laugh at those pics.
@carl669
That & the E-collar they want her to wear are going to be very entertaining, I’m sure! Although, i hope they plan to have her really doped up if they expect her to tolerate that contraption! 
Our dog had spleen cancer. Got Very lethargic, little appetite. Vet said removing the spleen may give her 6 more months, but we didn’t want to put her through surgery and the recovery just for a few months. Ultimately, had her put down peacefully while getting head pets and being told she’s a good girl.
She was a rescue and had been in the shelter a year before we got her. I’m happy we were able to give her some good years before the end.
These decisions are tough. I wish you the best.
@medz sorry to hear that man. it’s tough deciding on things like that when the prognosis is so short. but i’m glad she got to have some great years with you all!
@medz I’m so sorry to hear that.
I am so sorry @medz. Just know that you likely gave her thr best years of her life and I am sure she loved you unconditionally for it.
@medz That is always hard. I had a cat with cancer. Surgery got her two good years. It came back. Surgery again. That was a mistake. It’s so hard when our fur babies are in that situation.
@carl669 Thinking of you guys today and hoping everything’s going well for your sweet pup.
@Kyeh thanks. dropped him off at 815 this morning. the tech said surgery will most likely be in early afternoon based on the doc’s current schedule, and will take about 2.5 hrs for prep and surgery. she also said the doc has done hundreds of these, so that alleviates some concerns. they’re going to call once he’s out of surgery and give us an update.
update: talked to the doc earlier and she says the surgery went very smoothly. she’ll assess him in the morning and see if he’s doing well enough to come home tomorrow.
thank you all for the thoughts and will wishes. you all fucking rock!
@carl669 I am so happy to hear things went well You and your pup have been on my mind all day! Try to get some rest tonight and hopefully you will get to bring your pup home sooner rather than later. Continued prayers for continued positive progress
this morning’s update from the vet tech. still waiting on the doc to call us
and finally, he’ll be ready to be released at 330 this afternoon! doc warned he’s a lightweight when it comes to meds, so he’ll probably still be pretty doped up from the IV meds.
@carl669 Yay! He looks pretty worn out in the above photo
@carl669 FUCK YEAH!!! So happy for y’all
@carl669
@carl669 He looks so sweet!
I hope he’s feeling perfectly fine very soon.
@carl669 awesome! So glad everything went well.
KRULL! A SKULL! BRETT HULL! AWESOME!
How has he done today?
@Kidsandliz he’s doing good. recovery is on track and he’s getting stronger. he’s definitely more stable now, but still wonky due to the muscle atrophy in his back legs. but, that should come back to normal after some healing/PT. the main thing now is, he thinks he’s ready to go back to his previous activity level, so he’s just itching to do something. the vet did give us some sedative, and we may have to use it just to get him to chill out a bit.
@carl669 I guess that is a “good” problem to have? Glad he seems to be on the mend and the surgery did some good.
/giphy happy puppy
update: doggo had his sutures removed and got a post surgery progress report
NO MORE STITCHES BITCHES!
neuro doc says he’s doing great and has been cleared for short walks - 5 minutes max, 5 times a day. he’s also being weened off all the meds. we’ll likely have some codeine and some trazadone left, so guess who’s gonna have a fun time this weekend!
he’ll be starting PT in a couple weeks as well. i really hope they try to get him to do the underwater treadmill, because that would be funny as fuck to see his reaction. he is NOT a fan of enclosed bodies of water.
@carl669 That’s a nice smile!
@carl669 aawww. Pupper looks great! So very happy it went well
@carl669 Looks like ready for more play less behave
@carl669 I’d they put him on the treadmill we need to see pictures! I’m glad he’s looking so good and hope he keeps getting better.
@carl669 He looks so much better now – yay!
@carl669
So it wasn’t until I was almost at the bottom of the thread (and thinking surgery was yesterday) when I realized it’s July and this all happened LAST MONTH!! Dopey ME!
So sorry you all had to go through this, sick/hurting pets are tough.
How’s he doing these days, has he made a full recovery, is he expected to, is he still doing PT?
All good vibes and positive thoughts are with you guys!
@Lynnerizer he’s doing really well. still weak in the back legs, but a lot better than before surgery. he starts rehab next week. underwater treadmill, which will be interesting because he really hates enclosed bodies of water. but, the rehab doc says he should make a 90-100% recovery. we’re keeping our fingers that that’s the case. other than the back legs though, he’s acting like his old self and definitely has more energy
when he got home from surgery, it was easier to let him sleep downstairs. the kid decided he didn’t want his dog to sleep alone, so he camped out with him on the floor.
@carl669 @Lynnerizer
Awww, that’s so nice!
@carl669 Omg, that’s too adorable!
I’m so glad he’s doing so well, they say the rehab usually helps a lot, so 
My girl had her dental work on Wed, only one of the large upper molars & a couple of the tiny chiclets in the front had to be removed. They even had time to remove a lump from her leg, thankfully, I’d much rather she didn’t have to endure all this twice!
They said she bounded right out of anesthesia, & by the time i picked her up, she was fully awake, so no entertaining drunken shots.
She’s on 7 days worth of gabapentin for pain & mild sedation, so it just makes her sleepy. You got lucky, no leftover party meds for me, i guess! 
She’s doing so well, she doesn’t even need an E-collar (so far). Now i just need to live long enough to pay the bill… Or not.
They could have given me some meds of my own to deal with that, at least. 
Anyway, good luck with the rehab, he looks like he’s ready to get back to his normal shenanigans! Keep us updated when you can!
@carl669
personally, it’s my favorite kind! Any kind of water therapy has always been great for MY body I’m happy to hear that they’re using it for animals too! I’ll be looking out for more updates and especially more cute pics! 
Aww, so cute! Definitely a picture that your boys future wife will appreciate.
Thanks for the update, sounds like he’s going to be back to his old (or younger) self real soon! Hopefully he’ll tolerate the pool therapy,
@ircon96 right? the vet bills are just crazy! throw in an MRI before the surgery and it’s just insane. glad to hear your pup bounded out of anesthesia, though the drunken dog stage is pretty funny. last time mine got his teeth cleaned, he was drooling like a madman and fell over on his way to the water bowl. i laughed and he just sighed and gave me a despondent look.
@Lynnerizer i really hope we get to be in the therapy room when they do it. i’ll have my camera at the ready to capture the sudden “WTF??” look his face will most likely make.
@carl669 @ircon96 @Lynnerizer Glad all this appears to be headed towards the “best case” outcome. That has to be a relief.
@carl669 @Lynnerizer Omg, if she had needed an MRI, they would have had to bring out the oxygen & smelling salts!
I sure hope you’ll be posting all the pics you can of his “fun with recovery”… I feel like my girl isn’t giving me my money’s worth in entertainment value.
Hey, I hope everything turns out well!
@Targaryen thank you!
Hope PT goes smoothly he looks like an absolute sweetheart of a puppy. Had a German Shepherd with hip dysplasia it was absolutely horrible for him but swimming helped a lot. In his old age the only thing he enjoyed was swimming around the lake even when walking the block there was painful. So if they don’t give him the underwater treadmill you can still take him to a lake or pool for a little PT if the vet approves.
@Sneakertree he’s definitely getting the underwater treadmill, but i’m not sure what else they’ll be doing. they did give us some home exercises as well. maybe he’ll end up liking the water and i can taking him swimming to one of the bajillion lakes around here. would definitely help to keep his strength up