My yorkie cross went to emergency vet, IVDD in his neck. He can’t walk. I am supporting with towel, back legs are working. He is on gabapentin and rimadyl. He is maybe 6, was a stray from shelter. Give me.hope please.
“The body WANTS to heal itself.”
Time and rest can do a lot for these type injuries, ime.
Be supportive and provide help as healing takes place.
Good Luck!!
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no knowledge of this … but sending
Jingles & AO for your beloved Yorkie
((hugs)) laced with strength and patience for you ~
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Thanks Marla and ZuZu he is a little better today. Not falling down and ate. Back to vet Wednesday
Lots and lots of crate rest, take it slow… They will likely want him on restricted movement. I had one with IVDD too. We made a “bed” inside an XL crate, she was a 50lb dog so not easy - the hardest part was taking her in/outside for bathrooms. When she was a bit more mobile, she graduated to a baby pen… It is darkest before dawn, and vets told me she may never walk again… but it is about four years since the injury and she W/T/C and occasionally jumps, if treats are involved :lol:
The progress seemed to stall out for a few weeks but then overnight she seemed stable again.
Lots of jingles for you and your sweet boy.
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Try the website “Dodgers List”. Some scary stuff but also lots of good info on dealing with it.
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What a wonderful post !!! Informative & supportive !!!
Jingles & AO continue ~ glad to read he is a better today ~
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My Snoopy, he had a lot of problems. One day I came home from work, and he was walking weird, holding his neck weird and he would just start YELPING!!! I had NO idea what was wrong. I rushed him in a huge comforter, to my vet, thinking this was it.
As we waited, I wouldn’t even move a muscle and he’d SCREAM!!! Everyone would stop and stare and look sad at us. Tears rolled down my cheeks.
Vet said yep- neck. He had robaxin, gabapetin, and pred He had one shot, and the tech said as they gave the shot, his body just relaxed. He did AWESOME!!! Once on awhile he’d have flare ups, gave him the meds and good as new (well as good as an 18 year old dog can be lol).
I believe one of the other vets questioned the meds and switched one out for rimadyl.
Don’t lose hope! I know there’s cold laser therapy too possibly, etc.
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If he truly can’t walk vs just doesn’t want to due to pain, those are the ones where surgery is a first choice treatment. Otherwise, acupuncture and laser can help a lot
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My small dog herniated a disc and has this disease. She was paralyzed with the herniated disc but the MRI showed that nothing was touching the spinal cord so surgery wasn’t recommended. You have to join Dodgers List on fb.
The strict rest is NO JOKE! Essentially keeping your dog in a crate is like putting a cast on a leg. You want as little movement as possible for 8 weeks minimum for the area to heal. Pick up from crate carry outside, set down to do business and pick right back up. No sitting on the couch with you, not even walking to the food bowl have the bowl in the crate. To make this easier mentally on my dog I put the crate in the middle of the family room so she was the center of activity and I would lay with my head on a pillow in the crate to cuddle while watching tv. She had to stay still and in her crate but still got attention. They will feel better towards the end of this time but it’s very easy for them to reinjure until the scar tissue is fully built up. I do recommend two crates, one in your living space and one in the bedroom. I also made sure I had good orthopedic beds for cushion in the crates.
The meds look ok I would really really push to have him put on prednisone. The rimadyl helps pain, the gabapentin helps pain and nerve injury but the prednisone greatly reduces swelling in the spine around the injury and should be the first go to for meds. If your vet won’t prescribe it go to another vet. I do recommend going to a neurologist if you’re not already they see this day in and day out and my dog would not have recovered how she did with just my regular vet treating her. Love my vet but sometimes the specialist is necessary.
After the rest period chiro and acupuncture made the biggest difference, pt rehab made the second biggest difference. Now my dog runs, jumps and is 100% normal except the entire house is covered in ramps and she has a tendency to make her back sore if she overdoes it running around. It took a good year to be fully back to normal but it’s absolutely possible.
Keep us updated on her progress and feel free to message if you have any questions!
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A friend of mine had a traumatic event with one of her agility dogs and formed a FB group dedicated to issues with IVDD, there is a lot of information there and you can ask questions, get experiences of others, etc. I highly recommend joining…If the link does not work for whatever reason, search FB for “Ringo’s Road To Recovery” https://www.facebook.com/Ringos-Road-to-Recovery-841917165847522/
Thanks all. Back to regular vet this afternoon. Will give update tomorrow.
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I highly recommend getting an MRI done to confirm the diagnosis.
My 9 year old beagle x went down with IVDD last fall. After months of medical management (meds, laser, acupuncture) she wasn’t improving. We decided the try surgery and in her pre-op they discovered it was a very large, inoperable meningioma. She was euthanized while under anesthesia for surgery. CSU told us that it may have been operable if we’d caught it earlier.
He is better! Walked very nicely for regular vet! She thinks it is a clot (FCE?) not the IVDD. Still taking meds and crating him, removing anything in the house he can jump from. I feel VERY lucky. There is one area of the kitchen where he USED to jump up to the window. I have removed the way for him to jump up but he is avoiding that area…I think it may have happened there. I need to find out more about these clots.
So glad to read this update ^
Iingles & AO continue for your Yorkie ~
- did you receive my pm ?
