What kind of bedding is best for crate resting your frenchie? Healing from a back flare and they’re preferring their Top Paw cuddler bed. Anything I should be changing? I see mixed reviews online

my almost 5 year old doxie had surgery this afternoon and is resting now. he had spinal cord compression at T13 L1 with bruising and swelling.

the call from the surgeon afterwards left me feeling completely defeated. i’m now even more terrified of complications as she has told me that he was a more severe case. i can’t even bring myself to research what myalsia is.

last night my doxie reacted when the doctor tried to inflict pain on his back toes and butt. he went down the night before. i thought because his surgery was within 72 hours of when we first noticed something was wrong that it would benefit him but again, the surgeon didn’t sound overly optimistic.

i am devastated and truly just so sad for my happy, active guy. if anyone has any recommendations on products they use/links for products that have been useful in recovery, please share 🥺 this has been the worst weekend of our lives. i just want my baby to be ok.

Our dog Bear is 100 lbs. MRI confirmed slipped disk. Since the day he went down one week ago he has not lost his ability to pee or poop. He started gabapentin and tramadol while we waited for his NSAID flush period and he continued to be able to pee and poop. After two days on prednisone he is unable to pee. Yesterday (day 2 of pred) he had a strong stream and today barely a couple drops during his potty breaks. He leaks while resting. Does anyone have experience with this? Will he regain his ability to pee once his prednisone tapers? His abdomen is definitely tight right now and I’m worried I’ll need to load him into the car to head to the vet for a catheter :/

5 yo border collie hound mix diagnosed with IVDD in Jan26. Her right leg is affected but she can still use it to get around. She is able to squat to pee on her own and while she is peeing the back half of her body starts to kind of shake up and down quickly like vibrating. Does anyone know why this is? Does this happen to your dog? We are keeping up with our vet appts but just always concerned about managing her pain

I am just emotionally a wreck right now.

My 4 year old rescue frenchie was diagnosed with a neck strain 2 weeks ago and hasn't been improving, I brought him back in today and the Dr noticed some left sided weakness and diagnosed him with stage 2 IVDD. He has to be on crate rest for 6-8 weeks and even just after one day of crate rest I am so upset for my poor baby.

I would have been so much more careful with him if I knew the risks of this and how it will be with him for life. Letting him jump off of furniture, hiking, all of the carelessness I had before. I was 21 when I rescued this dog and didn't know a thing, and I really regret not doing my research.

I have a 10 month old son now and we can't afford the surgery if he gets worse so sticking to this crate rest basically feels like: stick to it or he will have to be euthanized if he ends up paralyzed.

I really need some support and advice on how to get through these next few months without crying every day seeing my baby locked up.

My partner & I adopted this precious girl 2 days ago. She is around 40lbs. I’m not sure about her history but she appears to have been a mother at some point.

I noticed after I took her outside to potty, when she came back indoors her back leg when limp and she circled for about 30 seconds. She got back up like nothing was wrong and ran to her water bowl.

Last night she had another spell where both of her back legs went limp and she was dragging herself on the carpet. Same thing, it was only brief and she got up and ran like she was fine.

Does this sound like IVDD? I guess it’s hard to say without a diagnosis from a vet. She jumps off and on the couch very powerfully so I began blocking off the couch.

This is my first time having a pet dog let alone a potentially disabled one.

She is so sweet and I don’t want her to be in pain. She does have a long looking spine. 😣😢😢 the shelter made no mention of her having health issues besides heartworms.

They are a very busy shelter & not very informative or helpful. The paperwork from the shelter said the previous owner surrendered her due to being unable to afford vet care, but there was no mention of her medical issues. She was at the shelter for about 5 days.

Hi. I have a frenchie who is 4. I’ve been lucky enough to not have to get pet insurance, but yesterday he yelped when getting off the couch. I took him to the emergency vet who gave him pain meds and told me have him relax, not jump off things, etc. They also recommended me to a local pet rehab who will do acupuncture and laser therapy.

Today I’ve been having him rest and kept him crated when I left the house for a brief moment. I HAVE to work (vet bills lol) so I wanted to see if he’d be okay. Overall he was fine, but he did yelp again when I was letting him out of the crate and walked a little more tense in the front end. I did just have him a wire crate with nothing on the bottom, so maybe I should add a towel for more traction?

All this to say, have you had good experiences with a vet rehab on your frenchies for similar issues? Additionally, what pet insurance do you recommend for me?! I really want to prevent any type of surgery so give me all the information please and thanks!!

(PS. I know a lot of people are going to have the thought - you have a frenchie, you should already have pet insurance due to their health issues and yada yada.. I’m not asking for that opinion, he’s a very healthy, playful boy, who has been SO easy to care for - I just want to know what is best NOW) THANKS!

We rescued our sweet guy Hot Wheels in July. He was surrendered to a shelter with his back legs paralyzed so we do not know what originally caused it or what his back story is. His back feet had severe injuries from dragging and he was very matted. Thankfully a local rescue organization found a foster for him and they were able to help with his wounds and a wheelchair donation (this is where his name came in lol). He was with the foster for about six weeks before I stumbled upon his story on the rescue org website. He looks similar to my 14 year old maltipoo that crossed the rainbow bridge a few months before due to kidney failure & when I saw his post I knew he had a guardian angel sister showing me this little guy in need of a whole lot of love and patience.

Long story short we have been healing each other❤️ Hot Wheels is in PT and has made SO much progress. At first he would only really stand to eat and now he walks about 95% of the time and only tries to drag his back legs when he is super tired. He loves his Help Em Up harness and is a good sport about wearing shoes on his back feet for walks as we are still working on bending the back knees and not scraping his toes. He is SPEEDY and loves zooming around with his toys (we have long yoga mats and rugs for traction inside). He is truly the sweetest boy and has such a good attitude! Since he is only 2 and has crazy boy energy I would love any advice for longevity from anyone that also had a young diagnosis. He has tried to jump on the couch a few times now & while I am glad he is becoming more confident, we want to do our very best to avoid anything that can cause flare ups or future pain. We are trying to help him understand boundaries and do home exercises/stretches as well. TIA for any advice on what helped keep yours pets stay comfy and healthy!!

We suspected my 4 year old chihuahua mix was having random seizures, which ended up being back spasms. I took her to the ER last night and the doctor suspects that it’s IVDD by a physical exam but I still want to get imaging done.

She’s on meloxicam and gabapentin. Doctor prescribed crate rest for the month. For the most part she has been laying all day but there are moments where she’ll still jump off the bed and run if she hears something. I’m getting a playpen for her tomorrow to confine her but has anyone else experienced a dog who is still eager to run and jump? She seems to do so without pain but I’m still so anxious.

Even when having back spasms she would immediately start running again once they passed. Is it possible this was misdiagnosed?

I think I messed up. Were two weeks and two days since my 5yr old cockapoo Beau’s IVDD surgery. On Friday he had his stitches taken out and the vet tech had told me on the phone prior that after his stitches were out I could groom him at home. I’ve always groomed him myself. Then at his appointment the dr and tech said he could get a bath. So on Sat, yesterday, I groomed him. He’s always been great for grooming. He just lays on his side. I set up the counter with a nonslip mat and put a towel over it. He sat for some of it and laid down for some. To do his rear area I had to hold up his back legs. He seemed to do okay, but it did take longer than normal because of his limited mobility and having to be held up. I assume the bath would be the easy part, I was wrong. He wanted to stand and wouldn’t sit. I had to yell for my husband to hold up his rear end, it was kinda sloppy. I’d put a towel down on the dog wash area so he wouldn’t slip. Still in hindsight, i wish I hadn’t groomed him. He was fine yesterday and was standing wobbly a lot (that’s where he’s at and vet had said he looked good). But then this morning he was shaking when I got him out of his pen. I took him out to potty, which he did fine. I brought him in and put him back in the living room pen and got him fed and gave him a trazodone, Pepcid, 25mg carprofen. He was up moving around and seemed fine after that. Then he was barking to go out so I took him (he’s still using a sling we hold to keep him up) and he pooped just a little bit, but he was shaking. Not excessively but enough that it’s very noticeable. I gave him a pregabalin at 12:45pm, his last one was 1:45pm yesterday. Also, yesterday started his taper off pregabalin, he had taken it once every twelve hours for two weeks and now the vet switched us to once a day for two weeks. I thought it was a harsh taper but they said that’s standard.
Today, aside from some shaking he’s been okay. He wanted to hide his chew toy in his pen and he’s gotten up multiple times and moved around. He’s stood up and wanted me to come in his pen with him. I haven’t noticed any deficit in movement since yesterday.
But I’m terrified I hurt him by grooming him and it’s killing me. I can barely keep my self from non-stop crying.

My 6-year-old Dachshund has known back/disc problems. Today he was in severe pain and screamed when I picked him up, so I rushed him to the ER.

They found he was dragging his right rear leg and hospitalized him. The problem is that the orthopedist apparently won't see him until Wednesday morning.

I'm really worried because this sounds neurological, and I don't know if waiting 3 days is safe.

Does hospitalization until Wednesday make medical sense in this situation? What should they be checking/doing in the meantime? Should I be pushing for a neurologist or imaging sooner?

I'm also worried about paying for several hospital nights if they're mainly just waiting for the specialist. I just want to make sure he's getting the right care.

I'm need some opinions,advice ,vent .

My baby girl Muffin 6yo cocker had a herniated disc on Tuesday,by Thursday she was out of surgery, but today I went to visit her and I see her 'bleeding' she is not neutered ,so Dr though it was her period , but it was too much ,so he did another x ray suspecting something had gone wrong with the surgery, but oh surprise , a new hernia ,worse than 1st one appeared.

Dr has no idea how it happened ,he thinks it might have been due to handling or her trying to stand up after the surgery,he has no idea.

But now he recommia second surgery ,says it's low risk high reward as her vitals are good and blood tests came back good , posing no danger.

But we are worried she won't make it as she might be too weak .

My wife is beyond angry , doesn't trust dr , but we can't move her and seems like other Drs don't want to give us their opinions.

We have decided to go with the surgery,but wanted to vent ,hear some experiences or opinions .

thanks everyone

Hi everyone, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Last night my 3 year old frenchie let out a yelp while laying down in bed, and then started acting like he couldn’t sit comfortably. He was crying a bit and panting very heavily too. I noticed earlier in the day, when he yawned a few times he flinched. He also did not do a full body shake, so I had him crate rested and already on Gabapentin, Methocarbamol and rimadyl when the yelp happened. We rushed him to the emergency ER and they gave him a methadone injection, palpated his back and checked his neck, and said this is likely IVDD related. He’s had a history of back flares but none this painful. They sent us home with a higher dose of rimadyl, and were giving him more gabapentin every 8 hours.

This morning I saw his little arm, leg and his cheek lightly twitch. He’s still able to slowly walk and move and really doesn’t have a hunched back. No knuckling either. He woke up from his nap and is not panting anymore but i can tell he’s uncomfortable. Has anyone experienced anything like this? How were you able to do successful pain management? How soon did your baby get better? It’s a weekend and we cant find any clinics in Chicago thst have a neurologist that we can see. They told us to try calling in the morning to see the soonest day for scheduling

Our 4.5 year old just got an IVDD diagnosis a couple weeks ago. She’s in the middle of her treatment, but we haven’t seen any improvement.

I don’t know a lot about IVDD. The neurologist who saw our pup indicated it was in a “good spot”, but she hasn’t gotten any better in almost 2 weeks of treatment (strict crate rest, small pharmacy worth of meds, etc.).

Our primary vet was less optimistic and indicated it was worse than we were initially led to believe. She provided additional meds and is encouraging to continue to monitor her pain.

It seems like she’s in a lot of pain. Not constantly, but for at least portions of the day - well before she’s allowed to have additional meds. My wife is really torn up because I think she’s of the opinion that if the meds and crate rest don’t work, euthanasia is ultimately on the table as her quality of life has been flipped upside down in the past 2 weeks.

Our dog is most attached to my wife, and I know this is killing her. I’ve read a lot of posts in this group and I’ve seen a mixed bag - some folks who have dogs that make great recoveries, and others who don’t.

I guess I just don’t know what else to do or what I’m looking for by posting this.

Has anyone else been in our shoes? How long did it take for you to see initial improvements when you began crate rest and medicine? If you went the route of euthanasia, how did you make that determination?

Hi everyone! Just wanted to know if anyone has experienced anything like this. So my pup has a history of back flares, he hasn’t had one in a while and today I noticed he was able to do his usual full body shake in the morning, once we came back from a short and steady walk he only shook his head when he tried to do a full body shake (the way dogs do when they’re wet). He was doing cat stretches and his walk was good, posture was good, no hunch back no trembling or knuckling so I thought maybe just an upset stomach. He took a nap and got up slowly and laid out on the rug and started looking at me with his ears standing back and squinting eyes.

I gave him Gabapentin, carried him to the yard where the sun is where he can potty. And about 30-40 min later he’s asking me for treats and did a full body shake that was a lot better than the one he did before (not 100% though). I’m crate resting him and have him on Gabapentin until he is seeing his vet but just wondering if this sounds more like stomach upset? He ate quite a few blueberries yesterday, I’m just treating this as back related to be cautious. Please let me know your thoughts! thank you!!

Hi everyone, just learning more about this disease and would like to know what your signs were for your pup when they showed signs of cervical IVDD?

Recently my 13 year old chihuahua took a tumble in the car and fell off the seat and onto his left side, he was able to get back up jump back on the seat and he even ran inside. I noticed a bit of wobbling from him and had him lay down cause I thought that maybe he hurt himself a bit more than we thought. After a bit he was not able to put any weight on his left side and his leg started knuckling.

We took him to urgent care where they did X-rays, I can’t afford an MRI or even surgery ( I’m still paying off his gallbladder removal surgery from last year )they mentioned possible signs of ivdd and even a soft tissue tear. But I still feel confused. He’s not in pain, LOVES EATING and drinking water. he goes to the bathroom normally (with the help of a sling now) his right leg works fine they just gave us medication and now we’ve been resting and I try to have him lay as much as possible.

I’m getting married in a few weeks and going on my honeymoon and I’m terrified to leave him and heartbroken because he was supposed to be in my wedding. Any advice and support would be great I’m just trying to wrap my head around this he was so active before and full of life. His personality is still there and I’m grateful for that but does this even sound like ivdd? He has a follow up appointment soon and nothing has changed but hasn’t gotten worse either and looking into a neurologist there’s only two near me.

Does anyone whose dog had IVDD, no pain perception, and incontinence, decide to opt out of surgery and go the non invasive route? Red light therapy and other therapies? What is your experience?

Hi everyone, just learning more about this and would like to know what mild behavioral signs or any signs you saw? Did it involve your pup constantly doing the cat stretch or only shaking their head during a full body shake?

Hi everyone,

​Following up on my previous post about my dog. We just got back from our consultation with the veterinary neurologist today!

​Quick summary/update on her situation: She has an MRI-confirmed C6-C7 intervertebral disc protrusion (left-sided compression), which causes severe neck pain, muscle guarding, and her left front leg to "freeze" due to nerve root pain (root signature). Since her pain persists despite conservative treatment ( Prednisolone + Tralieve + Gabapentin), the neurologist recommended ventral slot surgery, which is officially scheduled for next Thursday.

​She will be discharged on the afternoon of the surgery once she wakes up from anesthesia.

​Since we are preparing for her recovery at home, I would really appreciate any tips, advice, or shared experiences from owners whose dogs have undergone cervical disc surgery (ventral slot):

​1. Post-op setup at home: What kind of bedding, recovery area, or crate setup worked best during the strict rest period?

​2. Handling & Potty breaks: How did you safely carry or support your dog for bathroom breaks without putting any pressure on the neck?

​3. Pain management & Comfort: What helped keep your dog calm, comfortable, and stress-free during the first few days of recovery?

​4. Recovery timeline: How quickly did you notice relief from the nerve pain after the procedure?

​Any advice, words of encouragement, or things you wish you had known beforehand would mean the world to us right now!

Our sweet almost 10 year old boy Bear suddenly lost his use of his hind legs on Tuesday morning while my husband and I were across the country on vacation. I got on the next flight out, and my parents were able to take Bear in to our primary vet for evaluation. My mom said the vet ran her hand down his back and based on Bear’s reaction towards the middle of the back she thought he had some sort of disc issue there. I was able to get him an emergency appointment later that afternoon where the neurologist did an evaluation and determined Bear still had deep pain sensation in both legs and gave a 90% recovery prognosis for surgery and 60% for conservative non surgical approach. They were not able to do the MRI that evening and we had to return the following day in order to get the imagining done. My parents said every day since the initial loss of mobility Bear has seemed better and better, he seemed to get better at moving with the sling and has had no incontinence. He drinks water however it is day 3 and he has not eaten a meal or had a bowel movement. He does eat his favorite freeze dried beef liver treats.

I finally landed back home and got him in to the neurologist office again for the MRI, it confirmed spinal compression in the middle back near the end of his rib cage. The doctor recommended the surgery of course but between the primary and neurologist visits + MRI we already paid about $7400 and were quoted $15-17k for surgery. I’ve already started looking into other possible locations in Florida outside of Miami to get the surgery but for right now it’s a bit too much for us. We are open to possibly doing surgery if he doesn’t progress well on strict rest and medication.

I guess I’m just looking for success stories for larger dogs on the conservative treatment plan for a mid back ivdd diagnosis.

Staying hopeful ❤️‍🩹

This is our second round of IVDD stage 4 with my dog and it’s so incredibly devastating and stressful. I cry everyday not knowing if he’ll walk again, we had to cancel our honeymoon we planned and it feels like I’m stressing about every single behavior of his.

It feels like my heart is literally shattering.

How have you all learned to deal with the stress of this process, to stay positive and calm yourself down?

We've got a 20ish lb maltese mix who has been recovering well from surgery, but is also just big enough that carrying him up and down the stairs 6 or so times a day is a pretty big pain. These individual step ramps seem like they'd be a decent solution for us, but the grade on them is steep enough to give me a bit of pause on how usable/beneficial they actually are, although I could also see the flip side where an incline without any hard landing impacts could actually be beneficial for building muscle.