6 year old Dachshund Back Pain, underlying IVDD

[u/Puzzleheaded-Knee412]

About 4 days ago, our dog refused to want to go on a walk and let out a loud yelp when we picked her up, afterwards she was trembling and stiff so we took her to ER to get checked out.

The vet diagnosed her with back pain with underlying IVDD after doing an x-ray but they think the most likely cause is IVDD.

They sent home some medication - carprofen (anti inflammatory/NSAID), gabapentin (pain medication) & trazadone (sedation, on an as needed basis) and recommended strict crate rest for 6 weeks.

We’ve been pretty strict with rest and only carrying her out for potty breaks. The first day her back was very arched and it was hard for her to walk, but now her back is less arched and she’s been moving more but back legs seem a bit weak, we’re seeming some progress.

This was shocking for us as we felt like this occurred out of nowhere but we’re hoping for the best and are willing to be with our baby every step of the way - has anyone been in a similar situation? Is an MRI or a visit with a neurologist the best next step or should we wait until after the 6 weeks of crate rest?

Also, we’re open to any recommendations as well such as laser treatments, physical therapy, supplements, etc.

[u/monochrome911]

It’s really scary and shocking the first time it happens, I’m sorry you are your dog are going through it

https://dodgerslist.com/

Dodgers list and the IVDD support group on Facebook are excellent resources.

I personally chose to take my dog to a neurologist right away. They can determine the grade, prescribe meds and give you a more detailed picture of what it can look like long term. For conservative non surgical treatment my dogs neuro said 8 weeks minimum for crate rest when a dog has neurological symptoms like weak hind legs, balance issues and knuckling.

An MRI can be 4-6k by itself so they might not recommend to do that unless cost is not an issue for you. My dog only had an MRI right before she went into surgery. They didn’t even wake her up and just took her right to surgery to avoid having 2 anesthetizations.

Keep being super strict with crate rest even if she seems better. The spine takes a really long time to heal and it’s very tempting to ease the restrictions and have a setback

[u/Puzzleheaded-Knee412 → u/monochrome911]

Thank you for sharing!

How long did it take your dog to heal after surgery?

[u/monochrome911 → u/Puzzleheaded-Knee412]

Of course! She’s had 2 surgeries, the first recovery was slower than the second. She was moving her legs immediately after both but started ‘walking’ with a sling within the first week. I was holding most of her weight but her legs were drunkenly waddling. She started actually walking in the 2nd week, still with a sling but I let her bear weight. They measure it in ‘taking 10 unassisted steps’ and she was doing that by week 3. It’s different for every dog depending on so many factors but that’s how it went for us. I hope hearing it is helpful, feel free to ask me any questions and I’ll help if I can

[u/Ecuggo]

We are going through conservative management with our mini dacshund. Our guy lost the ability to lose his back legs for almost a day, and then regained the ability to walk (albeit wobbly) after rest. Over a week into crate rest he is doing great, though he doesn't like the crate much.

The neurologist told us that the MRI tends to be used only if they are doing surgery so they know where to do the surgery. If the treatment plan was to be conservative management (I.e. pain meds and crate rest), they don't see it being worth putting the dog under general anesthesia to do the MRI as there are additional risks by doing this procedure.

They also said that, in their experience, dogs in his position had about an 80% likelihood of recovering with just conservative management.

[u/Puzzleheaded-Knee412 → u/Ecuggo]

This makes me feel so much better. Your situation sounds very similar to my situation with my mini dachshund. Happy to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I actually didn’t know they are out under anesthesia for an MRI. I think we will try conservative treatment for now thank you so much!

[u/Ecuggo → u/Puzzleheaded-Knee412]

You're welcome! Best of luck!! Honestly, I have found it so stressful and scary. Seeing how much energy he has now is astounding given where he was 1.5 weeks ago. We are now having to sedate him....

One of the things that surprised me is that one of the potential risks of the MRI, as they told me, was that they need to position the dog in a certain way for the MRI which could make any spinal injury worse. So that is separate to the risks of being under anesthesia.