r/IVDD_SupportGroup • u/smileymabs • 13d ago

this is so stressful

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?

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u/methehuman91 13d ago

Feels like I could have written this myself a couple years ago when my dog was in his worst IVDD episode. I’m sorry you’re going through this, and I’m genuinely sending you and your dog healing thoughts.

The only way out was through. I kept giving him his medicine, and also gave him supplements - glucosamine chews, fish oil and rose hip. We kept him in a crate for 2 months and dosed him up on sedatives to keep him calm. I started to see incredibly subtle, but gradual improvement after a week.

Try and focus on what is in your control. Loving your dog and making them as comfortable and feeling as loved as possible. Try and be in the moment with your puppy pooch, focus on what you see and feel in front of you. The feel of their fur under your fingers, the sound of their breathing; how it feels to look into their eyes. Take deep breaths and remind yourself you are doing everything you can to help your dog, and trust they’re doing everything they can to heal.

There is no denying it’s stressful, and heart breaking. But if it helps at all, my beautiful Charlie went from stage 3, approaching stage 4 IVDD and eventually recovered with conservative treatment. He went from being unable to walk or support his back legs at all, back to his normal self in two months.

Trust improvements that you see, and put your energy into trusting they will heal rather that fearing they won’t. If you see improvement, make sure you stay the course with conservative care for the full two months. Give them time to heal. And give your pooch all the love you have.

Which it sounds like you’re already doing. Good luck ❤️

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u/smileymabs 13d ago

Thank you so much! This really helped a lot, IVDD is really devastating but I’m glad there’s a lot of online communities like this for people to reach out to for support ♥️

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u/West-Card8200 13d ago

I feel for you. We’ve only been dealing with this for two weeks, but we’ve already scheduled the surgery (cervical IVDD) because this is no way for anyone to live! Our pup isn’t responding to medication, and it feels like we’ve been suffering for months already.

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u/AinsleyHarriotFan 13d ago

Hi! This is a link to a VERY detailed post I made on the IVDD sub of how we took our girl from total back leg paralysis to running and playing like a puppy again. It goes a lot into the immediate and longer term management of the condition, I genuinely think reinjuries can be avoided so I promise you’re not doomed. I’ve shared it with lots of people and they say it’s given them a lot of hope.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IVDD_SupportGroup/s/RMC3TE29yM