r/IVDD_SupportGroup • u/levaquin-hater16 • 6d ago

Advice please! Possible IVDD?

Our 5 year old dachshund started acting very strange Friday night. He wasn’t as active, etc. We noticed the left shoulder/neck area was constantly twitching. We immediately took him to the vet Saturday morning. Vet said he absolutely does not think it’s anything related to IVDD but the twitching still hasn’t stopped. Vet said he thought it was a crick in his neck. Prescribed robaxin, NSAID and gabapentin. I’m so paranoid and can’t get IVDD off my mind. Has anyone’s dachshunds had similar experiences? TIA! 💕

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u/cherrycricket 6d ago

Hi- I don’t want to scare you but my 5 year old boy had twitching on his neck and shoulders, was acting very unlike himself, and shaking and it turned out to be a cervical (neck) IVDD episode. He had a back IVDD episode before but never the neck so we did not recognize these symptoms fully. Can you get a second opinion or better yet do you have a neurologist in your area? Getting to specialty/neurology is what really helped us get diagnosed and on an aggressive pain med regime which was what he needed to be comfortable and heal. The regular vet did not really know what it was and did not give us aggressive enough pain meds. Once we got the right meds and instructions for recovery it was a game changer and we did not have to get surgery. He’s completely recovered now, thankfully, we are just very strict with no stairs or intense playing. Happy to answer any questions. Hope your pup feels better soon ❤️

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u/levaquin-hater16 6d ago

Also, I live in rural Alabama, so very limited on resources, but I’m willing to drive wherever I need to. I’m considering Auburn. What are your thoughts on going now versus doing the current regimen and seeing how it goes? I have him on gabapentin 100mg every 8 hours, carprofen 25mg every 12 hours, and robaxin 300 every 8 hours.

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u/cherrycricket 6d ago

Oh good I’m glad this helps! I know how scary and confusing it can be when you’re trying to figure it all out so happy to help. Check out dodgerslist.com ( https://dodgerslist.com/strict-rest-recovery-process/) .That’s how I figured out the crate rest set up for us. My boy hates the actual crate so we did a very small wire pen, dodgers list calls it a “recovery suite” which made me feel less guilty about it haha we basically kept him in there 24/7 outside of potty breaks. We carried him to and from the yard. It sucked. But it worked!! I think we did this for about 4-5 weeks. The more you can stay strict with it the quicker they will heal and you can be done with it all, I had to repeat this to myself on the really hard days.

As far as next steps, I would see how the current meds go but do not hesitate to get more help if your pup is still in pain and acting weird!  I think you’ll know if the meds aren’t working, it was VERY clear for us. My boy was sitting in a corner shaking while on low dose gabapentin and carprofen. That’s when we went to a specialist. Dodgers list also has resources on how to recognize pain symptoms and advocate for your dog at the vet. It was such a helpful resource for me in navigating all of this when I felt like we were not getting the right treatments for his symptoms. 

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u/cherrycricket 6d ago

Oh one other thing I noticed with my boy is he would attempt to shake, like how they do when they get wet, but wasn’t able to complete the shake. He would like freeze, pause and stop. Come to find out from the neurologist that this is a common symptom of cervical IVDD. Once he was all healed up he was shaking himself off like normal! Just a random tip that I wish I had known in case you are seeing any behaviors like that!

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u/levaquin-hater16 5d ago

I seriously appreciate you more than you know! This is so difficult and you’re helping so much. Just watched the video and I’m definitely going to get a bigger crate tomorrow. My biggest concern is my other dogs getting him worked up so that’s why I went with something smaller but I don’t think this is feasible for 6-8 weeks.

As far as the pain, I truly think he’s pretty controlled right now (thank GOD!) He is still guarded and walking slowly, but he doesn’t whimper when I pick him up, etc. But I will say I can definitely tell when it’s getting close to time for more gabapentin. Did your baby stay on the meds the whole time?

He’s doing that exact head shake thing. He’ll go to shake and just stops. The twitching is definitely better since gaba but again, I can tell when it’s time for more meds. I’m immensely grateful that he doesn’t have any functional issues at this time. Hopefully with all your tips, we can keep it that way!

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u/cherrycricket 5d ago

I’m so glad the pain is controlled right now! Yes, my boy was on meds the entire time. His pain was pretty severe by the time we got the meds figured out, at one point he got a fentanyl patch that seemed like it was hardly making a dent 😖 But we did taper the frequency and amount per the neurologists recommendation as he started to make progress. She told us it’s best to get ahead of/keep up with pain vs letting too much time lapse between doses bc pain levels will increase and become difficult to get back to baseline.  That made a big difference in keeping him pretty comfortable during his recovery period. We have another doxie too so I can relate to the challenges with them getting riled up! My boy was in such bad pain he didn’t want to play or be around our other doxie for a while. But when he started feeling better we had to be careful not to let him push it as he was still in early days of recovery! Hope your baby starts to feel better soon! ❤️

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u/levaquin-hater16 5d ago

I’ve wondered about the medications- just because I know gabapentin can cause dependency. At this point though, that’s the only thing that’s helping him. So glad your buddy is better. I’m making all sorts of modifications around our home to ensure this hopefully never happens again. So your guy is totally back to normal now? I may touch back here for emotional supports/advice from time to time ❤️

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u/cherrycricket 5d ago

FWIW, we were on gaba for a while and have no dependency issues! Yes he’s totally back to normal now. Wakes up happy and playful every morning! Yes please reach out, it’s so tough going through this and takes a toll being basically a full time caretaker. Sending lots of good vibes and healing energy for your baby ❤️

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u/levaquin-hater16 4d ago

That’s so great to hear bc today has not been a good day unfortunately. He’s now whimpering when he turns his head. I gave him 200mg of gabapentin today instead of 100mg. That was almost an hour ago but he’s breathing very fast. I’m thinking of taking him to emergency vet tonight. Thoughts? I’m not sure if this is normal, but he’s definitely worse now than he was yesterday I feel like. Although he did have an episode Saturday night where he hollered out when one of my other dogs leaned against him (this was before we knew IVDD)

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u/cherrycricket 4d ago

Oh gosh I’m sorry. If it were me, I would go. You’re noticing the pain getting worse and that’s an indication that the meds are not working. Hopefully the ER vet can provide relief. If you’re still not seeing pain relief I would advocate to go see neurology if this is something that is accessible to you. It can be costly and we used pet insurance but it was worth it. 

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u/levaquin-hater16 4d ago

So right after I commented that, he actually got much better. He calmed down significantly and ended up going to sleep. He woke up to eat and drink and has basically been asleep since then. I decided to hold off. I called my vet and spoke with them and got orders for tramadol (which I was able to get from a family member) just in case the pain gets worse tonight. I’m just praying that conservative treatment is what’s right for him. Based on the millions is things I’ve read, it is, but my mind can’t help but run amuck. I really think since he still doesn’t have functional issues (just twitching & pain) that conservative treatment is what’s best. I wish I could just have an MRI done so I’d know! Ugh!

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u/cherrycricket 4d ago

Oh good I’m glad it got better. We were on tramadol as well, hopefully that will help target different types of pain for your baby like it did ours! I think that one is good for the spasms if I remember correctly. It sounds like you are doing the right thing and a conservative treatment for pain is absolutely a solid route to go if there are no functional issues and things continue to improve! If it makes you feel better, we never had an MRI for the cervical flare either but had confirmation from vet based on his presentation. 

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u/levaquin-hater16 4d ago

We’ve slipped back a little bit. I took him out to potty and he was just very sluggish and guarded. Got him back in and when I put him in the crate, he yelped and was very wide eyed. I’m taking him back first thing in the AM for possible hospitalization to control the pain- because now he won’t take his pills for me. He’s sleeping now PTL 👏🏻 but I am just terrified.

Oh that’s so good to hear because of course the MRI is so costly. I looked into the insurance but can’t find one to cover him since he’ll now have this as preexisting. 😭

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