Our dog has a back problem

hibby

This morning our Japanese Spitz dog, Shiro, was unable to come down the stairs for his morning walk. He was clearly in terrible pain. His body was tense and trembling, his ears back, and every so often he screamed/yelped pitiably. Each time this happened he released a little urine.

He was sitting with his back hunched. He could walk, but only with difficulty.

This was all very sudden. Last night we were out for our evening walk and he was running around in the park at top speed. He is extremely active and regularly goes for walks of 10 km or longer, and especially loves walking in the hills.

Needless to say we were very worried and had no idea what was wrong. My wife took him to the vet as soon as the vet opened at 9, and the vet diagnosed a "spinal herniation". The vet gave him pain medication, but I fear he will no longer be able to do the things we enjoy doing together.


Does anyone have any experience with this? Will he get better? Will he get worse? He is six years old now.

Stheno

Has the vet given you ongoing medication and advised that your little man rest?

Do you have a crate?

hibby

Stheno wrote: »

Has the vet given you ongoing medication and advised that your little man rest?

Do you have a crate?

The vet has given my wife some medication (I don't know the details), has advised rest and limited activity, and we are to go back after one week.

We have a crate in the attic. He's not used to being in it though.

ISDW

I'd suggest getting the crate out, and resting the dog, letting him out for toilet breaks only. Do you have any kongs? stuffed kongs are great for keeping them occupied while they're on crate rest.

hibby

ISDW wrote: »

I'd suggest getting the crate out, and resting the dog, letting him out for toilet breaks only. Do you have any kongs? stuffed kongs are great for keeping them occupied while they're on crate rest.

Yes, we have a Kong. Do you have any suggestions for what to put in it, that isn't too fattening? There's a risk he will put on weight if he's not getting any exercise.

ISDW

Feed him out of the kong, instead of his usual food bowl. What do you feed usually? If its kibble, then mix some tinned fish with it, stuff the kong and freeze, or even just soak it in water for a while before stuffing the kong.

mymo

I use left over veggies mashed up to stick the kibble in the kong, mash potato works great, as do carrots, and sweet potato. Also mine like peanut butter (I put some in with the mash potato sometimes), rice and as said above, a tin of sardines, mackerel in oil go down well.
I would use the crate, the less movement the better.
Hope he recovers well, poor dog.

Gael23

My 13 year old spaniel suffers from this.
There are 2 options: surgery or lifelong painkillers, which is the route we went down.
The surgery for him wasn't an option because of his age, it's just too risky for the few years he has left and as well as that its just not financially possible for us. He gets a half tablet of painkiller each night and it really does work. We have noticed over time a stiffness in his back legs and if he's lying down its a lot of effort for him to get up. For getting down the stairs, we just put a finger under his collar and guide him down which seems to work but in an ideal world we should have a baby gate to stop him going up altogether.
I think it's just a case of how best to manage it really unless you go for surgery.

hibby

Thanks all for the good advice and sympathy. His situation has improved a lot since yesterday. I guess that's just because of the painkillers as it's too soon to hope for actual recovery, though really there's no way of knowing at this stage.

But after the panic yesterday morning of not knowing what was wrong with him and wondering if he was dying, it's a great relief to have the situation under control.

Stheno

hibby wrote: »

Thanks all for the good advice and sympathy. His situation has improved a lot since yesterday. I guess that's just because of the painkillers as it's too soon to hope for actual recovery, though really there's no way of knowing at this stage.

But after the panic yesterday morning of not knowing what was wrong with him and wondering if he was dying, it's a great relief to have the situation under control.

That's great new hibby

With the kongs, if you freeze them especially if you seal them with peanut butter or the likes, you can get a few hours out of them for your dog.

Also if he is having problems with his back legs and moving about, if you put a towel under his belly and support him, it can take the pressure off the back legs when he needs to toilet etc?

If you set up the crate, make it really comfy with loads of blankets or vet bed (ideally vet bed), so he's happy in there.

Best of luck with his recovery, really glad to hear that even a day has made a difference

mymo

That's great news, one word of warning though, the pain killers/anti inflams can give a false sense of security. Dog feels better pain is better, wants to move about more and play, you see no signs of pain so let him, injury gets worse!
Please keep him confined and rested as long as the vet says, its too easy to feel sorry for them and let them have some fun.
Hope he recovers fully, are you friendly with your local butcher? Mine gives me nice meaty bones for my two, great to keep him quiet and occupied and a change from the kong.

hibby

mymo wrote: »

That's great news, one word of warning though, the pain killers/anti inflams can give a false sense of security. Dog feels better pain is better, wants to move about more and play, you see no signs of pain so let him, injury gets worse!
Please keep him confined and rested as long as the vet says, its too easy to feel sorry for them and let them have some fun.
Hope he recovers fully, are you friendly with your local butcher? Mine gives me nice meaty bones for my two, great to keep him quiet and occupied and a change from the kong.

That's a good warning, because it's exactly what's happening. He seems to be completely back to normal, so it's easy to forget there is anything wrong with him.

I've no idea whether a Japanese butcher will give me a bone for the dog. It will be interesting to find out though!

mymo

Didn't see your location, worth a try though!

Qualitymark

May I suggest that you ask the vet to do an X-ray?

My dog had back problems for a couple of years and the vet was giving her steroid shots and painkillers; finally I asked for an X-ray and it turned out that she had bad arthritis, with spurs growing out of her spine at hips and shoulders.

The vet recommended monthly steroid shots and four other injections per week, which he said in his experience allowed dogs to live longer and healthier with this condition; I had pet insurance, so this wouldn't cost me, he said.

This wasn't affordable in the end, but our dog's been fine with the occasional painkiller and a gentler exercise regime.

hibby

Thanks for the suggestion. We will ask for an x-ray when we go back on Thursday.

hibby

Back to the vet this morning for the 1-week follow-up visit. Vet says the dog is fine now, doesn't need an X-ray, and can revert to normal activity (but avoid high steps or lots of steps).

Such a change from what we were told last week - I don't know what to think.

getz

hibby wrote: »

Back to the vet this morning for the 1-week follow-up visit. Vet says the dog is fine now, doesn't need an X-ray, and can revert to normal activity (but avoid high steps or lots of steps).

Such a change from what we were told last week - I don't know what to think.

spinal herniation in dogs can be treated by a animal phsiotherapist,or other hands on specialists

getz

you could also take the dog to a reiki master,