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My poor puppy! :( (long)
(Sorry, this is long...)
This morning when I woke up Clyde wasn't acting like her normal cheery self. I got ready for work and asked if she wanted to go outside and she didn't even get off the bed!
Once we were out she barely made it down the steps (2nd floor apartment) and walked really slowly during our walk. When it was time to go in she went up one step and stopped and just looked at me with sad eyes. I picked her up to take her in and she was shaking uncontrollably and seemed really uncomfortable, she even winced when I tried petting her 
You know how people say they just know something is wrong, I guess that can apply to doggy mommies too because I just knew something was really wrong.
I called the vet to see if they could work me in, luckily they had a 9:30 slot open. The vet felt her all over and concluded that she most likely had a degenerative spinal disease. (One of you vet folks will probably know better what I'm trying to say.) When he pressed on her spine she grunted like she was in a lot of pain. He did X-rays and bloodwork. The X-rays were non-diagnostic, but they did seem to support his theory, and he said you could see some small areas of calcification starting between a couple of her vertebrae.
Clyde was prescribed 3 different medications to help ease the pain and reduce inflamation and she has to be on bed rest for the next 4-6 weeks.
The part that sucks the most is that it's not something that can be cured or fully healed. He said it will always get worse, but what we can do is slow it down. He said he's already noticing some slowed neurological signs in her hind legs and to keep an eye on that because if it gets worse it could be a sign of spinal cord damage and potentially lead to paralysis.
Anyway, she's at home resting now, in her crate to keep her from jumping on the furniture. The vet said this is typical for long dogs (she's part dachshund) and said that it's still mild right now, so we're hoping to keep it that way for as long as we can. He said no jumping on furniture, running up & down stairs, chasing rabbits or any of the stuff she typically does haha I have no idea how we'll keep this wild girl in check, it'll be hard! She'll be 7 in March.
Thoughts & prayers would be appreciated for Clyde, as well as any tips or advice or stories if you've been through something similar. Thanks y'all!
Re: My poor puppy! :( (long)
I am so so sorry. I will definitely be sending lots of T&P for both you and Clyde!
My SIL has had to put her pup on bed rest a number of times. She only has 3 legs, and has had to have surgeries on her remaining legs a couple of times. Each recovery comes with a bed rest. She was allowed to let Jade out of her crate as long as she was on a short leash and being watched.
I hope Clyde responds well, returns to herself (as much as possible!) as soon as possible!
After 2 years of TTC, lots of tests, and a Hysteroscopy/Laparoscopy to remove several polyps,
Clomid/IUI #1 3/14: cancelled due to surprise BFP 3/8/14.
Beta 1 3/11: 398 Beta 2 3/13: 728 Beta 3 3/20: 11,482
Surprise BFP turns into Surprise Twins!
Zoey and Garrett born 10/24/14 at 36+3
Thanks y'all. I'm just so anxious to get home and see how she's doing. I hated having to leave her to come to work...
DH will be home tonight so I think that'll cheer her up. She's really been loving on him a lot more than me lately. lol What a weirdo
My BFP Chart Danger Love Blog
I'm so sorry to hear about Clyde! I hope he gets to feeling better real soon.
If you don't mind me asking, what medications did they put him on? I work as a vet tech so I completely understand what you are talking about. Something else to look into for him would be cold laser treatments. They aren't all that common in veterinary practices but it works amazingly well. It's hard to explain how it works, we just know that it does! We have a vet tech that comes into our office a few times a week to treat some of our clients and it is so amazing to see the difference even one treatment can make. We have 13, 14, and 15 year old dogs that walk around like they are 5 or 6. With a degenerative disease, like you said, it won't cure it but it will make him for a whole lot more comfortable! Maybe do some Google searching and see what you can find. I like this page on FB about a 19 year old dog that gets cold laser treatments, here's the link:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/Schoep.and.John
Again, I hope Clyde starts feeling better soon but remember to keep up with the cage rest even if he is feeling better.
Thanks! She's on 1/2 pill of what the vet called Advil for dogs, a pain reliever/anti-inflamatory twice a day. Then two others every 8 hours. I can't rememeber the names, but one is a lower dose pain reliever that's supposed to work really well combined with the first one and the third pill is a muscle relaxer. All the bottles & paperwork are at home so I don't know names. I know two medications start with an "R" and the third starts with a "TH"
I'll have to look into the cold laser treatment, thanks for letting me know about that.
I'm hoping she starts to show signs of improvement this weekend. This morning was ROUGH.
She won't drink anything but chicken broth and wouldn't have anything to do with her food. I finally got her to have a little cheese and turkey meat. Since she's not eating her food I may try her on some plain ground beef & rice just to get something in her belly.
My BFP Chart Danger Love Blog