[Verbena]

Originally Posted by linz06

If it is a herniated disc, it would not show very well on an x-ray. The only way to know for sure is with an MRI. It's true that you may be able to see a slight narrowing between the vertebrae in an x-ray, which is hard to see without studying very closely. Your vet may have seen something, and I would rather be too careful than to just ignore it completely.

The meds will mask the pain. If the disc is herniated and there is no pain, it is still not okay to let him move around. Movement will make a bulging disk rupture, and a ruptured disc not be able to heal. As it has been explained to me, consider it a scab on a knuckle. If it really hurts to move, you won't move it and it will heal itself. If it doesn't hurt at all and you keep moving it , the scab will keep ripping and need to repair over and over and over and take longer to heal. It won't heal at all until it stops moving.

Personally, the suggestiong of disc disease would be enough to ask for a referral to a neurologist asap. As you can see in my avatar, my baby Layla is paralyzed. She was diagnosed with IVDD in 2010 when she was 4 years old. She was walking funny, with her legs stiff and her back arched, and we took her to the vet who said it could be many things including disc disease, and some things less serious. We took our chances. By the middle of the night she was screaming in pain and her legs went limp beneath her. She was having spinal surgery within about 6 hours but it was too late - there was enough damage to her spinal cord that it could not repair itself.

If you can see a neurologist and get a difinitive or probable answer about his discs, it doesn't have to come down to surgery. Layla had another flare-up in late 2010 and recovered completely with weeks of crate rest and medications (MUCH cheaper!!!)

Since we've gone through it, I have thought the only good thing about this happening to Layla is that we can use her and our own mistakes to educate others going through the same thing. I absolutely regret not taking the steps in the beginning and taking her straight to a specialist. But we all have to live with mistakes and move on. She is as happy as she can be and doesn't even know anything is wrong with her, but it is extra work to care for a paralyzed dog.

I agree herniated disks are found with MRI. I would go to a specialist to find out. I would not want to risk it.