IVDD?,Prednisolone,Robaxin cause bloody diarrhea

[linz06]

She is in a bit of pain. The worst thing about the neck is anytime she moves her head to look at anything, she moves and irritates the disk. It's hard to keep her still. I don't know how I will manage. But we'll get through somehow.

I have never really used the Dodgerslist website so I'm not sure where to look either! I've just had it set to all mail and I just email straight there and get answers in my inbox. You might want to just send another email now that you have it set that way.

[emmyran]

Lindsay I've been trying to find a neck brace for Layla and I found this one. Maybe this will keep her from hurting her neck!
Let me know if this url doesn't direct you to the brace. I'll redo it.

Here's the url:
Amazon.com: A. Kessler's review of Neck's Best Thing Collar

Cost is $24.90

Here's a testimonial from a lady with a 4 lb.yorkie. Sounds like she had to cut it down to make it smaller, but says it worked great.

Testimonial:

I bought this for my 4 lb yorkie after she had an injury to C1 in her neck. My vet did not have a neck brace that would come anywhere close to fitting her. I had to cut the material about 3 times before I got the perfect size, but after that it worked great. She wore it for 6 weeks and now is healed. I will put the rest of it back in case she or one of my other dogs ever needs this type of thing again. Thanks! Great product!

[linz06]

Thank you Emmy! I will call her vet tomorrow to see if she would recommend using a neck brace. I had a thought earlier about padding around her neck so she couldn't move it so easily, but I wonder why the vet didn't suggest it to begin with. I will ask tomorrow for sure. Thanks again!

[emmyran]

I'm so happy about Layla!!! Thrilled she's improving so much.

Update on Annie:

Two days ago it was time to cut her dosage of Prednisone down to once a day. A couple days after that she started 'coming back to life' so to speak and is now a little harder to keep confined. lol But when she potties I don't see her limp, or act like anything is hurting. We are thrilled she acts and looks so good.

It's just amazing how much I love these little girls.

Thank you to all who are sending good thoughts and prayers our way. You are all wonderful.

xox
Emmy

[linz06]

That is such great news Emmy! I know how it is with crate rest, Layla is feeling back to her old self too and is not happy with being confined! But just take it day by day. Layla's already just being like "Well if this is how it's going to be, I'll just sleep." We've been through it before so she knows I'm not going to give in to her cries!

I am so glad Annie is doing so well so soon Give her some kisses from me and Layla!

[linz06]

Hey! How is crate rest going for Annie? Any more updates?

[emmyran]

Hey girl how are ya? Well my Internet has been messed up and ultra-slow for the last week, so I'm behind on updating. When it gets so slow it takes 3 minutes to open a forum, I don't even bother trying. lol

Annie is still doing good, thank you. Tomorrow is the end of her 3 week crate rest that my vet told us to do. But Dodgers List says 8 weeks, so I really don't know what to do about it. I'll call my vet tomorrow and talk with her. She has a yorkie that had IVDD and said she only needed 3 weeks and she is fine. I'm worried that 3 weeks won't be long enough. But maybe we caught Annie's IVDD in time and she doesn't need the full 8 weeks. What to do...what to do...! I sure don't want to start her walking again too soon.

When I take her out of her stroller to eat, she starts to run to the other room, so I started feeding her in her big wire cage. She just wants to run.

I've been thinking about you and little Layla. How are you holding up? Hopefully you got over the flu bug. How is Layla doing now? Does she act like she wants to start walking, or does she not try to use her back legs at all, when you feed her? I worry about her and Annie so much. I just want them to get well and be able to run and play like they used to.

[linz06]

Hey, we're doing great!

About crate rest, I like to play it safe. We caught Layla's latest one early too, but she has been in the care of neurologists and even the surgeons suggested 8 weeks for us. She felt better after a couple of days, but remember that disks take more time to heal than bones. I think that even though Layla is feeling fine, there's more healing that needs to take place until she's 100%. I would tend to go with Dodgerslist just because they take their information from what has worked for thousands and thousands of dogs, instead of some vets who only see a few dogs like this in their career.

Today is just two weeks for Layla! 6 more weeks to go. She surprisingly has not lost much muscle mass in her back legs yet, and on the weekend she was standing for us when we told her to lay down lol! It was reflexive and she didn't know she was doing it but she stood really well and held it for a long time! We feed Layla in her wire crate too. We leave water in there all the time, but take out her food bowl when she's done eating so she has more room to lay down.

I know Layla will never run like she used to, but she can get going just as fast in her cart We will need to retrain her to play with her toys, because now that she has had an episode in her neck we need to stop her from shaking and "killing" her toys and injuring herself further.

[emmyran]

So happy you are all doing great. I just want to hug and kiss baby Layla and tell her everything is going to be ok and we are all praying and thinking about her. I want her to be well again.


I'm usually a very 'positive' person but this whole thing makes me so sad. I'm afraid Annie is getting depressed because she looks up at me so sincere like "what did I do wrong?" and it's absolutely breaking my heart. She's such (or was) a high-spirited baby and I used to call her 'Miss Congeniality' because she LOVES everyone and everything.

I'll just have to get over it and learn how to bear her sadness and confusion I suppose. It's so hard isn't it?

[linz06]

It is very hard, but I found out last time that they can feed off our feelings. Try being happy and positive around Annie, and she won't feel like you're sad because she did something wrong If she's in her crate and everyone else is happy and still loving her and still happy to see her, she will hopefully be more content. What helped me was trying to focus ONLY on the good things. Don't think about how she used to run and play, think of how she still licks you or shows you she loves you. Think that she is still WITH you and you didn't let this go far enough to paralyze her. Too many vets recommend putting down dogs with this disease. She is still there, she is still your baby, and you are being such a good mom and doing what you can to help her heal.

I know it seems like a long time to stay in a crate now, but when it's over it won't feel like it was so long. If you're at 3 weeks, you're almost halfway there!

[emmyran]

Yes and I'm soooo thankful I still have her. I try to stay happy and I have her right beside me most of the day. I talk to her, get her out and give her kisses and we giggle at how much we love each other.

Your words are so precious they made me cry and you are so right about everything. I'm thankful for you and Layla because you honestly know how we feel. Thank you so much.

Whenever you have time, I have a few questions (since Annie has 5 more weeks of crate rest).

Do you put toys in her crate? What kind of toys? I'd like to keep her brain stimulated as best I can. She's really bored. She never has been a 'nap taker' and now she has to sleep all day, every day! The drugs helped make her drowsy but she will be finished with all drugs in one more day. yikes!

Are you feeding her any supplements...Vitamin C, or the chicken stock?

[linz06]

We don't put toys in Layla's crate because we're trying to restrict as much movement of the spine as possible. She sleeps most of the day because there's nothing else to do lol. This is so much easier the second time around because I know she'll get out of this and be herself again. You just have to trust in that. Annie will be running around again in just a few weeks if you can keep her still for now.

We have not been giving Layla any supplements. She was getting some vitamin B shots at her vet's discretion during acupuncture in the past months, but I think that is just supposed to help heal damaged nerves. We've adjusted her food intake and she has lost a LOT of weight which is great because extra weight is harder on the spine. It's pretty imperative to keep our IVDD dogs in a healthy weight range.

Feel free to ask any questions you want! I get my email at work so I can check throughout the day and hopefully I am able to help you if you need it!

[emmyran]

Update on Annie:

Yesterday was the end of her 3 week (per Vet) crate rest and the end of her medicines. So I called the Vet and told her I had heard via 'DodgersList' it should be 8 weeks crate rest.

She asked me how Annie was doing and I told her she's walking (and running before I catch her and put her back in her crate) and when she's in her big wire cage she stands on her hind legs and bounces to get out, so I have to take her out and put her back in the stroller. So the Vet told me she can gradually stop the crate rest!!

I told her I was really scared to do that and she said Annie's case was not severe and therefore she did not need the full 8 weeks. I'm confused and torn because I want (believe me) to let her out of the crate but I just don't have the heart to let her out for good.

So...last night she slept in her stroller as usual and probably will for a five more weeks. But when I let her out, she 'runs' to the potty paper all by herself. Then she walks over to see if there is food in her dish. It's like she's not hurt at all. But I'm so concerned, I keep her in the stroller all day. I just wonder if I'm being overly protective and the Vet is right.

Annie was never actually crippled, but she limped a little right before we started crate rest. So I know she's not as severe as most doggies who have IVDD, but I still think I want to keep her contained for a longer period of time, no matter what my Vet says. I am going to let her out for a few short periods of time every day while I sit right with her to contain her. Maybe that will slowly strengthen her legs. Then at the end of the 8 weeks, she should be ready to go.

[linz06]

Emmy, I think you have the right idea keeping her crated. The way I see it, letting her out too soon could possibly be detrimental. But keeping her crated for a little longer will not hurt her at all. I would still be cautious. When a child breaks a bone, even if it's feeling better in a couple of weeks, even when the cast is off, you wouldn't let them be hard on that limb again right away because even though it feels better, it is still weak. The same thing goes for disks... even though she may feel fine, it's probably not totally healed yet and she could make it worse the more she moves it. Disks take longer to heal than bones do, so it's a long recovery process!

Dodgerslist recommends letting them walk around a small area on a harness and leash at potty time, but not letting them have enough area to run and possibly injure themselves again.

You're doing a great job with Annie and she is lucky to have you there to do all the right things for her She'll be back to her old self in no time!

[emmyran]

Yes I will keep her crated. It's just that she is not like most yorkies...this girl is wild when she gets restless! Even when she's in her smallest crate, she gets restless and turns around and around in circles. sheesh! I don't think I can stop her from doing that unless I drug her and I'm not going to do that.