Intervertebral Disk Disease
 

Hello all,
I really need your help. I have a 2 year old peek-a-poo named Remy. Yesterday my fiance and I took him to the vet after we noticed that he was acting strange. He wasn't putting much weight on his back legs and was arching his back. Anyway, he just wasn't acting normal, so we carried him to the vet, where he was diagnosed with Intervertebral Disk Disease. He was given a steroid shot by the vet, and they sent us home with a muscle relaxor and an NSAID. He seems to be in way less pain today, but I am still worried about him. If he doesn't respond appropriately to this medicine, surgery is our next option. We are college students; therefore, the cost of surgery is a scary thought. Hopefully, he will respond to the medicine.
If anyone has any experience or knowledge about Intervertebral Disk Disease please help me out. I would really appreciate it! He is not just a dog to me; he is my baby. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
Thank you so much,
Chelsea

I am sorry about your little one. I don't have any experience with this but hopefully others who do will post. You may want to see if you qualify for the Care Credit card. Many vets and er hospitals accept this. It allows you to get interest free amounts for certain periods of time if approved. For instance when my Pixie had to have LP surgery last summer, I had the Care Credit card and it allowed me to charge her 2500.00 surgery and pay it off in full with in 12 months with no interest. It's always good to have just in case. Hopefully Remy won't need surgery.

Thank you so much for your reply. I will definitely look into the Care credit card. Thank you so much for telling me about it. It sounds like something that we could use. Again, thank you.

I hope the medication helps Remy and he won't need surgery. Sending get well prayers!!

Thank you Sammy Mommy. That really means a lot. God bless!

My Remy
 

Here is a picture of Remy with his favorite toy, Piggy. :) Please pray that he will be this happy again. Poor baby is so pitiful right now. He needs your prayers.

Remy has a very sweet face, and is such a cute pup!...I will pray for your baby, as I know how important prayers are for our little ones...I, totally, believe prayer is the first place to start for healing w/our babies...Then God will guide us to the right place, w/the right people, for the right resolution....Linda, w/Yorkie Haven Rescue might be able to give you some information...She has rescued many pups, over the years, w/lots of issues, and is a wealth of knowledge...Hopefully, she will have something to tell you...In the meantime, I will pray that there is a positive outcome for your little baby, Remy...
maggie

Remy is adorable! Hopefully the meds will help him. He looks a bit chunky :) .... you might want to try to get some weight off of him as that will help his back.
Keep a close eye on him for any signs of deterioration....once they reach a certain point surgery does not help.
Many times the meds do help....keep him as quiet as possible and do not let him jump up and off of furniture. Did the vet suggest crate rest? I think that would be best for him.
I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

Thank you Maggie. We have faith that the Lord will heal is little body soon. I will try and get in touch with Linda. Any information helps. Thank you for your prayers! They are greatly appreciated. God Bless!

Anything new? How is your guy?

Remy seems to be responding to the meds; thank God! He wants to play and run around, but we haven't let him. For the most part, he has been sleeping. The vet did suggest crate rest, if he wouldn't lay with us and rest. He is very much a lap dog, and he has to be with his mommy all the time. If I just sit down on the couch with him or go lay in bed, he is right beside me. The vet told us his weight was perfect, but we need to keep an eye on it, because he is going to be very sedentary for the next few weeks, while he heals. He does look like a chunky butt though. His nickname is "fat fat", lol. So far, everything looks much better. I will probably be taking him back to the vet later this week. I will let you all know what the vet says. Thank you for all of your prayers, and thank you for checking on him. God bless!

I am so happy to hear this! I had hoped you were not offended by my remarks....if you call him fat fat I guess not. hahah He is precious!! I guess if the vet says his weight is good then the pic is just deceiving.
Thanks for sharing good news! :) I hope he continues to do well.

I'm so happy that Remy is responding to the medication!! Wonderful news!!

Hello! I have an IVDD dog and knew nothing about the disease before this happened. We didn't crate her immediately and she ended up paralyzed last April. We did go through surgery but she did not regain control of her back legs or bladder or bowel functions. In November she had another disc issue, this time in her neck. We did 8 weeks of strict crate rest with medication and she recovered fully.

You can avoid surgery, but the number one most important thing you can do is STRICT CRATE REST with the meds. The thing with discs is that they take a long time to heal. The meds are making him feel better but he doesn't know that the disc is not better yet. Every move makes it worse. An analogy I've seen used is that it's like a cut on your knuckle. It will start to scab over and then when you move it, it will rip off a little and need to scab again. Remy's life will have to change a little even when he is better... no more stairs, jumping on furniture, or playing rough.

Please check out this website on the disease, and join their yahoo group mailing list: Dodgerslist Home Page You can e-mail questions, concerns, and your story, and they are so willing to share information. There are thousands of members with IVDD dogs there (mostly dachsunds) and they helped me tremendously! You can also find them on Facebook.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I can answer them as best I can!

Sometimes you really cannot avoid surgery. For many yes, but not always. :)