Kandice
,@kbowens16
0
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Hi, on November 23 our dog Darla was diagnosed with IVDD and was put on cage rest and given meds. As of today I feel like she’s gotten worse. She used to walk some when we took her outside to use the bathroom. Now she refuses to walk unless she really needs to go. And it’s only a few steps. Whereas before she would walk way more. Her front legs now are weak and her paws don’t flip over like they did. She does react with all legs when I pinch between the toes. The front legs are more delayed but she does pull them in. She doesn’t seem to be in pain anymore as she used to yelp out and whine when we picked her up. We’ve been to two vets (the second to get another opinion) and both agreed to the original findings. We have started cold laser therapy and she’s had one session so far. I’ve also started doing physical therapy on her after watching your YouTube videos etc. is there anything else I should do? She used to wag her tail and now just seems so sad. Is it possible for her to loose so much muscle mass that she’s so weak? When the weighed her she had lost 3 lbs but the vet said it was because she hasn’t been active. I can feel her bones protruding out. (she was small to begin with and was very active) she does eat and drink normal. The second vet did say I could give more pain and muscle relaxer.( every 8 hours as opposed to 12) Maybe the muscle relaxer i need to cut back on? I’m just at a loss and so sad she isn’t getting back to normal by now.
Hello,
I think there is always a question of mental health and physical health. So. Make sure she is getting enough physical therapy and emotional therapy. A bored and lonely and painful dog is a withdrawn and depressed dog. Also discuss other options for mobility. Like swimming or a cart. And get outside. A lot! Dogs needs to be getting their nose in the air and feeling involved in the world. They also need to be consistently monitored for medical complications and changes. I hope this helps. Let me know.
Thank you so much for your reply!! We for sure try to get her out as much as possible. I’m using a harness to help her and she walks with her back legs. We walk a lot in the back. We even went for a walk and made her a nice bed in a stroller and took her for a stroll. I just find it odd laser treatments are not working ( she’s had two now) and I see no improvement. I’m pretty sure she’s lost more weight despite eating normally. I will have them weigh her the next time I take her in. Also she was able to walk before…just slowly and it was her back legs that were affected. She walked fine before with her front. I don’t understand why she would all of a sudden not want to use her front legs. She’s been on crate rest etc for a month and a half now. So now way of her injuring herself again. When researching it seemed like once dogs had pain managed they were back to normal even though they couldn’t physically do things yet since they need to heal. But they are wagging their tails and seem back to themselves…personality wise. Also- now on both front legs she has redness over where some of her bones are. One bone looks larger then the other leg. Not sure if it’s red because she’s been licking those areas but I haven’t seen her lick since she doesn’t move much laying down. I think our next step is to do an X-ray to rule out other things like tumors or bone cancer because in my gut I feel there’s something going on. I will keep you updated!