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Madison | 4 years ago
My 8 Year Old Pitbull Is In Immense Pain Due To A Slipped Disc In His Neck …

My 8 year old pitbull is in immense pain due to a slipped disc in his neck between c1 and c2, according to the x-rays, it has calcified. It has been 6 weeks and a day since his diagnosis, 6 weeks exactly since he was discharged after an overnight stay where he was given lots of pain meds through an iv. He did really well for the first few days after that. Then he got bad, and it’s been a roller coaster of good and bad days since, but mostly bad. He’s on a muscle relaxer and 2 different pain meds 3 times a day, and prednisone twice a day. I’ve been trying so hard to stay positive, but it’s getting discouraging. I’ve watched lots of videos and read about dogs that have had paralysis walk again sooner than he has shown any progress. I can’t really afford surgery, I guess my question is, at this point, should I still stay hopeful?

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    You say he is in pain but you don’t say how he is doing. Can he walk? Go to the bathroom? Urinate? Defecate? What does your vet say? I also worry that there might be a different underlying issue. Like cancer. I think it’s time to talk to your vet again.

    1. Madison Post author

      He is walking fine(just slow, and is weak at times, other times he’sgreat and tries to do his happy trotting), poops and pees just fine. I talk to his vet at least once a week, he has suggested a CT or mri, and possibly surgery, but I just can’tafford it. I also forgot to mention his symptoms came on literally instantly, came home from work one day and his head was down, and his back was hunched. I’ve asked about cancer, and none of the vets he’s seen thinks it’s cancer. He’s had many blood tests, everything comes back normal, but Im not sure if that’s how cancer is tested, though.

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Maggie | 4 years ago
2 Year Old Neutered Male, Indoor Only. Was Taken To The Vets And Had Crystals Removed Form …

2 year old neutered male, indoor only. Was taken to the vets and had crystals removed form his bladder. His kidneys appeared to be a little elevated and was put on amoxycilin, prazosin and meloxidyl. Prazosin for 7 days, amoxycillin for 7 days and meloxidyl for 14 days.

He was absolutely fantastic for about 7 – 10 days. When he was ill previously he was very distant (usually extremely affectionate), hiding under sofa, lethargic, not eating or drinking, struggling to pee and mewing. This time when he was ill he has actually still been affectionate and following the owner everywhere, a little slow and seems sad, but mainly noticed that he kept trying to pee – even outside his litter tray. Took him back to the vets and they recommend euthanasia so went to another vet. They gave him an epidural to relieve his bladder and put him on Hypovase for anti spasm relief, gabapentin for pain and buprenorphine also alprazolam for anti spasm.
All the above happened in the last few weeks
He’s back in the vets again this morning with another blockage and because he keeps removing the cathather they want to remove the urine via needle!!
Any help would be appreciated.

3 Responses

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  1. Sarah

    Hi there-
    The experience that I had with my blocked cat (years ago) was time consuming. He did undergo surgery to remove the blockage. Then sent home after urinating on his own. We had to keep him confined as he needed to rest and recuperate, plus he was leaking for a while and clean up was easier in less space. He needed Rx food for the remainder of his days. His recovery took a few weeks, but he did live quite a long time after that experience. Our vet had also advised us to change the type of litter we used as some apparently can cause stones/crystals. I know that they did some sort of ultrasound on his bladder at the time to help assess the situation. Perhaps to see the number of crystals and if they could pass? Not 100% sure…. regardless, I would check with the vet about diet, litter, recovery and expectations as to whether they feel all the stones have passed or if further surgery is needed. Please keep us posted ????

  2. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    Most of the cases is see happen like this. It takes weeks, months for the urethra to heal and the bladder to regain full function. I strongly suggest a canned urinary prescription diet and medication options to include a steroid. I also recommend discussing a PU surgery before recommending euthanasia.

    1. Maggie Post author

      Thanks Krista. He’s back to the vets again today to have his bladder evacuated and the same yesterday and the vets wants to do the same until Friday via needle. He been on the urinary food but won’t even do a droplet of urine. The vet is recommending euthanasia Friday because of his suffering….. at a loss!

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Elliott | 4 years ago
Hello Doctors My 11 Year Old Chihuahua His Name Is Cannavaro Was Diagnosed With A Disc IVDD …

Hello doctors my 11 year old chihuahua his name is Cannavaro was diagnosed with a disc IVDD disease I was giving him Carprofen for pain for a couple of months then switched to CBD oil due to avoid damaging his organs but he’s been in pain more often is sad and hard to see him with pain due to an slipped disc can’t afford an expensive surgery and don’t know if he could recover without a surgery please help help help! Thank you

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    I’m sorry to hear about your dog. I have a lot of information on my blog and YouTube channel. My best recommendation is to stay in very close contact with your vet. In cases like these I usually recommend a steroid over an nsaid. And I also offer multiple other pain medications like a muscle relaxer and gabapentin. The first few weeks require almost full time care. And a lot of help from your vet. The pain (in my opinion) in almost all cases can be managed. But it is a rough few days at first.

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CARY | 4 years ago
Hi, We Are In Dire Need Of A Second Opinion As Our German Shepherd Is In …

Hi, We are in dire need of a second opinion as our German Shepherd is in Emergency now and we are waiting for the neurologist to call us back again. About 6 days ago our pup jumped out of the car and yelped. She seemed to start walking a little weird and we kept our eye on her. The next day she started having weakness in her back legs and swaying a little. A couple days later it was a little harder for her to get up from sitting. The vet thought she had pain from her stomach as she had diarrhea and she did blood work and an xray of her abdomen and middle of spine. Because when the vet watched her walk and did pain tests and mobility, she seems fine with no pain. By the 4th day she started to really have a hard time getting up and she had a little dragging in the back feet. 5th day, she had a hard time time squatting to go to the bathroom and was losing balance. Her front left leg started to show weakness and we took her straight to emergency.

The neurologist still has not done an MRI because she said that our pup was just laying there like a log and not being supper responsive. Which makes her think it could be a brain issue. I am waiting for er phone call now but I will be asking her to just do the MRI of the spine and the brain to have a better understanding. Our dog was fully responsive when we took her to emergency 12 hours ago so I am wondering if she is completely sad because we have never left her anywhere.

Please help! This is urgent.

Thank you.

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  1. Sarah

    I’m so sorry about your dog! I have to ask- I am assuming your car was not moving when the dog jumped out? And are you and your vet sure that her situation right now is actually related to that incident? I’m just trying to clarify- sorry. I am hoping that you get some more definitive answers today from your vet.

    1. CARY Post author

      Hi Sarah, No, the car wasn’t moving. She yelped a couple times coming down the sofa also, She is still at vet and is getting an MRI today and spinal fluid tap. The vet mentioned meningitis also. I am just frustrated that we had to wait 2 days for an MRI, especially if it is Meningitis and needs to be treated ASAP. I went to see her yesterday and she was excited to see me but can’t stand up or really lift her head up.

      1. Sarah

        Oh my goodness. I truly feel for you. I hope that something shows in the MRI so that you can start the road to recovery and that she is ok ???????? If you fe up to it, please keep us posted.

  2. CARY Post author

    We got the results back from MRI and spinal fluid and she has meningitis/encephalitis . They immediately put her on broad spectrum antibiotics and steroids. Today they got back the spinal fluid results and it showed no bacterial cause so they took her off all antibiotics and started an immediate 24 infusion of Cytostar, an auto suppressive medication. We now wait for another 18 hours to see how she is responding.

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Natalie | 4 years ago
We Brought Mila, My 7 Year Old Mixed Domestic Savannah Chausie Female Spayed Kitty, Early This Morning …

We brought Mila, my 7 year old mixed domestic savannah chausie female spayed kitty, early this morning for emergency attention because she was moaning and groaning in pain last night and could hardly move. Prior to this morning she had been seen two weeks ago at the same emergency clinic and her primary vet. Both determined she had crystals and a UTI and prescribed medication which we’ve been giving as instructed along with keeping her on the strict urinary care diet from hills c/d.

She tried yesterday and this morning to use the litter box but was unsuccessful in relieving herself so we had to treat it as if she was experiencing a blockage which you know is very dangerous.

The Dr. was able to express Mila’s full bladder and found no blockage there, but said Mila was in a lot of pain while undergoing the procedure. She did not feel any stool so Mila is not considered to be constipated, but a good sized stone or crystal was visible during the ultrasound.

The Dr. strongly believes Mila still has a UTI and wants to get that under control first, so we were given the following medications:

Pradofloxacin (antibiotic)
Prazosin (for urethral spasms)

We were also instructed to increase the dosage of the Gabapentin from 0.3ml every 12 hours to 0.5ml every 8 hours since it didn’t seem to be doing enough in terms of managing Mila’s pain. She was previously on buprenorphine for pain but we were concerned that it was constipating her.

We need to bring Mila in as soon as possible to perform another urinalysis and culture as was recommended by the Emergency clinic. This was recommended to determine whether or not the bacteria from the UTI has spread to Mila’s kidneys.

We chose to decline those diagnostics at the emergency Clinic today as they were going to charge an additional $800 for an already expensive treatment and we felt more comfortable going through our primary vet for Mila (the diagnostics will cost a fraction of what emergency quoted.)

I want to do everything I can for Mila but we are now in the hole nearly $2k at the point between the two emergency visits and the primary vet visit, so wanting to know what is necessary now Vs. what can be phased in.

I hate seeing her in pain and I’m just worried that she isn’t improving.

2 Responses

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  1. Sarah

    Good morning-
    Im sure you are getting her into see your vet right away. I would have a very in depth conversation regarding your budget and what you expect as well as your concerns and Mila’s overall comfort level. Years ago one of our cat’s had a urinary blockage and I do remember him being kept for a few nights, catheterized, and surgery to remove the blockage and Rx cat food for the remainder of his years. And it was expensive, and it was a long recovery, but he did well. I hope Mila does too.

    1. Natalie Post author

      Thanks Sarah!

      We’ve been acting with urgency and Mila is finally starting to improve – she was given a stronger antibiotic to tackle the UTI in addition to the pain and urethral spasm medications. It seems to be the right cocktail, allowing Mila to urinate without strain. I never thought I’d be so happy to watch her go! haha.

      After her most recent visit to the vet this past Monday, they confirmed no blockage, no stones, and a smaller less full bladder! Good girl Mila! We are waiting on the urine culture results which will tell us exactly what type of bacteria she’s got in her UTI, but in the meantime we are no longer in the “up all night watching her like a hawk” phase.

      After 3 emergency visits and 2 visits with her regular vet, we seem to be finally getting our playful Mila back.

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Cristina | 4 years ago
Hi! I Have A 5-year-old Beagle Who Was Recently Diagnosed With IVDD. 5 Days Ago, He Woke …

Hi! I have a 5-year-old beagle who was recently diagnosed with IVDD. 5 days ago, he woke up with pain, and things got worse when he tried jumping on my bed. He was in so much pain that I could barely move him. I took him to the vet, and they prescribed him methocarbamol, tramadol, and prednisone. I gave him his medication the first day, but it did not help at all, and he continued being in a lot of pain. The next day I took him back to the vet, and they hospitalized him for a day to administer the medication through IV. That seemed to help a lot because now his practically back to normal. I’m still giving him the medication that was prescribed, but I recently noticed he has begun to walk a little bit slower and is panting a lot. I’m worried that his reason for panting is due to him being in pain. Also, I’m scared that he will have another crisis and go back to being in the pain he was before. Can anyone give me guidance on how to care for my dog?

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  1. Sarah

    Good morning-
    Have you relayed this information to your vet? And have they given any other advice or requested you to bring him back in? Other than medication, have you been told to do anything else? (Cage rest, etc?) I do know that Dr.Magnifico has a lot of videos on ivdd on YouTube and through her blog. It may be a good idea for you to check those out and see if any advice she has will be helpful to your pup. Perhaps talk about some alternative therapies with your vet as well to get their opinion. I hope things are ok.????????

  2. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    The first few days of this disease are so difficult. Please lean on your vet and tell them how much you appreciate their help. It gets better. But it takes time and dedication with determination. Be patient and ask loads of questions. I have a ton of information on my blog and YouTube channel. I hope it helps. I’m here too if I can help.

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shyla | 4 years ago
My Cat Is Maybe 1 1\2 – 2 Ish Years Old. She Is Not Fixed But She Has Always …

my cat is maybe 1 1\2 – 2 ish years old. she is not fixed but she has always been very healthy and active and very into food and snacks. i couldnt find her for dinner time and thought maybe she was just sleeping somewhere hard, when she finally came out she did not seem interested in me making her food, i showed her the can and she slowly walked into the kitchen, no meowing or jumping on the table as usual. when i put her food down she sniffed it and walked away. since then she has been laying down, she has an odd expression on her face that seems very blank. her stomach seems to hurt as she stayed hunched over when she stands or moves and growled when i was trying to feel it. when she does stand or move she does it very slowly and as if she doesnt have enough strength to do so. she tried to stretch once and her back leg only shook a little, she tried to get up and move and meowed in pain. every now and then her ears seem very warm. she has recently had her first hairball from her new sister cat that has long hair. she has eaten the same dry food and about a quarter of a can of wet food at night and in the morning. shes not eating or drinking and she has not vommited since a hairball the other day or had diarhrrea.

4 Responses

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  1. Laura

    Honestly, this sounds like a vet visit needs to happen immediately.

  2. Sarah

    I agree with Laura. This sounds like you need to get her seen right away. Anytime appetite vanished and lethargy sets in, I consider it an emergency.

  3. Gloria

    This is an emergency. I hope you have taken her to the vet ASAP!

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Norma Elena | 4 years ago
Please I Need Help My Sister Found A Cat And It Has A Broken Paw We …

Please I need help my Sister found a cat and it has a broken paw we don’t have the 2,000 dollars she got quoted at vet… what can we do??? Please help we want to help this cat the worse thing is this kitty is semi feral she’s friendly but is in pain we only have meds for 2 more days and if we can’t afford they suggest amputation ???????????? PLEASE HELP my cell is (562)324-0501? Thank You ????????

6 Responses

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    If she is not handleable safely then I would try gage rest for 6-8 weeks to allow it to heal. Quite honestly I wouldn’t suggest amputation unless this is a very docile vaccinated house cat. They can’t be let outside without a foot.
    If possible have her spayed, vaccinated and then places on cage rest (ie big cage with litterbox food water and bed). She stays in there 24/7 until the foot is healed. (They heal. Promise. But only if not allowed to run or jump). As she is in the crate you can work on trust so she can safely become an indoor cat. You don’t need $2000 you just need time and patience. Ty for saving her.

    1. carrie Urquhart

      This is why I like you Dr. Magnificent, such an honest answer. No vet would say that. I was going to suggest reaching out to a rescue group for help with funds, but so true. A feral outdoor cat cant properly defend itself without a foot. Perhaps the vet could prescribe some long term anti-inflammatories to help while being on cage rest. They make metacam for cats, seems to work well with little issues.

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Chris | 4 years ago
PLEASE HELP ASAP!!! I Have A 10 Year Old Black Lab And Today He Was Kicked In …

PLEASE HELP ASAP!!! I have a 10 year old black lab and today he was kicked in the side close to his back leg by a horse. I cannot get him in the car to go to the vet. Can I give him aspirin or anything for the pain??? He’s letting me pet him where he was kicked. Can a vet prescribe him any meds without him being seen?

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,
    I’m sorry to hear about your dog. As much as we all want to help it is not legal to prescribe without seeing a veterinarian. You can call your vet and ask for help. But we cannot do it online without a pet existing vet relationship. Further if your dog is injured he may need more than pain meds. Please call your vet, or look for a local mobile vet to come to your home.

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Nina | 4 years ago
Hi. I Am The Proud Momma Of An Amazing Dachshund Named Gia. Gia Is A Nine …

Hi. I am the proud momma of an amazing dachshund named Gia. Gia is a nine year old beautiful girl who hurt her back on the 18th of September. So far we have gone to the vet twice and one ER visit. Gia is currently taking pain medication and a muscle relaxer all of which are helping with the crate rest. My question is, how long before she starts to feel a little better? I heard that 6-8 weeks of crate rest at minimum, and I am worrying because this is the first time that I have seen Gia be so lethargic. The YouTube videos that I saw were extremely encouraging to a person who is going through an IVDD suspect injury.

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