Herniated disk question

[mommyof4]

Last Wednesday, I woke up to find my 14 year old, Sydney dragging her feet a little. I took her to the vet and she diagnosed Syd with a herniated disk. The vet prescribed her prednasone every other day, gave her a cortizone shot and told me to keep her quiet. I expected by now that I would see more improvement. She isn't dragging her legs as much but she seems very anxious and is panting a lot. I called my vet and she wasn't in so I had to speak to someone else. That doctor suggested I give her a Benadryl to calm her down and bring her in Wed. to see my regular vet. She also suggested that the anxiety could be a side effect of the pred. Does this sound right? Or am I just being the panicked mom of a geriatric dog? Thanks for your help.

[AtomicSkies]

my beagle is on pred. for her lung cancer and it makes her more food crazed then usual which for a beagle is out of control so she seems anxious a lot...with your girl though it sounds like she is in pain

[~WelshStump~]

I do believe I've heard before that pred does have such side affects (although I'm not famillar with it). But let me just ask what might sound like a silly question, do you know if there is a "doggie" chiropractor in your area? Hay you never know, it might be worth a look.

[mommyof4]

Ya know I hadn't thought about a doggie chiropractor. They have those lol? I'll check into whether there's one in my area.

She doesn't seem to be in pain. When I run my hand down her back there's no wincing or concern at all. This a dog that snaps pretty easily and even when the vet was checking her out she was just sitting there.

[AtomicSkies]

Originally Posted by mommyof4

Ya know I hadn't thought about a doggie chiropractor. They have those lol? I'll check into whether there's one in my area.

She doesn't seem to be in pain. When I run my hand down her back there's no wincing or concern at all. This a dog that snaps pretty easily and even when the vet was checking her out she was just sitting there.

excessive panting and anxiety can be a sign of pain

[mommyof4]

I know but I think if that were the case, she would have been panting and anxious when I found her. And like I said, this isn't a dog who's afraid to show you if she's hurt and you're trying to mess with her. I'll try the Benadryl and see if that helps. Thanks.

[weezyNollie]

Prednisone side effects can definitely be panting!!

Also can be urinating frequently, increased water intake, voracious appetite, weight gain, potentially aggression, etc.

I bet it's due to the steroids and not so much pain. Slipped discs aren't typically much pain, because their hind end becomes paralyzed. They can't feel much.

[bdrcol22]

My very first border had three calcified discs in her back that I had to repair with surgery. Prior to that, when it was first diagnosed, she was having many signs of anxiety, due to not being able to get comfortable. Prednisone can also cause those side effects.

Continue to watch her for draging of the rear end and feet, as the more se loses feeling in her rear, the more at risk she is for further injury.

We did acupuncture on my girl, but I recommend being careful with having her back adjusted.... My chiropractor wouldn't as in my girls case, she was worried about pushing a piece of the cracked calcified disc wrong and causing a bigger problem.

From onset set of symptoms, we tried to treat her with medicine for one week. But despite giving her stronger and stronger meds (the last one we tried was 4mg of Dexamethazone twice a day.. Which is a high dose, hard core steroid) she got worse and worse.

Within 1 week, I brought her to my otheropedic specialist, and we did an MRI and had the 3 calcified discs removed. Very pricey, but it made her be able to walk again..

I hope the meds help your dog... If you have any questions, I got really good with back problems!!!

[mommyof4]

Thanks! Syd is actually doing much better today, although I do suspect we're seeing some roid rage lol. She isn't panting as much or as hard, she's eating like a champ and is using her back legs somewhat. They're still dragging but it seem as if she's at least starting to gain feeing.

My doctor mentioned the surgery but I'm hesitant to put her under anesthesia at her age. I'm hoping that today is a good sign and she'll continue to improve on the prednisone. Keeping my fingers crossed!

[bdrcol22]

Originally Posted by mommyof4

Thanks! Syd is actually doing much better today, although I do suspect we're seeing some roid rage lol. She isn't panting as much or as hard, she's eating like a champ and is using her back legs somewhat. They're still dragging but it seem as if she's at least starting to gain feeing.

My doctor mentioned the surgery but I'm hesitant to put her under anesthesia at her age. I'm hoping that today is a good sign and she'll continue to improve on the prednisone. Keeping my fingers crossed!

If you are seeing an improvement, that is a good sign! We will keep our paws crossed! The reason I decided to do surgery is because my girl was 8 and in the prime of her agility career, therefore in supurb physical shape. My other option was to put her down. Now if she was 14, I would have been much less likely to do surgery, as older dogs, like older people take a lot longer to heal.

They told me that it could take up to 6 weeks for her to walk again... She walked out of the office 1 1/2 days after surgery. They said that walking like that, that soon was unheard of. She was retired for agility after that, but I was just happy to have her.

Keep on recovering!