Herniated Disk?

[Guest NewGreyOwner]

Hi folks - Our 4-year old grey was acting strangely late last week (crying out for no apparent reason, not able to shake his head, started to run but stopped immediately) and we took him to the vet on Saturday. After describing his symptoms, the vet ordered an x-ray which showed he may have a herniated disk in his neck. The vet gave him an anti-inflammatory shot and some pills (Rimadyl) for us to give him. Also gave him Tramadol for pain. He has been on the meds for a few days and is improving a lot. He pretty much seems like his old whacky self. The vet suggested an MRI to get a more definitive idea of the problem, so we will most likely have that done in a couple weeks. In the meantime, he is on restricted activity (no running).

 

My question is if a grey has to have neck surgery to repair or replace a disk, how do you manage the recovery? How does one keep a hound from moving his neck while he's recovering? I know I'm jumping the gun a little bit; he may very well be able to be treated with the anti-inflammatory drugs for a long time before any surgery is needed, but I just want to be aware of all the possibilities as we deal with this issue.

 

Has anyone out there had to deal with neck surgery??? I apologize in advance if this topic has been discussed recently. I wasn't able to find anything specifically about this. If there is a thread someone can refer me to, that would be great.

 

Thanks for any insights you can provide!

 

 

[Guest Che_mar_Cody]

I just went through this about 2 months ago with my boy..he had a slipped disc in his neck. It's really hard to keep them immobile for 4 weeks. Baby gates and really watch them. It's no fun for the hound. Mine was not allowed stairs, no walks for the first 2 weeks, no running, playing with toys, food bowl had to be elevated etc. Slept on the couch to watch him for over a month.

Cody healed enough with the meds (4+ weeks on pred) and he didn't need surgery. He's about 75% healed and it will not get better. I had to change my lifestyle a bit to adjust to things.

 

I'll pm you some threads that others that had surgery on the neck and similar issues went through.

[ahicks51]

Yeah; Minerva went through this 2-3 months ago.

 

Recovery was remarkably straightforward; the primary limitations were to keep her on leash when she was outside. They held her 48 hours after surgery; sometimes they hold one day, sometimes they hold two, so she was held two days. By that point, she was ready to GO. I was worried about bringing her home in our sedan so we brought a cushion and had a friend meet us there with her Yukon. I was worried about getting her in, and Minerva just hopped right in, and if Willie hadn't hurried up Minerva would have driven off without us which would be a problem since she doesn't use turn signals.

 

We got her home, and she was doped up on Tramadol, steroids, and Valium for a couple of weeks. (No antibiotics, interestingly.) I found it useful to write down exactly what was given and precisely when- spreadsheet style- so there were no questions between The Lisa and I as to what she got, and when.

 

This was her a day or so afterwards; she looks a little zoned out because she was.

 

 

 

This is her 2-3 weeks later, once the stitches were gone:

 

 

Now, 2-3 months later, you can't even see the scar. They did a wonderful job.

 

She's back to running and cavorting and playfighting with Tito. The only difference I can see is that she's hesitant with the full-body shake; she never really goes all-out with a full body shake. We also had minor "squeaking" episodes for 4-6 weeks after surgery, which was still much better than the "wake up screaming" episodes prior to surgery.

 

Moreover, the neuro clinic that we went to (three board-certified neuro vets with three neuro vet interns) handled *everything*. The total bill was pretty heart-stopping, but aside from waiting for that phone call for when she was out of surgery, they were very calming.

 

A++++, would do surgery again, etc.

 

ETA: Added Valium to the list of meds for Minerva. Painkiller, anti-inflammatory, and sedative.

Edited November 16, 2009 by ahicks51

[Guest NewGreyOwner]

I just went through this about 2 months ago with my boy..he had a slipped disc in his neck. It's really hard to keep them immobile for 4 weeks. Baby gates and really watch them. It's no fun for the hound. Mine was not allowed stairs, no walks for the first 2 weeks, no running, playing with toys, food bowl had to be elevated etc. Slept on the couch to watch him for over a month.

Cody healed enough with the meds (4+ weeks on pred) and he didn't need surgery. He's about 75% healed and it will not get better. I had to change my lifestyle a bit to adjust to things.

 

I'll pm you some threads that others that had surgery on the neck and similar issues went through.

 

 

Thanks so much for your response. I appreciate your providing the other threads, too. I'm glad your Cody healed up without any surgery. Hopefully Connor will too. He's such an active, energetic thing.....for brief spurts anway!

 

 

[Guest NewGreyOwner]

Yeah; Minerva went through this 2-3 months ago.

 

Recovery was remarkably straightforward; the primary limitations were to keep her on leash when she was outside. They held her 48 hours after surgery; sometimes they hold one day, sometimes they hold two, so she was held two days. By that point, she was ready to GO. I was worried about bringing her home in our sedan so we brought a cushion and had a friend meet us there with her Yukon. I was worried about getting her in, and Minerva just hopped right in, and if Willie hadn't hurried up Minerva would have driven off without us which would be a problem since she doesn't use turn signals.

 

We got her home, and she was doped up on Tramadol, steroids, and Valium for a couple of weeks. (No antibiotics, interestingly.) I found it useful to write down exactly what was given and precisely when- spreadsheet style- so there were no questions between The Lisa and I as to what she got, and when.

 

This was her a day or so afterwards; she looks a little zoned out because she was.

 

 

 

This is her 2-3 weeks later, once the stitches were gone:

 

 

Now, 2-3 months later, you can't even see the scar. They did a wonderful job.

 

She's back to running and cavorting and playfighting with Tito. The only difference I can see is that she's hesitant with the full-body shake; she never really goes all-out with a full body shake. We also had minor "squeaking" episodes for 4-6 weeks after surgery, which was still much better than the "wake up screaming" episodes prior to surgery.

 

Moreover, the neuro clinic that we went to (three board-certified neuro vets with three neuro vet interns) handled *everything*. The total bill was pretty heart-stopping, but aside from waiting for that phone call for when she was out of surgery, they were very calming.

 

A++++, would do surgery again, etc.

 

ETA: Added Valium to the list of meds for Minerva. Painkiller, anti-inflammatory, and sedative.

 

Thanks so much for your post. I'm so glad to hear that surgery can be done with such great success. Delighted to know that your girl is back to running and playing! We're hoping Connor will improve without the surgery, but it is comforting to know that they can bounce back from a surgery like this.

 

 

 

[Guest Annie]

Canyon had the surgery last March, and he is back to 100%!!!

 

I will PM you the threads on his recovery if you haven't seen them yet. Just let me know.

 

Prayers going up for you and your pup!!!