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Compressed Discs


Guest quietstorm

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Guest quietstorm

Ranger quite out of the blue came on with a sore neck - or that is the symptom anyhow. At first I thought he was sick because he wasn't moving much but when he did get up, he had his head hanging low and if he brought it up at all he would yelp. Moving the wrong way would also bring on the yelp. I thought that he maybe just needed a chiropractor to straighten things out so off we go to the only chiro that we could find that would take him that day (I have not had any of the dogs to a chiropractor before).

Well the chiropractor would not adjust - he did an exam and didn't like what he felt in the neck so he sent me for x-rays. So x-rays at the local vet revealed a compressed disc and possible calcifying of 2 other discs. The x-rays are currently being viewed by a radiologist for a proper read.

That was Monday - I saw improvement on Tuesday with more movement and fewer yelps - he even looked up for treats, but then today he was standing in the kitchen and his hind legs were trembling enough to shake the pots on the stove.

Truthfully I haven't received much information from the vet regarding treatments or how this will affect him. She did mention that surgery to remove the disc is a possiblity. This is not my normal vet and quite frankly I'm not sure I like these people - I do have a regular vet but they are an hour drive away and I had already had Ranger (who doesn't like the car) in the car for an hour so I took him to our local standby.

So I guess I'm looking for information from people who may have dealt with this already. Also I'm wondering if I am allowed to take my x-rays from this local vet so I can give them to whomever may deal with this.

There is a rehab centre pretty close to here that I am considering contacting for him and I already know that they want xrays before doing anything - I really don't want to pay another $400 for more.

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Guest K9_Lady

The only thing that I could add is that ◦Electro acupuncture helped my Belgian Malinois with a disc problem along with ◦Aquapuncture. If you decide to go this way make sure that the Vet is Certified in Acupuncture. All the best.

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Guest GentleHugs

I've dealt with a compressed disc in the neck with Heisman. We had adopted him just shortly before his 6th birthday when he retired fresh off the track. He was diagnosed with Wobbler's just a couple of months before he turned 9. Prednisone, leash walking and bed rest for 2 weeks helped him a lot to ease the swelling of the compressed disc that was pressing in on the spinal cord. During that time there wasn't a vet chiropractor here or anywhere nearby so we managed him with pred for a bit then supplements like MSM, glucosamine and Chondroitin after we weaned him off the pred. I also massaged his neck and back very gently once the swelling went down and he was able to be touched around the neck. No more running and no more steps for Heisman to do either after that. Car rides were the worst for Heisman because of the vibration of the car motor and making turns really inflamed that disc.

 

Unfortunately, Wobbler's is a slow progressive disease that eventually will cause paralysis from the neck on down and bladder/bowel incontinence. It finally took its toll on Heisman when he was 12 1/2. He could no longer manage to walk in the house on his own without help. Our vet, who had been Heisman's vet since the day we adopted him, came to our home and helped us send him to the bridge. My vet cried with us that day but he knew Heisman's suffering was no longer and he was in a much better place. It broke our hearts to let him go. weep.gif

 

Accupuncture, water therapy mentioned above by K9_Lady might help.

 

Unfortunately, Heisman and I both suffered from the same thing - only I now have 2 herniated discs in my neck and I have osteoarthritis in the spine and neck. It's not fun and the pain is there constantly.

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Guest houndhome

Tigger has the same thing. He seems to "pull his neck out" about three times a year. The thing that seemed to work best for him was one adult aspirin in the am and pm, but his oncologist does not like him taking aspirin with all of his other meds. He gets really miserable for about two days, seems in some pain for about two more, and then he starts to act like himself again. He likes it when I "ice" the area. We use the easy walk dog harness on him which doesn't seem to put any pressure on the neck area - http://www.petexpertise.com/dog-collars-dog-harnesses/no-pull-dog-harnesses/easy-walk-no-pull-harness.html. Good luck!

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Guest wmlcml6

The xrays are yours. When we want a second opinion or need to go from regular vet to the ortho vet, we go by and pick our xrays up so we can bring to the second vet ourselves.

 

I know massage and acupuncture help with muscular issues, but I'm just not sure about compressed discs.

Edited by wmlcml6
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Guest quietstorm

Thanks so much for the information - I'm just now coming down from the frenzy of Monday and (hopefully) have a clearer head. He seemed much better this morning - stretching and even a little of his morning dance in the bedroom. He still doesn't shake himself out as he usually does although he is trying - he seems to be testing to see how hard he can shake without it hurting. And he does come running at the sound of the treat jar smile.gif

 

I'm still waiting for the radiologist's comments - so much for the 24 hour turn around.

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Guest SoulsMom

I myself have a bad disc and I also had a Pom with this condition. All I can tell you is that we both have/had good days and bad. Sail along and everything is A-ok, then one day (seemingly out of nowhere) intense pain. Lasts for a few days then better. Both my Pom and I are managed with pain meds and rest on those bad days.

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