Spondylosis dog

Does anyone know the prognosis of dogs over age 12 yrs. who've been diagnosed with xrays to show very severe spondylosis and discovery of a ruptured disk in the neck?

I thought my old gal had suffered a stroke and found out otherwise. The vet was shocked at what he found in her spinal xrays. Outside of these (horrible) surprises, the darling has NO idea just how bad she really is. Her brain function, eyes and hearing are completely OK. I'm just sick about this and I'm not ready to put her down. Any ideas?? Thanks.

Posted By: CarolC Date: Saturday, 21 May 2005, at 7:59 p.m.

In Response To: Dogs: Spondylosis and ruptured (neck) disk (Jacquie Baral)

Hi Jacquie,

There has just been a cervical disk problem on this message board recently. On April 21 Connie posted about a disk injury in the neck of her yorkie. She has given him the best of care and a lot of TLC and he is now walking a little and she is continuing to work with him. He is 5 years old. What kind of dog do you have? 12 would be older in some breeds than others. If the disk is actually ruptured, have you considered surgery? What treatment is she currently getting? Is she on crate rest and steroids? That would be the place to start. Several people here have experience with this type of thing. Can you say a little more about your dog's breed, weight, current treatment, and whether she has bladder control. Also, which disk is it--we can give you info on where to get a cervical collar to stabilize the neck if you think that would help. At the end of this message I am putting a link to care for a disk injury, whether your dog has surgery or just medication.

CLICK HERE care of disk injury

Posted By: CarolC Date: Saturday, 21 May 2005, at 8:06 p.m.

In Response To: Re: Dogs: Spondylosis and ruptured (neck) disk *LINK* (CarolC)

Hi Jacquie,

There is a support group for people with dogs with disk problems--this problem is particularly common in dachshunds. The website address is www.dodgerslist.com. However, below I am putting a link to a certain page in that website for you to look at. The list has 780 members. The website has a membership chart showing the type of dog, location of the disk problem(s), age, and whether they are walking. You will see how many neck injuries there are. If you return to the homepage, you can also read the Success Stories and join the list.

CLICK HERE to view DodgersList

Posted By: Jacquie Baral Date: Saturday, 21 May 2005, at 10:55 p.m.

In Response To: Re: Dogs: Spondylosis and ruptured (neck) disk *LINK* (CarolC)

Dear CarolC, Thank you SO much for getting in touch with me about my situation. My girl's name is 'SUNNY'. She's actually 14 yrs. last month. She is one-half red Chow and one-half red Dobie. Both of her parents were purebreds. Mom was a King Dobie and Dad was a larger than average Chow. Sunny has the body build & height of her mother and everything else about her is her father. She's a magnificent red color with full fluffy hair during the winter. Summer time comes and she loves short hair. She weighs between 68 to 73 pounds. I saw the vet today to check on her progress. I got to see her today in her cage. Two days ago was when my husband and I had to rush her to the vet. We had to use a sling for her. The vet checked her over, more blood tests (OK!), temp OK, and then he tried to stand her up. It was a 'no go' for all 4 legs. As soon as the xrays were seen and read, the vet started an aggressive treatment of IV steroids. When I saw her today, she'd righted herself in the cage. She looked at me as to ask me why I'd shut her behind bars and left her. I asked the vet to keep her till Monday, continue his treatment and we'd TRY to bring her home on Monday for further care. The cervical collar I'd thought about but forgot to ask the vet about using one for her. He did tell me that she had a 50-50 chance for some recovery if she could regain the use of her front legs....IF the disk rupture would heal itself. He did tell me that because of her advanced age, he would not advise surgery on her neck. So far she's not lost control of her bladder, but I do worry about the possibility of not being able to urinate or have bowel evac, thus causing infections and other horrible problems for her. I've been looking into duel-slings for her so we can gently move her from inside to outdoors for potty time. PetSmart and PetCo do not sell the sling harnesses I'm looking for. Thank you. JB

Posted By: CarolC Date: Saturday, 21 May 2005, at 11:43 p.m.

In Response To: Re: Dogs: Spondylosis and ruptured (neck) disk (Jacquie Baral)

Hi Jacqui,

I think others will have ideas about your situation, too. You might want to keep checking for replies for a few days.

> She's actually 14 yrs. last month.

OK, definitely a senior. :) Congratulations on getting this far with no problems!

> Sunny has the body build & height of her mother and everything else about her is her father.

That's good. Kind of tall and slender. You won't have to bend over so far to walk her with the harness.

> She weighs between 68 to 73 pounds.

Well, then I think you'll want to be a little careful when you're lifting her. I just messed up my back with a 62-lb. golden retriever. Glad you're shopping for a harness, that was what I needed!

> The vet checked her over, more blood tests (OK!), temp OK, and then he tried to stand her up. It was a 'no go' for all 4 legs. As soon as the xrays were seen and read, the vet started an aggressive treatment of IV steroids.

Good on the blood work and so forth, and really good on the steroids.

> I asked the vet to keep her till Monday, continue his treatment and we'd TRY to bring her home on Monday for further care.

I can well understand you'd prefer to have her home for her own comfort. She'll be happier in her own familiar setting. However, I'm not sure if the vet explained the side-effect of steroids to you? Steroids like prednisone cause increased thirst and increased urination. In a really extreme case, you may have a dog who needs to go outside about once an hour, day and night. The increased thirst/urination can also cause wetting even in dogs with perfectly normal bladder control. She may possibly wet the bed, or wet the floor on the way out the door. Once your dog is started on steroids, the vet will most likely be sending her home with a prescription of steriods as well. She'll be taking them for several weeks, then will be gradually tapered off of them. Hopefully, during the course of steroids she will regain some of her mobility, but probably not right away. It is encouraging that she sat up! :) But I guess what I'm saying is, it might be well to see how she is doing on the medication, how often she is needing to be pottied, how many hours she can go between. You're really going to be doing an awful lot of heavy lifting if you take her home right now. Letting the fit kennel workers or vet techs help her outdoors to potty for a few days might be an option to consider. Perhaps they'd let you visit her twice a day.

> The cervical collar I'd thought about but forgot to ask the vet about using one for her.

I'll put a link to collars separately, just in case.

> He did tell me that she had a 50-50 chance for some recovery if she could regain the use of her front legs....IF the disk rupture would heal itself.

Well, you're apparently seeing some progress so far. Strict rest is the key, though, or the disk will never have a chance to heal.

> He did tell me that because of her advanced age, he would not advise surgery on her neck.

OK, I guess that's no surprise.

> So far she's not lost control of her bladder, but I do worry about the possibility of not being able to urinate or have bowel evac, thus causing infections and other horrible problems for her.

You're right of course, it is better for her to retain bladder control, and infections can sometimes be an issue with urinary incontinence. However, even with complete paralysis and complete loss of bladder control, the bowel will generally take care of itself. I guess it works on a different system than the bladder.

> I've been looking into duel-slings for her so we can gently move her from inside to outdoors for potty time.

Below is a picture of a front and rear harness, and below that a link to the webpage where you can order them. I think they can even overnight them to you. On that page you will also see a light blue body suit with a handle. I believe that suit comes with front and rear handles as well.

Another option is a quad cart. That is a 4-wheel wheelchair for dogs. They can even make them with a chin rest to help her hold up her head. If you are ever interested in those, just say the word.

Will post prednisone info and cervical collar info separately.

CLICK HERE for harnesses

Steroids info *LINK*

Posted By: CarolC Date: Saturday, 21 May 2005, at 11:45 p.m.

In Response To: Re: Dogs: Spondylosis and ruptured (neck) disk *LINK* *PIC* (CarolC)

If you click the link below, it will tell you about prednisone and its side effects.

CLICK HERE for prednisone info

Cervical collar *LINK*

Posted By: CarolC Date: Saturday, 21 May 2005, at 11:47 p.m.

In Response To: Steroids info *LINK* (CarolC)

If you click the link below, it will show you one style of cervical collar.

CLICK HERE one style of cervical collar

Another cervical collar *LINK* *PIC*

Posted By: CarolC Date: Sunday, 22 May 2005, at 12:04 a.m.

In Response To: Cervical collar *LINK* (CarolC)

This one looks awfully good. Collar or no collar, I wonder about getting her an elevated food and water dish stand, so she won't have to bend down so far to eat and drink.

CLICK HERE cervical immobilizing spling

Posted By: Jacquie Baral Date: Sunday, 22 May 2005, at 12:15 a.m.

In Response To: Another cervical collar *LINK* *PIC* (CarolC)

This collar looks heavy-duty. The first one looks a little more comfortable. Today I went shopping for all Sunny's bedding needs, except for a cage. She is an indoor pooch but loves the outdoors on breezy, cool days. I may have to buy her a cage to keep her from trying to drag herself into my bedroom to hunt me to let her out for potty duty. A cage will no doubt be a necessary evil for the ol gal. She'll hate it but she'll come to understand it's for her own good.

Messages In This Thread

Crate

Posted By: CarolC Date: Sunday, 22 May 2005, at 8:51 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Another cervical collar (Jacquie Baral)

> I may have to buy her a cage to keep her from trying to drag herself into my bedroom to hunt me to let her out for potty duty.

LOL! She may chase you down just because she wants to be with you! In fact, that can become a problem at night. When my small dog was on crate rest, her crate was in the kitchen, and she'd cry in the middle of the night because I was in the bedroom. In her case, I got a playpen and put it by the bed, so she was in her crate during the day and her playpen at night. Something I read even recommended getting 2 crates, and Critters has recommended getting something with wheels so you can move the dog from room to room with you during the day. That wasn't necessary with my house. We have an open floor plan and she could see most of the house from her spot in the kitchen.

Since your dog is big, you might consider something with an open top, like an exercise pen. It sounds kind of tricky to be walking her with a double harness, and have to lean into the crate to get her on her feet, walk her out, then later walk her back in and turn her around and lower her onto her bed. It would be easier if you had an x-pen fence sort of thing where you could open the gate, walk into it upright, and help her out. Actually, an x-pen would be cheaper than a crate, too, and you could set it up in the bedroom every night if so desired.

One family on this message board with a redbone hound blocked off the end of the hallway with furniture for crate rest. If you have a little laundry room, pantry, or powder room, maybe you could just buy a baby gate and use that?

> A cage will no doubt be a necessary evil for the old gal. She'll hate it but she'll come to understand it's for her own good.

Yes, the first few days are the worst, then it becomes more of a routine. Chew toys help. I recently had to crate my golden retriever after he fell getting into the car. He could walk, but was supposed to rest, and he was on prednisone. I put his crate in a central location, but he didn't like being in it and whined. There was nothing I could do about it, I had to be firm, but the whining was driving me nuts. I went and got a pair of hearing protector ear muffs in the weed-eater department at Wal-Mart and put them on any time it bothered me. Love must be tough!

Posted By: critters Date: Sunday, 22 May 2005, at 5:55 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Dogs: Spondylosis and ruptured (neck) disk (Jacquie Baral)

If you feel she's not emptying her bladder completely, you might get the vet to show you how to express her. This is when you squeeze the bladder to get the pee to empty. A lot would depend on your size and strength, but quite a few people around here have expressed.

Carol's right about the quad cart. Ideally, Sunny'd need some strength somewhere to propel herself.