Back Injury- need advice/ knowledge

Ashley Brown McGiff · Aug 10, 2013

My frenchy Dudley has injured his back. This is the 2nd time that this is happened but this time much worse. Since Thursday I've had to take him to the vet twice. He keeps displaying symptoms of pain(shaking, etc). The first time he did this, he was fine with the pain meds and keeping a low key schedule. The vet has him on pain meds and also acepromazine which is a sedative. He has no interest in food and is generally out of it. When I try to get him up (to eat, pee,etc) he won't move much and goes back into shakes. At the vet he displayed great motor skills, walking, not rolling his feet,etc. the vet said he is probably feeling the effects of the "ace," but I am really concerned. Has anyone else had any experience with a painful back injury?

davidh · Aug 10, 2013

Well unfortunately I don't have any experience with this, but I hope your baby gets to feeling better soon.

Alice Kable · Aug 10, 2013

Sorry, no experience with back pain here. Did Dudley jump down off the couch or something? I've tried to keep Buster from leaping off the couch and recliners but no luck because Ruggles does it!

Cosette Girl · Aug 10, 2013

Hi, Ashley. I am sorry your baby is not feeling well.

My Cosette had a similar experience. She woke up one night shaking from pain. When I took her to the vet, she was very social so they just thought she had a tummy ache. The next morning she wouldn't move, did not want to eat or go outside. I took her back and the vet discovered she strained her hips from rough play. She was put on pain meds and it took a week before I saw improvement. I carried her around to avoid steps and jumping till she wanted to.

Perhaps the sedative is making Dudley loopy. If you feel he's not feeling better call the vet back and give them an update and tell them you are still concerned.

Let us know how he's doing.

Hugs,

Lisa

Ashley Brown McGiff · Aug 10, 2013

I have been in communication with my vet and they are telling me to take him off the sedative and see how he is. He injured himself by trying to jump on the couch and shorting the jump. The first time this happened he recovered fairly quickly after he got pain meds. This time isn't the same but I can't tell if he is just loopy or starting to lose feeling in his back legs. He is sleeping for the most part. He ate some food tonight and had some water. He has yet to pee since this morning which has me worried .

bubba · Aug 10, 2013

Hi,im so sorry to hear about dudleys illness. Frenchies can suffer from hyperdysplasea which is caused by there widened hips. Due to this they can rupture and displace the disk in the back; causing them great pain. However, you may want to Check to make sure he has no nuerological symtoms. If he is showing these dip.d.gna ask the veg to rule out any form of dog meningitis. Otherwise he is just showing herniated disk issues which will eventually pass. I will be looking up a hollistic approach to pain meds for you. Hope all is well and stay positive.

bullmama · Aug 11, 2013

Very sorry to hear this, I have no experience but I sure hope he gets better soon.

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2bullymama · Aug 11, 2013

My English Bulldog has back issues.... we take her monthly for deep tissue laser treatments. They keep the vertabrea loose enough to lessen the pain. she is also on gabapetin which helps her not realize the pain... she is not dopey or out of it, and able to eat, play and walk as normal

FindBehr · Aug 15, 2013

Ashley I am so sorry to hear this about Dudley, I hope he feels better soon. Please let us know how his recovery goes and what you learn from the vet. I'm sure your learnings could help other members in the future. Hope Dudley feels better soon.
[MENTION=169]Cosette Girl[/MENTION] -That was good advice.

Cosette Girl · Aug 16, 2013

Hi, Ashley.

How is Dudely doing?

Lisa

bullmama · Aug 23, 2013

Ashley Brown McGiff said:
My frenchy Dudley has injured his back. This is the 2nd time that this is happened but this time much worse. Since Thursday I've had to take him to the vet twice. He keeps displaying symptoms of pain(shaking, etc). The first time he did this, he was fine with the pain meds and keeping a low key schedule. The vet has him on pain meds and also acepromazine which is a sedative. He has no interest in food and is generally out of it. When I try to get him up (to eat, pee,etc) he won't move much and goes back into shakes. At the vet he displayed great motor skills, walking, not rolling his feet,etc. the vet said he is probably feeling the effects of the "ace," but I am really concerned. Has anyone else had any experience with a painful back injury?

Any news on Dudley?

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Ashley Brown McGiff · Aug 25, 2013

Hey guys.. Dudley was actually improving but took another turn for the worse. He was getting better but all of a sudden extreme pain again yesterday.... To the point of yelping. Once again we rush him to the er. They did X-rays and said that he has the worst deformed back they have ever seen. He has several compacted vertebrae, possible calcification of discs, and several hemi-vertebrae. They gave him a new set of pain meds.. Including gabapenton(sp?). We brought him home only for him to get worse again. We rushed back to the vet in the middle of the night and they admitted him. They said the best we can do at this point is try and keep him comfortable and still. If he is t better in a few days they are suggesting seeing a nuerologist. The closest one to us is 2 hrs away. At this point they don't even know if he can be surgically corrected. If we took him to the neuro doc we r looking at 3000 in just test and if they can do surgery that would be another 5000 +. We have already spent 1000 in the past 3 weeks. We are trying to figure out what to do... Weighing quality of life.. Money.. Etc right now

bullmama · Aug 25, 2013

Ashley Brown McGiff said:
Hey guys.. Dudley was actually improving but took another turn for the worse. He was getting better but all of a sudden extreme pain again yesterday.... To the point of yelping. Once again we rush him to the er. They did X-rays and said that he has the worst deformed back they have ever seen. He has several compacted vertebrae, possible calcification of discs, and several hemi-vertebrae. They gave him a new set of pain meds.. Including gabapenton(sp?). We brought him home only for him to get worse again. We rushed back to the vet in the middle of the night and they admitted him. They said the best we can do at this point is try and keep him comfortable and still. If he is t better in a few days they are suggesting seeing a nuerologist. The closest one to us is 2 hrs away. At this point they don't even know if he can be surgically corrected. If we took him to the neuro doc we r looking at 3000 in just test and if they can do surgery that would be another 5000 +. We have already spent 1000 in the past 3 weeks. We are trying to figure out what to do... Weighing quality of life.. Money.. Etc right now

I am so very sorry to hear this news Ashley

. How old is Dudley? Please check out care credit, it's a interest free way to pay vet bills, and ask your vets if they know of any other programs. Talking to the neurologist is probably the best option because they have the knowledge and experience, and can give you the full reality of what's going on here. That 2 hour drive is probably going to be well worth it. Big hugs and sending prayers to you and Dudley. :hug:

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Ashley Brown McGiff · Aug 25, 2013

I have called 3 different neurology centers today. Unfortunately, our vet was wrong about the location of the nearest. There are 3 but all 4 hour + drive. I am going to do some consults over the phone tomorrow..fingers crossed. We are really concerned about moving him at this point. The ER is keeping him until Monday morning so they can manage his pain and watch him. At this point I guess we have to do some serious soul searching. Going 8k in debt is a hard pill to swallow. Thanks for the encouragement! Dudley is only 4 years old so for his back disease to be this advanced is not a good sign. Here are his xrays. If you notice, the one giving him the most trouble is at the end of his ribs. Also almost all of his vertebrae from his shoulders thru his ribs are malformed. He also has some calcification on some of his disks.

davidh · Aug 25, 2013

So sorry to hear this. I guess you can just wait and see what the neurology center has to say. It is a very hard decision to make, we all want the best for our babies and want them to have a happy healthy life, but sometimes what we want isn't in the best thing for them and their quality of life. Sometimes we have to make the difficult decision on what's best for them, whether it's surgery, or letting them go to the bridge. My heart goes out to you and we are here for you and will support you no matter what decision you make. Please keep us posted on him.

Cosette Girl · Aug 25, 2013

My heart goes out to you and little Dudley. I am so sorry you both must go through this. My thoughts are with you ; please keep us posted .

Lisa

2bullymama · Aug 25, 2013

davidh said:
So sorry to hear this. I guess you can just wait and see what the neurology center has to say. It is a very hard decision to make, we all want the best for our babies and want them to have a happy healthy life, but sometimes what we want isn't in the best thing for them and their quality of life. Sometimes we have to make the difficult decision on what's best for them, whether it's surgery, or letting them go to the bridge. My heart goes out to you and we are here for you and will support you no matter what decision you make. Please keep us posted on him.

[MENTION=171]Ashley Brown McGiff[/MENTION] Well said, David.

Hugs and prayers to you and your family. Please keep us posted.

Ashley Brown McGiff · Aug 26, 2013

Good news....after Dudley was released from the er this morning we took him directly to our vet. They did not have to give him any injectable pain meds today and he is maintaining with oral meds. We were able to bring him home this evening and he is currently sleeping in his crate. Our vets said that this is definitely not the worse case they have ever seen (the er said he had the worst back they have ever seen). Just a word of advice, never take an er vets advice. Always get a second opinion. Our vet said that the er vets are usually doom and gloom since they always see worst case scenarios and back issues are not seen much in er situations. Going forward we will continue with meds and crate rest for 6 weeks. Thanks everyone for the encouraging notes.... We really needed it! I will keep you updated.