How to help my dog with discospondylitis pain and sleep at night?

The response to treatment in cases of discospondylitis can be highly variable from patient to patient, but most cases take 1-2 weeks on antibiotics to see significant improvement in pain. Some dogs show no sign of pain at that mark, but some still have a degree of discomfort. It sounds as though Eddie is improving quite well only 2 days into treatment.

Hello. I am sorry to hear about your little one. With Discospondylitis, this is an infection within the spine and vertebral bodies, which is why you are on Clindamycin (an antibiotic). With this condition you should not be seeing any drowsiness. I would be concerned about the infection spreading. For the drowsiness I would have your dog into the vet. In terms of the walking, if it is just after waking up and not all day, this suggests there could be something abnormal within the brain, as is the concern for the drowsiness. If he is abnormally walking all the time I would be worried about nerve involvement at the site of the infection. From what you are describing I would be getting a recheck with your veterinarian in order to check his temperature, and they will likely recommend a blood test to look for signs of infection improving or worsening. It may be needed to add in a different antibiotic, or to perform other tests (like a CSF tap possibly, depending on what they are seeing, and send away for a culture). I hope your little one feels better soon, but I would suggest a re-visit with your vet. You always have the option of going to a specialist as well, as this is a complex condition, so if you are interested in that please discuss that with your vet and they can arrange it for you. Good luck with your pup.

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Unfortunately, intervertebral disk disease is the bane of all long backed dogs. The key to recovery is pain medication either in the form of a steroid like prednisone, or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication such as rimadyl, carprofen, metacam, etc. & STRICK rest. Ace must not jump, run, or be at all active while trying to heal. It can take 3 weeks for the disk to heal. You can apply alternating treatments of heat & cold by warming a sock with rice in the microwave ( make sure it is warm & not hot ), using it on Ace for 10 minutes, then apply a bag of frozen peas for 10 minutes. You can do this twice a day, but make sure there is a towel between the heat & cold, & move the application frequently to prevent hot or too cold spots. If Ace remains painful, you can ask your vet for an appropriate additive to Ace's medication. A muscle relaxant might be appropriate, or additional pain medications in the form of tramadol or gabapentin. These things take time. Hopefully, he will feel better by tomorrow. Take care.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! There are medications to help with back pain but none of them are over the counter unfortunately. The one thing you can do at home which is often times the most important component of medical therapy for back pain is rest him. This means limiting Buddy's activity to just walks to go to the bathroom but otherwise to keep him calm. I recommend that you have Buddy evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Your veterinarian can prescribe pain control medications. Good luck and have a good night!

Hi there! I am worried to hear this. I wouldn't expect a waxing and waning course for this condition. He might not be moving around because he is painful, or has a fever. I would recommend that you get him checked out by a vet as soon as possible!

Poor puppy!! It sounds like your dog is on all the correct medications. I would try to find a canine acupuncturist as it can help greatly in cases of wind up pain such as you are describing. Intractable pain is also a reason for surgical decompression of the spinal cord as well. Otherwise keep doing what you are doing. If your dog will allow you to hot pack his neck that can be helpful as well.

Poor Socks! It sounds like she may have diskspondylitis, which is inflammation of the vertebral discs due to infection. Because her symptoms return when the medication is done, she may need surgery. It sounds like her spinal cord has been severely compromised, and surgery should be considered to decrease pressure on the spinal cord. This tends to be a specialist surgery, so I would discuss with your vet if this is an option for Socks, and they can make a referral.