My dog's neck pain, on meds, fast breathing while sleeping. Normal?

It can take a long time (2-4 weeks, in most cases) for symptoms to resolve completely with rest and medication. So as long as things are gradually improving, I would be patient and continue to follow your veterinarian's instructions :)

Prednisolone has anti inflammatory properties so it' s unlikely to cause a worsening of pain. I would continue it. Is the neck pain related to a disc herniation or is it muscular ? Any improvements? You should really consider veterinary acupuncture, it works very well helping both conditions !

As long as he is improving and signs are diminishing, continue to treat as directed by your veterinarian. If he stops improving, worsens or seems more painful then have him rechecked by your veterinarian. Elevate the water and food bowls. Restrict activity as much as possible and leash walk using a harness to alleviate cervical stress.

Hello, sorry to hear about snowball. It sounds like his neck pain may be coming either from some muscle sprain or it could be coming from a nerve injury. If his sings are not improving with the medications, then I would be more concerned with nerve pain, and most commonly this may be associated with a herniated disk. To determine if this is primarily a nerve disease, a neurologic evaluation would be beneficial and he may then require an MRI. If positive for a herniated disk, then Snowball may require surgery to treat this. Have Snowball evaluated if his pain persists. In the interim, you should keep Snowball strictly rested and do not allow and jumping, running, or rough housing as this can worsen disk disease. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Hello, and thank you for your question. I'm sorry to hear that Bentley is unwell. It sounds like the pain control is not lasting until the morning. I would ask your vet if the pain medication can safely be given more frequently (e.g. every 8 hours instead of every 12 hours). Also, your vet could consider an additional medication to be added on for more pain relief. We often use non-steroidal anti-inflammatories in addition to opioid pain medications for muscle pain or spinal injuries, for example. I hope this helps, and that Bentley is feeling better soon!

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. At Peques's age neck pain is usually caused by intervertebral disc problem or chronic arthritis / spondylitis. X-ray/CT scan is helpful to identify what is the problem and to decide what is the best treatment. If Peques is still showing signs of pain and crating is not a viable option, getting a second pain killer will be probably the best course of action. Your local vet will be able to prescribe him an anti-inflammatory medication or a different pain killer for a trial to see if they can keep him pain free.

How long it takes to heal, if at all, depends on the injury the neck has sustained. If this is a muscle injury then that doesn't take more than a week or two to heal completely in most cases to heal. Fractures along the cervical spine, can take months, if at all, to heal without any type of surgical intervention. So I think it is best to find out what type of injury your pet has with an x-ray. Hopefully the injury can be seen with this diagnostic test; however in some situations more advanced testing (CT, MRI) is required to visualize small or nervous system injuries that wouldn't otherwise show up on standard x-ray film. Hopefully this is just a muscle sprain and your pet makes a full recover within a week or two.