My dog has neck pain on meds. Is it normal he's still in pain?

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.

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.

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.

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 !

I suspect Bon Bon is still in a bit of pain. You did the right thing by calling his vet for advice. Yes, it could be true because he hasn't had two full days of pain relief that he still may be a bit painful. This can be normal. Give it a few more days on the medication to see if that helps him. Best of luck.

Try calling your veterinarian and explaining his lack of improvement. We try not to administer steroids unless absolutely necessary. Additionally, it is crucial to crate rest Barklie for at least 2-3 weeks. This means no running, jumping, or rough housing. He should only be taken out for short leash walks with a harness not a neck collar.

That sounds like neck pain and it could be from disc disease or other causes. Rimadyl can help but a lot of dogs with neck pain need multimodal pain management. And, it can take time to resolve, especially if disc related. The length of time of pain management can be variable but often is required for weeks if not longer dependent on the case, cause, response to treatment, side effects, etc. At your dogs age you will need to be very careful with Rimadyl as it can be hard on the kidneys. Older dogs especially benefit from multimodal pain management to try to decrease drugs like Rimadyl dose and dosing frequency. Rest is key, ideally crate rest. For disc disease this is typically 4 to 8 weeks, but this is case dependent and is best guided by the vet who examines the patient. Anyway to have a vet come to the house to see if this helps with the vet anxiety? I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!