My dog is in pain, undiagnosed, and sent home. What are my options?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly neck or back pain. It could still be pain associated with a leg even if nothing seems wrong with them. Since he has not improved after seeing your veterinarian, I recommend that you have Romeo reevaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Likely diagnostics include radiographs. Treatment would be based on findings. At the very least they can prescribe pain control medications to make Romeo feel better. In the meantime, reduce his activity as much as possible as that in itself can make a big difference. Good luck and have a good night!

I am so sorry to hear that your pet has had what sounds like a neurologic disorder for a while now. The next best step here is to consult with a veterinary neurologist to hopefully get to the bottom of his pain and paralysis. Your regular veterinarian can refer you to a local neurologist for further advanced diagnostics and hopefully come up with a good treatment plan to help manage Richard's pain. If a neurologist is not doable right now financially, you can ask your vet to prescribe a neuropathic pain medication for Richard until you can get him in to be seen by the specialist. Also cold laser therapy or acupuncture may be helpful as well. Hopefully this can help make him more comfortable in the meantime. I hope that Richard is able to manage his pain well soon! Best of luck and take care.

I am so sorry your pet Payne is in so much pain. If x-rays came up negative for finding any obvious bone abnormalities, then more advanced diagnostics are needed to come up with a proper diagnosis, so that appropriate treatment options can be explored. I am also unsure of what exact medications the veterinarian has prescribed for Payne; however it sounds like he could use a re-evaluation of his pain management protocol. Gabapentin is a great neuropathic pain medication that the vet can prescribe if she/he feels that this may be nerve pain related. This can at the very least buy you some time until you can get more advanced testing done. I would also recommend considering getting a referral for an internal specialist to evaluate Payne and get a more specialized treatment plan for him. I hope you can get him some relief soon. It may be costly, but it can be done with the appropriate testing and expertise.

Sorry to hear about Clive. The mainstay treatments for orthopedic injuries are pain killers and anti inflammatories (NSAIDs). Since there may be a spinal / neural component to this, neuropathic medications and muscle relaxants may also come in very helpful especially during times of additional breakthrough discomfort. The type of medication to be dispensed will ultimately be a discussion with your primary vet, but NSAIDs that are common include carprofen (Rimadyl), deracoxib (Deramaxx), and meloxicam (Metacam). Other medications are things like opioids including tramadol and hydrocodone. In terms of the back, I would consider medications like gabapentin and methocarbamol to address this. There is another medication that I use in patients with refractory pain called amantadine, but I find it only effective when used in conjunction with NSAIDs. The periodic or daily use of many of these medications should be coupled with blood work at least twice yearly to be sure liver and kidney values are not elevating. Hope you get Clive all straightened out!

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!

He may have some spinal cord problems, especially with the cervical spinal cord, such as a slipped disk or arthritic changes that press on nerves and are painful. Ob is apparently very much in pain and therefore should be seen by a veterinarian tonight. The vet will do a thorough physical exam, palpate the spine to find where the pain is coming from, and also do a neurological exam and then x-rays. He will then discuss the exam findings with you and possible treatment. Your dog will get pain medicine and other medications as necessary. Dogs with pain often do not eat, and eating also may be painful as he has to chew, open his mouth and move the jaws. This may be more painful than lapping up water.

I'm so sorry that Audrey is painful. Even if your veterinarian can't see anything on x-rays, it does not mean that she is not painful. Soft tissue pain can be very painful. I would recommend contacting your veterinarian to let them know that Audrey is still painful. They may want to examine her again to see if they can find anything new on examination to pin-point the source of her pain. I am attaching a link to a handout below with more information on pain medications for dogs. https://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=587 Good luck! I hope that was helpful and that Audrey feels better soon. Thanks for using PetCoach.