My dog had a slipped disc. Is quick recovery after treatment normal?

This is common to spinal injury. Coordinated movement requires full function of many nerves, the movement ones are closest to the edge of the spine and first to be affected. Superficial sensation, light pain and deep pain become reduced in that order. Attempts to walk and some sensation are good signs that function may return to near normal

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.

Hi there and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Oh dear, I am sorry to hear about the slipped disc. Once a patient becomes non ambulatory (unable to move legs), surgery is recommended. However, the success of the surgery and overall prognosis depends on how quickly surgery is performed. Usually, most pets that are taken to surgery within the first 24 hours after becoming non ambulatory will regain the ability to walk and urinate normally again. Pets taken to surgery after that 24 hour period do not have quite the same outcome, unfortunately. If Luna is not able to walk and has lost all sensation to her legs, there is about a 10% chance of regaining normal bladder and motor function. Sometimes pain medications and additional therapies such as cold laser therapy, acupuncture, water therapy, etc can be tried but with varying success rates. I hope this helps and I wish you and Luna the best!

Hello. Your veterinarian was just trying to make things as simple as possible. The goal of the prednisone is to only reduce inflammation, & once this resolves, Slick should feel much better. What may happen is for the soft intervetebral disc to calcify, thus removing potential movement & subsequent pinching of the nerves. A calcified disc reduces mobility & thus pain, for the most part. An unexpected move or jerk could cause substantial pain. It is important to only walk Slick with a harness, & if need be, keep her on a good anti-inflammatory medication as needed. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I am assuming that the diagnosis was rather a slipped disk as sciatica is moe of a symptom which is common in humans but not in dogs. This type of condition can continue causing problems during Trick's life, it's always difficult to know how bad it will be, he may never suffer from this again after recovery or he may suffer from it every now and then, excessive exercise, running, jumping and rough playing can all contribute to the recurrence of the condition.

At our clinic we use a combination of anti-inflammatory medication such as prednisone, muscle relaxer such as Methocarbamol, cold laser therapy and acupuncture to help dogs recover. I find that the addition of acupuncture can certainly help a dog recover from this type of problem. If you are wondering whether or not to use this treatment, it won't hurt Sam so it is worth adding this in to the treatment of this condition to see if it helps. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns.

Playing with her toys in a general sense is fine. Tug-o-war - not a good idea. Playing frisbee or throwing a ball for her to chase - also not good. Going on walks and gentle hikes is fine. Short runs are OK too. You just don't want her to do a lot of jumping/twisting motions. Hope this clarifies. If you have more questions please feel free to post again!