My senior dog fell, no break. Are all these vet meds necessary?

Hi and thank you for reaching out to Pet Coach about Gaby. I am so sorry to hear that she got hurt. Since Gaby's pain level has not significantly improved on the medications she has at home I am just as concerned as you are. You did not mention the exact medications that she is on but I am wondering if an additional medication may help her. If Gaby had any sort of neck/back pain during her trauma, it may help her to add a muscle relaxant to her treatment regimen (methocarbamol/robaxin). You should give your veterinarian a call right away to see if this would be an appropriate addition to her current treatments. You mention trouble walking and this is concerning for either primary neurological or orthopedic problem related to her fall. Even though xrays did not reveal a fracture, there are many problems that may still not have shown up (herniated disc, pinched spinal nerve). Sometimes the pain from these types of falls is bad enough that these older dogs need to be in the hospital on IV pain control to get them feeling better. I would highly recommend to consult with your veterinarian and assess if Gaby's pain is bad enough to warrant treatment in the hospital or just possibly try an additional medication at this time. In the meantime please restrict her exercise and movement to a bare minimum so that she does not further injure herself. Best of luck to your sweet Gaby.

It is good that you took Dolly to a veterinarian. You will need to give her time to heal , give the antibiotics as prescribed and at the end of the week giving her the antibiotics you should take her back to the vet to make sure she healed. Do not let her walk on the table again, and do not let her jump around a lot so the tissue can heal.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Vito. If a fracture has been ruled out by x-rays, then I suspect that he suffered a painful soft tissue injury. He likely has a fair amount of swelling causing the firmness that you feel. I assume that his veterinarian prescribed him pain medication. Keep him very quiet and give the medication as directed. If he was not given any medication, do not give any over-the-counter pain medication as these can be toxic to dogs. Contact your veterinarian for one if it was not provided. If he does have medication, but it does not seem to be strong enough than ask for a secondary one to be added. I hope this information helps!

I would recommend having your vet evaluate Shaffy to see what is causing the weakness. It could be due to arthritis or other orthopedic disease, neurologic disease, muscle weakness, or it could be related to the prescribed medication.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Dolly is precious! I don't think the elevated rheumatoid factor is from the fall. It doesn't usually increase suddenly. It is not a perfect test and has false positives. Regardless it doesn't fit her history at all. Just be sure that the Vet evaluated her knee well, they may need to sedate her. Even though her X-rays were normal she could have torn a ligament in her knee. Cruciate tears are the most common injury in the back leg of dogs. Also little dogs can have luxating patellas. Rheumatoid arthritis is usually treated with immunosuppressants, like prednisone. I hope this helps and I wish Dolly the best!

That is a lot of supplements for your puppy, and if he's vomiting and lethargic it could be related to the meds, or to the injury. You didn't mention if any X-rays were taken, and falling from that great of a height can certainly cause broken bones or internal bleeding which could be causing puppy to continue moaning in pain and worsen in condition. Bringing him back in for further testing to rule out more serious injuries and see if his meds need changing is best.

I am sorry to hear about your dog! Luckily it sounds like he is ok for the moment. I would continue to monitor him for pain walking or getting up/laying down, or using stairs. Be sure he is able to eat and drink normally and is urinating normally. Look at his eyes and be sure both his pupils are the same size, and that there aren't any strange eye movements (i.e. pupils moving over and over toward the same side). Also check his mouth/teeth to be sure they weren't injured in the fall. If he develops any issues with these areas mentioned, or if he becomes increasingly lethargic or starts vomiting, then a visit to your vet is needed.