Back pain question...

[NV1985]

Hi, I'm new here. This is my first time owning Dachshunds. We took two in from a rescue. (Originally visited the foster to meet the mom, and saw she had a dapple pup and took both of them).

Katie is around 3 yrs old (via rescue) and she just recently started acting very odd. She seems like she's 3 going on 13. She walks stiff, and sometimes she will whimper or yelp when you pet or touch her. Within this last week she seems to not want to move at all. She does, only because she follows me everywhere, but I've picked up and placed her on the bed...instead of getting snuggly under the covers like usual, she lays where I place her and doesn't move. I mean at all. She will be in the same position for like an hour. At one point I was trying to see what was wrong and she was just super stiff. Like she was upright and you could lean her over and she wouldn't move her legs or head, and just kind of fall over.

YET on other days its like bam she's fine. Tail up, barking, walking on the back of our couch (seems to be one of her favorite things). And doesn't seem to be bothered at all. And these extremes can be seen in a 24 hr period. Like I said, lately she seems to worse off and really not acting her self or very active. (except for a few odd days). I took her to the vet, and of course the day of her appt she's acting fine and the vet couldn't find anything wrong with her (did not do x-rays). She does suspect that it is her back, especially considering her breed. I was sent home with some pain relievers and steroids, and told to keep her rested and that I should put stairs or ramps up for her to prevent any possible further injury.

I looked up back pain online, and everything I find is extreme. (dogs become paralyzed and needing surgery)....

Has anyone had their doxie show similar symptoms to mine? Or your doxie get a back injury that was not extreme and solved with just some rest?

Picture of my two pups

 

[markus1142]

Sounds like IVDD

This sounds like the onset of IVDD, which unfortunately I've experienced with one of my dogs (multiple times.) Surgery is certainly an option, and likely the only one if it's progressed to the worse stages - our dog was paralyzed by the time we brought her in, since we had no idea what was happening to her at first.

When it happened again months later, we tried to treat it with painkillers and steroids, and plenty of crate rest (about two months' worth of very limited activity) and she recovered fully. It sounds like it might be the very early stages for your dog if he/she can still walk around and wag their tail from time to time, but PLEASE get them checked out as soon as you can. The earlier it's caught, the better the chances of recovery (and avoiding surgery.)

 

[Penny]

I'll tell you what happened to Georgia in Feb. She was walking stiffly (5 yrs old) and I called the vet and said I have an emergency, and they replied, How quickly can you get here? She was seen right away, got the meds which are anti-inflamatory, and for pain. The next morning she couldn't walk. Luckily she still had bladder and bowel control, likely because we got the meds in quickly. If I had waited I think she wouldn't have kept that.

Please get her in to the vet asap! Crate her for the car ride. Right now, crate her, carry her out to potty, keep on a leash, carry back to the crate. If a disc is flaring up and pressing on the spinal cord, she will lose her ability to walk, and if it continues, she will lose bladder and bowel control.

The site to run to for these events is http://www.dodgerslist.com/
Click on Emergency and see that she fits the profile.

Georgia healed without surgery, and 8 weeks crate rest. It took about 5 weeks of rest before I thought I could maybe see some improvement. You've been very very lucky.

I used a spare leash to support her back end and keep her spine level..


I brought her in for acupuncture to a qualified vet..


Your 2 babies are very adorable. Irresistible! I see why you snatched them up and took them home. Best wishes.

 

[AmandaL]

I have had problems with 2 of my doxies who were from the same parents but different liters.
In April 2010 Honey was fine one day and the next day she didnt want to move and was acting weird (at this time I had no idea about Dachshunds bad backs). So we took her to the vet and we were given pain pills and steroids. About a week went by and she was back to her normal self.

In November 2010 same problem came up except this time she was in alot of pain. If we touched her she would yelp loud. Took her in and her xray showed her spin was out of alignment pretty bad. We got the same meds as in April but this time they didnt help her. In fact the meds were tearing her insides up by trying to keep the pain away. She developed pancreatits and was pooping liquid blood only, wouldnt eat or drink and she was miserable. After about a month we ended up putting her down because she was in so much pain and miserable and the vet had recommended it would be best. Hardest thing I have had to do in my life so far.

Fast forward 3 years later and her brother Harley who is now 6 started showing signs of a bad back this past May. All I could think is "Why is this happening to me again??" So we take him in to the vet except his xray and hands on examination wasnt pointing towards a bad back. Spine looked fine in the xray. So the vet diagnosed him with a tummy problem and gave us some meds. About a month goes by and hes not improving. Still really slow walking, not wanting to go up or down stairs etc. One night he was playing with his toys and his rear end was really wobbly (like he was drunk). That instantly had me worried because I knew that was a sign of a bad back by loosing function of back legs. By the morning he couldnt walk at all. I took him to the vet and the vet said he was partially paralyzed (still had feeling in his paws). He gave me a few options of what I could do surgery, meds, crate rest and laser treatment. Told him surgery was not an option (no vets in my town are able to do the surgery and we would have to travel). Harley was not in pain so I decided to give crate rest, meds and laser treatments a shot. For 2 months I carried him around in his bed, held his rear end up to potty and helped him with everything. I felt like he was my newborn. We did a few weeks of laser treatment on his spin but we werent seeing any improvements and stopped. A few weeks later one of the vetenarians offered to lend her doggie wheelchair for Harley to use and try out. He did great in it! I beileve it helped him heal. Overtime he gained his tail wagging, his back paws were no longer knuckling over and his legs started walking while he was in the cart. I was shocked and so happy to see this. One day we let him outside out of the cart and he could walk again! A little wobbly at first but now he is almost back to normal! I am still very careful with him to prevent any other problems with his back. I carry him up and down the stairs now and up and off the bed.

I would recommend some crate rest with meds. If your pup does go paralyzed and has control of bowels and bladder I also recommend getting a wheelchair. Im so happy I went that route instead of putting him down. Oh if your pup is on steriods give them 1/2 tablet of Pepcid AC to avoid stomach ulcers. That is what happened to Honey because the vet never told us about Pepcid AC with the steriods.

I wish you the best!

 

[NV1985]

Sorry I never checked backed in. This was a rough time. Shortly after this post Katie just went down hill. They vet had her on steroids and a number of other things and she was restricted to the crate, but she just got worse and lost use of her back & front legs in what felt like days. We had a consultation about doing any kind of surgery but it was out of price range especially with such a small percentage of hope that it would work. We ended up having her put to sleep so that she wouldn't suffer anymore. It was the hardest thing to do ever, because even though she couldn't walk she was so alert and just wanted to be by you. You could see her try and try and try to get up. We still have Frankie, but I think he may be my last Doxie. Katie wasn't very old, and I'm still lost on how she got worse so quickly at that age. Even the vet seems baffled because its usually older doxies that have back issues. Now I'm afraid everyday something is going to happen with her son and he will have the same issue.

R.I.P Katie

 

[GJBain]

Sorry I never checked backed in. This was a rough time. Shortly after this post Katie just went down hill. They vet had her on steroids and a number of other things and she was restricted to the crate, but she just got worse and lost use of her back & front legs in what felt like days. We had a consultation about doing any kind of surgery but it was out of price range especially with such a small percentage of hope that it would work. We ended up having her put to sleep so that she wouldn't suffer anymore. It was the hardest thing to do ever, because even though she couldn't walk she was so alert and just wanted to be by you. You could see her try and try and try to get up. We still have Frankie, but I think he may be my last Doxie. Katie wasn't very old, and I'm still lost on how she got worse so quickly at that age. Even the vet seems baffled because its usually older doxies that have back issues. Now I'm afraid everyday something is going to happen with her son and he will have the same issue.

R.I.P Katie

I am sorry to here about your girl. I know it is a very tough thing to go through what you did. We had to put our 17 year old girl, Samantha, down last June, not because of back problems, but because of old age and being deaf and almost blind and very arthritic. I did not want to see her go. I held her right before she had to go. Worst day of my life. I miss her so much. I miss you Sam Sam.

 

[Lupita]

I'm very sorry to hear you lost your dog. That must have been heartbreaking. We recently went through something similar with ours. She lost the use of her hind legs and it was so pitiful, watching her trying to stand up. She was in a lot of pain as well. Fortunately, I found a site called "Dodgerslist". I highly recommend anyone who owns a Doxie to get on that site and read all you can about IVDD. It can show up at any age, and no matter how bad it seems, there is always hope for recovery (unless the dog develops Myelomalacia which causes progressive pain and finally death).
We gave Lupi strict crate rest and meds for 2 months. It took a week to see any improvement, but she gradually regained the use of her legs and now you would never know anything was wrong with her. However, she could relapse at any time and yes, that is the painfully sad thing about owning this breed.