Prolapsed Disc

[Scouty]

If you go to the vet with your dog that has been lying for 2 days ( he can not get up) and he says your dog has prolasped discs(2) And more on their way out.

Can he really feel them on their way out? And do you operate or put down?

Is prolasped discs caused from bad breeding?

Breed is German Shepard

cheers

[cavNrott]

If you go to the vet with your dog that has been lying for 2 days ( he can not get up) and he says your dog has prolasped discs(2) And more on their way out.

Can he really feel them on their way out? And do you operate or put down?

Is prolasped discs caused from bad breeding?

Breed is German Shepard

My Cav recently ruptured a disk and was immediately paralysed from the shoulders down. I saw it happen, he was running out the door to go into the yard and suddenly fell in a screaming heap. We were at the vets within 5 minutes. He was given a pain relief injection and Tramadol meds. That kept him fairly out of it and I crated him until our appointment early the next morning. The injury happened on a Sunday.

We were referred to the Specialist Referral Centre on Monday morning and the surgeon saw us within the hour. He took my boy straight in for a myelogram and then perfomed laminectomy surgery. From the time of injury to surgery was 26 hours.

My boy can now walk and run again and he'll continue to improve. His spinal cord was injured and evidently it will take a few months to fully recover, if it does fully recover. He's a little bit wobbly and falls over sometimes but there's no pain and falling over doesn't bother him one bit, he just gets up and gets on with it. We walk every day and he's fine. He doesn't fall over with normal walking, only if he takes steps backwards. His back end is still weak.

For surgery to have the best result it should be done soon after the injury The sooner it's done the better the chance of recovery. The surgeon gave Bronson an 86% chance of a full recovery and I think were pretty close to that with more improvement expected.

I don't think it is due to bad breeding. My boy will be 6yo in May and he's never had a sick day in his life until this. He's from good lines and his elderly ancestors are still alive and well with no health problems.

I would ask for a referral to a specialist surgeon to have your boy assessed. A myelogram will give you the full picture. I think this complicated kind of surgery is a bit beyond our regular vets.

Please keep us posted on how he goes.

[sas]

If you go to the vet with your dog that has been lying for 2 days ( he can not get up) and he says your dog has prolasped discs(2) And more on their way out.

Can he really feel them on their way out? And do you operate or put down?

Is prolasped discs caused from bad breeding?

Breed is German Shepard

cheers

I'd say I want proof first before making any decisions. i.e. X-ray or however they diagnose this apart from touching and seeing.

[stormie]

They can guess that's what it is, but without imaging, nope, they can't. Could be a number of things, such as diskospondylitis or degenerative myelopathy.

Has this come on suddenly or has there been some changes over time?

[poodlefan]

After two days of immobility, the chances of a successful operation for a prolapse have deteriorated significantly. Hours matter when these things occur.

Talk to your vet. You need x-rays to really know what is happening. But given the delay in dealing with the problem, I doubt the prognosis for surgery will be good.

[Scouty]

Thanks guys, no it was not my baby. But a close friend.

It had been over two days he was given some tamol. As that medication was at home already.

And spoke to vet over phone.

I don't think she saw it happen. So i am not 100% sure how it came about.

She has done everything for this dog (stem cell injections for other problems) But she nor i had ever seen this.

She did say he had heat and swelling and that went down over night. But he did soil himself so there was nothing in the back end.

Dog being only 8 and just previously lost another baby 3 weeks before, this has hit her hard. (he was put down)

I have really no more to add, but i hope i never have to deal with this.

Scout

Thanks again guys

Great news for you cavv! You should be over the moon with his recovery

[Danelady]

If they can't afford the surgery and the dog is not in any pain, you can get doggy wheelchairs. They are very very happy in them and they can be independent again and have quality of life. I sell these all over the world every week. They are fantastic and made here in Oz.

[cavNrott]

She has done everything for this dog (stem cell injections for other problems) But she nor i had ever seen this.

She did say he had heat and swelling and that went down over night. But he did soil himself so there was nothing in the back end.

Dog being only 8 and just previously lost another baby 3 weeks before, this has hit her hard. (he was put down)I have really no more to add, but i hope i never have to deal with this.

Scout

Great news for you cavv! You should be over the moon with his recovery

Scout I'm glad someone bumped the thread, I couldn't find it or remember who started the thread. If I'd remembered it was you I'd have been able to find it.

I've been thinking about this poor boy and his distressed owner and wondering how they were.

I have a booklet on Inverterbral Disk Disease the specialist gave me that I wanted to pass it on to your friend through you.

When you say the dog was put down do you mean the dog this poor lady lost 3 weeks ago or the boy with the disk disease. I have an awful feeling it was the disk disease boy. If so, this poor lady must be devastated. Losing 2 dogs within 3 week is just too much to cope with.

From your description of this dog being warm and swollen the night before it doesn't sound similar to my Cav. His was sudden and dramatic with absolutely no warning or symptoms. I hope I never again have to see that happen to a dog.

I'm very happy with Bronson's recovery. On his first day home from hospital I had to manually express his bladder but from the next day on his body was working well and he improved every day.

[aussielover]

As previously stated, you need to do imaging to confirm the diagnosis of a "prolapsed disc". There are actually two types of prolapse that can occur and surgery is only a good option for one of them. Type one is where the nucleus of the disc protrudes and impinges on the spinal cord and surgery is an option to correct this. Type two is where the whole disc protrudes (usually more common in older dogs) and surgery is not so good for this. with strict cage rest and pain relief, there can be quite a good response.

I hope the dog recovers ok.