[Dailydrool] Reggie in Lock-Up

[Elizabeth]

Our first basset, our late Jane, gave my husband and I quite an education in the care and treatment of basset back pain. The first thing we learned is that asking for a referral to a specialist (veterinary neurologist or orthopedist) is a good thing to when the regular vets appear to be coming up short on solutions. I would strongly encourage you to ask Reggie’s vet for a referral, especially to a specialist at a vet school, if that’s possible. Vet schools tend to be up on the latest technology and techniques, and they generally aren’t any more expensive than a specialist who practices elsewhere. I feel I get a lot more bang for my buck at a vet school. But I’ve had good experiences with independent specialists, too. The important thing is finding someone who sees a lot of the health issue you’d be bringing in and has had additional years of formal training in that area.

The second thing we learned is that if the back pain is being caused by a ruptured disk, those things generally don’t heal on their own. They require surgery to remove the busted bits of disk from the super-sensitive spinal cord and to fuse the two vertebrae together. This is surgery you want a specialist to do. 

The third thing we learned is that you can’t accurately diagnose a disk issue with a regular x-ray. Soft tissue, like the stuff the cushioning disks between the vertebrae are made of, don’t show up in x-rays. You need to do a myelogram (a type of radiograph that uses a dye contrast) to really see what’s going on in a back. This requires sedation. But, if the myelogram indicates a rupture, then the dog is already sedated and can go immediately into surgery. 

The fourth thing I learned all by myself is that any kind of a disk issue is incredibly painful. I wound up with “only” a herniated disk about ten years ago, thanks to overly enthusiastic and irresponsible gardening. It was the most excruciating pain I’ve ever experienced, and my disk hadn’t even fully ruptured. The pain was so great that all I could focus on was the pain, and the painkillers I was given didn’t touch it. Fortunately an epidural about a month later numbed the damaged nerve long enough to let my body relax and healing begin. But the whole time this was going on, our Jane was in the forefront of my mind and the realization of the debilitating pain she experienced with her three ruptured disks.

The fifth thing I learned (after the horse had escaped that particular barn) was that, according to Jane’s orthopedist at Purdue, long, low dogs should not be allowed to go up and down flights of stairs, jump on and off furniture, or jump in and out of cars. Doing these things puts more stress on their disks than on the disks of dogs of more regular proportions. Being overweight, also puts additional stress on a long back, and it’s important to keep a dog’s toenails trimmed so that they can maintain better spinal alignment. 

While you’re thinking about where to go from here with Reggie’s back pain, I’m wondering if he might be happier being confined to an x-pen instead of inside a crate? When our young Charlie aggravated his back and was put on crate rest and meds a few years ago, he preferred the x-pen arrangement. The bed I put in it pretty much took up all the space inside the pen, so he was just as confined as he would have been in his crate. It was also something I could set up in the part of the house where most of the action was happening, so he didn’t feel shut off from his pack. The openness of the pen helped him better see what we were doing around him. 

Give your brave boy a gentle pat for me and tell him Charlie is sending healing drool his way.

Elizabeth
linktolindsey at gmail.com