My dachshund's sore back

[Night Elf]

I know it's a Sunday and the board might not get as much traffic, but I thought I'd ask anyway. For the second time, my 3 year old dachshund is suffering from a sore back. The first time was on a weekday when I got him into our vet's office asap. The vet gave him a shot of something, did a laser treatment, and did accupuncture on his back paws. He was right as rain by that evening. Now its' a weekend and I am not sure what I should do. We noticed it getting worse last night. He doesn't have all the symptoms but he was trembling a lot, not wanting to go up or down his doggie steps (we have these near the sofa and the bed), or even wanted to move for a dog bone treat. He sleeps with me and last night he woke up and peed in the bed. That's never happened before! This morning he is doing better. He's not trembling but he's still walking slowly and not using his steps. I can take him to the emergency hospital but I would rather wait and use my own vet tomorrow. Do you think if I help him keep still today that he'll be okay? I think the rest overnight really helped him. He doesn't appear to be in any pain. He isn't hanging his head when he walks. I'm worried this is going to become a big problem as he ages, poor little guy! I know this is common in this breed.

 

I looked online for a home treatment and found where an aspirin, 5 mg. for each pound, can be given. I've never heard of that before and I'm a little nervous about using a people medicine on a dog.

[RoughCollie]

I'd call the e-vet today, and take him there if they recommend it, and to your own vet tomorrow. I'd be real worried about nerve damage and pain.

 

Otherwise, if you give aspirin, make sure it is not coated because a lot of dogs don't digest the coating, so the aspirin passes through whole. Perhaps the e-vet will tell you the dose to give him. Then keep him still (in a crate, perhaps) until you see your regular vet tomorrow.

 

http://www.thedachshundnetwork.com/discdisease.htm

[ELITEANDLOVINGIT]

My Akita is a senior dog when she is really bad I have a prescription for her pain its inexpensive 7.00 for 30...I wonder if they could just prescribe something on Monday just to have on hand.

 

 

I don't know about movement either, but my gut would say to let him up and move around, our dog gets worse the more she sits not better. We have used "towel" carries for our dog, loop the towel under the back end of the abdomen near the groin on either side of the belly (not through the legs)like a sling pulling upward gently as he tries to walk? He does seem really young for back pain...I don't know much about Dauchlands, but have they checked for lymes or eurlichiosis?

 

Sorry no advice for the weekend, though my mother - in - law did give her German Shepard aspirin, I would never suggest it with out knowing the dosing for your doggy :(

 

I hate to see my dogs in pain too...

[Pawz4me]

If you can afford it, I would get him to the e-vet ASAP.

 

Trembling in a dog is often a sign of intense pain. Loss of urinary control is very worrisome, IMO.

 

A steroid shot (which is what I suspect the vet gave him before) to reduce swelling as soon as possible can help prevent worse problems.

[RoughCollie]

I just talked to an acquaintance who has a mini dachshund with disk disease. She couldn't afford the surgery for it ($6K around here), so her dog used a wheelchair because his hind end became paralyzed. She took him to a chiropractor, and after treatment (for how long, I forgot to ask), he is walking again. I called her back, and after the first couple of treatments, her dog could walk around the house without his wheelchair. Then he progressed to being able to take short walks, and now he doesn't use it at all.

 

When this dachshund was in pain from his back, she gave him a baby aspirin and confined him to his crate until she could take him to the vet. She said she took him to the e-vet once, and they gave the dog pain medication and told her the dog needed back surgery - this was before he became paralyzed.

 

If your dog is dx'd with disk disease, she suggests you take him to a canine orthopedist or neurologist.

 

She also said that after having a steroid shot, the dachshund should be crated for 2 weeks to give his back time to heal. If the steroids return him to normal functioning and he is not crated, he will not have time to heal.

 

A lot of people at our club are giving their dogs DuMor Liquid Flex, which is a joint supplement for horses. The main ingredients are Glucosamine HCI and Chondroitin Sulfate. There are similar products made for dogs, and I don't know why these folks aren't using them instead. I think it is because several breeders here are using it and recommended it. Personally, if the vet agreed or it otherwise wouldn't hurt the dog, I'd use a glucosamine supplement made for dogs just in case it would help. I know several dogs who won't eat the horse stuff, probably because it is yucca flavored. Also, they are giving the dogs 1/2 oz. a day of the horse stuff, which is 1/2 the maintenance dose for an 1100 lb. horse. Maybe the high dose is what is helping their dogs. Anyway, I do know several old dogs who are on this stuff and after a few weeks, they can move around a lot more easily, and even I (always skeptical) noticed big differences.

 

That's all I can find out, and I'm not a vet and neither are any of the folks I talked to.

[Night Elf]

I appreciate all the responses. He sure looks like he feels better. He hasn't trembled at all today and he walked up his doggie steps to get to the sofa. I wasn't expecting that and wasn't in the right spot to stop him. He's gone out a couple of times at his own instigation, which I think is also a good thing. Yesterday morning he jumped off the sofa in an effort to chase the cat down the stairs. The cat doesn't usually come up while the dogs are loose in the living room so I think she took the dog by surprise. I'm thinking he hurt himself with that jumping. Hopefully it was just a sore thing for a day or so and won't turn into anything serious. The last time it was easy to fix as well. I sincerely hope he doesn't ever require surgery. We've spent a couple of thousand on a pet before but never more than that. That's a scary thing.

[celticmom]

Will your dog jump on and off the couch if the steps are not there? If he won't I would consider removing them for a while. I have a dachshund that has had sugery and physical therapy but the surgery was too late to help (I came home to him paralyzed on the floor). If your dog is not in severe pain or paralyzed, I would just watch him carefully and take him to the vet ot be checked tomorrow.

 

One thing that I would change is to work on discouraging him from climbing up or down stairs or any jumping(going down is worse because it compresses the spine). Train him to wait for a person to pick him up. Also always support his back end when you pick him up. Another factor since your dog is rather young, is he overweight? If so, losing weight will definitely help his back.

 

I have known of MSM/glucosamine supplements to be very helpful for older dogs with arthritus symptoms and I doubt that it would cause any problems and might help.

 

Edited to add - if a dog's back goes out to the point of paralysis, the sooner surgery is performed the better the prognosis. In the case of our dog he was probably injured for too long before he recieved surgery. We don't know how long it was because I came home and foun him paralysed.