spinal surgery ?

[octopus]

Hi, my 8 yr old cocker, Meg, went off her back legs about 2 weeks ago. She had an MRI scan today, and it seems she has 2 prolapsed discs in her lumbar area. She is going to need surgery to correct this. HAs anyone had experience of this please? Thanks

[supaspaniel]

Hi

sorry to hear about Meg, its extremely upsetting to see them affected like this. Linus had exactly the same thing just over two years ago when he was 8. he had surgery and they took away some of the disc tissue to relieve the prolapse and pressure on his spine. It was horrendous surgery, but worth it. He has been a different dog since, really agile. He always dragged his back feet a bit...like a stroppy teenager type walk ... and never really ran around all that much, but it was probably his back and I didn't realise...just thought he was a bit lazy  (that makes me sound terrible  ) anyway it all worked out really well.

I know Jeeves' Parker had similar op last year i think, so she might have something to add too
Keep us up to date and shout if you have any questions we may be able to help with   

[octopus]

Thanks, its reassuring to know that surgery can help. Meg has always been very active and she is now very disinterested in her walks which is just as well as she has been put on complete rest.

[KellyS]

Sorry I can't be of any help as I have not come across this before but wanted to say I hope the surgery goes well.

[michelle123]

I know Jeeves' Parker had similar op last year i think, so she might have something to add too
Keep us up to date and shout if you have any questions we may be able to help with   

You beat me to it    thought exactly the same.

Good luck hope it all goes well. 

Gentle squidges to Meg    poor thing

[Robbie34]

My last Cocker had a similar problem at eight years of age, in 1990.  The vet said that he had a "lesion" on his spine following a number of x-rays.  Benjie lost the use of his back legs but I was told that he would be treated conservatively in the first intance.  He was treated with steroids and responded well to them.  I can't remember how long he was on them but within two months he was fine and never had a relapse.

[octopus]

We now have a date for Meg's surgery, 29th May. Thanks to everyone who has replied. I will let you know how she gets on . Thanks

[EmmaA]

Sorry I missed this.
You and Meg will be in my thoughts until I hear that she is doing smashing after her surgery 

[Countrygirl]

We have all fingers and paws crossed here that everything goes well for Meg.  Thinking of you both.

[minimoo]

kizzy is 11 and last nov she yelped in the hallway and walked in shaking and trembling we took her to vet and eventually they said she had shattered a disc in her spine, we did the OP and she was in vets for a week and we had to start her walking again, we were so worried but shes running around now leaping on and off the sofa ,shes like a puppy and its hard to keep her calm, i agree totally with everything supaspaniel said,  we were a little shocked when we saw her after the op,for the first time but they recover so quickly ,feel free to ask any questions, anytime, fingers and paws crossed for 29th

[Mudmagnets]

No experience - but do hope poochy does ok

[octopus]

Hi just to update everyone. Meg had her surgery on Thursday and it went well. I visited her today and she was fairly dopey still from the anaesthetic etc but is eating well ( a true cocker!). Minimoo and I have been PM'ing each other, and thats been very re-assuring. Thanks to you all for your good wishes - just have to trust that with physio and TLC she makes as good a recovery as Kizzy did.

[supaspaniel]

I'm sure Meg will make a fab recovery....Linus sure did 
Linus only had one night in 'hospital' though.....so bringing him home was tricky and every roundabout hurt him  so one more bit of advice for bringing Meg home would be to 'bank her up' with duvets or pillows 

[Jeeves]

Hi Octopus, I've just seen this thread and I'm pleased that things went well.

Parker had prolapsed discs in his neck and underwent a fenestration op and then a few months later, discs in his back prolapsed and he had a hemilaminectomy.  When we brought him home after the second op, he was in a terrible state - we had to catheterise him so he could wee, he was totally paralysed in his back legs and I truly thought he would never walk again.  However, he made the most amazing recovery and now if you saw him, you would never know he'd had such a terrible time.

It is very worrying and very scary and they need a lot of care and love when they come home, but dogs have the most amazing powers of recovery!

If you want to PM me, then please do - I'd be happy to help!

[minimoo]

jeeves- ,the vets dont prepare you for the shock of seeing the dog after the op ,do they ,my oh and i looked at kizzy and thought ,shes paralized, thats it  but they just come on so quickly it amazed us ,though kizz was in the vets  for 8 days,--octopus, as i said on PM, i know what a shock it is,dont hesitate to ask questions,and the physio is pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it, so dont worry about that,regards  julie