Spinal Dog Mums

[jasper_boy]

An open question if you don't mind me asking...

If you knew in advance that your dog would have spinal disc issues, would you have gone for surgery earlier than in an emergency situation?

Sily question I know. And maybe its impossible to answer. But we have some things going on here and I am considering different options currently.

[debbiedaywalker]

Yes, definitely! My Tess went through a lot of unnecessary pain over the years. The Vet kept insisting that it was only arthritis and just kept upping the dose of Metacam.  If only I had changed my Vet, but I trusted him.
The evening that the slipped disc ruptured the emergency Vet got her referred straight away, so she eventually had the offending disc removed.  She was 9 when she had the operation and she lived to be almost 13!
I know that my first instinct was to say yes to your question, but it is easier to make a decision like that when your options are black and white, and it did turn out well for Tessa in the end. 

[KellyT]

Dom,

It depends on the dog, and what's previously gone on.
I think if I knew that a disc was going to slip because there'd been an MRI which confirmed it and surgery would resolve it then I would.
Saying that though I contradicted this with Millie - she probably does have a disc problem, whether its just calcification or a slipping disc but we haven't mri'd her. Why not? Well she's 11, she reacts badly to anaesthetic and right now she is pain free and leads a relatively active and very happy life.

Good luck with your choices xxx

[coopersmum]

Its a difficult question to answer. Cooper had an MRI because of lameness and pain that nobody could accurately diagnose. They discovered an L7S1 disc rupture, he had the surgery and actually deteriorated further until he was treated for auto immune disease. I rushed into the surgery just because the rupture looked so bad and, in hindsight, I'm not convinced the disc was causing the problems. Mostly, I am glad the disc is out but in other ways I regret having put him through that if it wasn't the real problem. It was a very traumatic surgery for both him and I. Good luck with your decision

[jackie 14]

we are going through this again now with Mr George, he showed signs of being very uncomfortable about his back end about 10 days ago, thought it was a hip strain ,because he has been pushing through a stair gate (10cm gap), but the Xray showed signs of 2 disc's narrowing, cage rest and 2 lots of pain relief straight away. he is now much more comfortable, althou quite lame in his hips, but he complains bitterly at times about being shut in. His mum is a vet nurse(my daughter) so she has advice on tap. She has decided to hold off about an MRI unless George deteriorates, sad thing is he is only 4, my other older girl show up the same symptoms last year age 6, she did well with time and cage rest, but you end up watching them closely all the time for signs.

[elaine.e]

William had a MRI scan 3 years ago when he was 5 years old and had been through 3 episodes of fairly mild undiagnosed back pain. I was doing competitive agility with him at the time and rested him for a few weeks after  each of the first 2 epsiodes of back pain but decided that the 3rd episode had to be more than coincidence so had him scanned because I was afraid that resuming agility might make things worse.

The scan revealed mild disc dehydration at C2-3, reduced hydration of the thoracolumbar discs and the L7-S1 disc mildly protruding. I'm not exactly sure what all of that means, but took the advice of the orthopaedic specialist who thought that doing agility could cause further damage. No treatment was needed at the time and so far William has been fine. I'm obviously hoping that the problems don't get worse and that William never needs surgery, emergency or otherwise.

I don't know what my decision would have been if the vet had said that surgery would definitely be needed in the future but could be done before it became an emergency. If it wasn't an emergency and a necessity would I want to put William through major surgery that both of us would have difficulty in coping with? If he was pain free and otherwise well I think I'd be tempted just to monitor the situation and hope that surgery could be avoided.

[Sheryl]

I have to say no. It was traumatic enough for both of us in a situation that was definitely an emergency and I feel it would be no less traumatic if I had pre-empted it. It is so hard on both of you before the op and throughout recovery, that I cannot imagine going through it unless I had to. I think if you know the warning signs and your vet is on the ball then leave well alone xx

[jasper_boy]

Thanks for all of your replies. I have made the decision to not go to another ortho vet but to visit a rehab clinic in Wales instead. He has an appointment for next Wednesday 

[jackie 14]

hope it all goes well for you on wednesday,  give him time to heal,fingers crossed

[PennyB]

Thanks for all of your replies. I have made the decision to not go to another ortho vet but to visit a rehab clinic in Wales instead. He has an appointment for next Wednesday  

Good luck for weds - he'll get a thorough check up there

[debbiedaywalker]

Hope it goes well tomorrow x

[LilahLoo]

I think only you know what is right for your dog, but for me to put my dog through that major surgery I would need a guarantee of success and my understanding is the surgery isn't without risk.

Delilah is recovering from her second slipped disc in 12 months.  Last summer our vet was confident she would get better without surgery, it took time but she did.  This time she was worse but even before we'd seen the vet I was fairly clear in my head that (for a number of reasons) I couldn't put her through the operation, for me it felt right to let nature take its course - I have to say it was one of the hardest decisions I've made. If she was a more active dog or if she was in pain then my decision probably would have been different. 

I hope it all went well today.