CJ, this is what I use

http://www.aviform.co.uk/Store/Top-Dog-Products/Joint-Care/MOBILEAZE-Natural-Mobility-

I use it aa an anti-inflamatory if they get anything from a cut pad to post surgery, also post neuter/spay in recent years, it really does give them some pain relief, I just put it in the feed or directly in the water bowl

Hey guys, just a bit of an update.

Vince is doing well. He has regressed a little from last week though.

I'm going to call the vet the today. Yes, I've been avoiding it as I really didn't want him back on the prednisone if it was at all possible. Mind you, I’ll probably get that wonderful food drive back.

The bump is still there however I think it's gone down a bit; it's definitely not any bigger. He's not nearly as roached as he was but the flippy foot thing is not like it was on the prednisone. It pops up fairly quickly but it will sit bent over on the floor for a second, whereas before there was resistance to the top even hitting the floor.

And I'm not doing a very good job on this leash walk only. He's actually been getting quite a bit of exercise. Ramps and fairly flat surfaces only but I was hoping he'd tell me when it was too much. I know, not reality at all. He says nothing when we’re out there and he looks really good. I do notice the wobbly weakness in the house though, when he's more relaxed.

Hopefully the vet is there today. We'll see what she has to say.

Does Vince appear to still experience any pain?
This sounds so much like when my girl acquired FCE.

Did any of the Vets mention the possibility of FCE( fibrocartilagenous embolisym)?

My girl had that episode and it was painful when it happened, and then afterwords, no pain anymore, but has the foot folding issue.
One thing that really helped her learn to use that leg better was a hydrotherapy tank.
Just wondering if you have anything like this near you and wonder what the Vet might think of this kind of therapy for Vince?

One thought I had was maybe look into natural forms of anti- inflammatories. Perhaps building up doses of MSM, which has really good abilities to help quell inflammation, without any of the side effects of prednisone.
or Yucca, check this out:
http://www.journal-inflammation.com/content/3/1/6

One more link to check out:
http://www.nwhealthsolutions.com/pets.htm

Wow Joyce, that Yucca sure sounds good. I'm going to mention that, the Devil's claw and this Curamin stuff, see if this vet knows anything about these kind of treatments. I’d really like to talk to Vince's regular, more holistic vet too but I don't want to complicate this anymore than it has been.

And no, he's not showing any signs of pain whatsoever.

As far as the hydro therapy, this orthopedic office has one of these tank things. It was something the vet talked about on our first visit. I saw it and it looks pretty interesting. Vince does have a lot of movement at this point though. I can see it being something in those beginning days when he could barely walk, but once the prednisone took the inflammation down he seemed to regain all function.

He hasn't had anything, not even his weekly bitter melon dose, just in case he needs to be prescribed something at some point. I do have MSM and Recovery and Glucosamine and a few other things that Garrett gets too. I'll see if this vet has any recommendations in that department.

Thanks for the great information Joyce.

That's good that he's getting exercise...is he able to stretch on his own? Stretching is always good for stuff like this, I know because I have back problems...stretching like a dog everyday (like doing Yoga) has helped me. LOL

I left a non-emergency message.

Very interesting. Their office hours now state only Monday - Friday. Sounds like they may no longer have a weekend shift. First time appointments are by referral only though so maybe they make adjustments based on specific situations. Maybe just accommodating based on need. I've got a call in anyway.

And no Tresa, haven't done any stretching exercises with him. That's interesting though, I wonder if there's something she might recommend. She discussed an acupuncture aspect to pain management at one point, so she's probably up on some specific motions or movements I could be doing with him.

A couple more eyes had been thru the x-rays and she was really confident that we're dealing with a herniated disc though - definitely nothing broken, but the actual spinal cord things don't show up as well on these type of x-ray. She felt he wasn't a case for immediate surgury because of the response to the predisone and time can be extremely successful if it's healing properly. Her main concern was limiting any strenuous type of exercise though.

Yeah I would ask her since its a disc issue, just so anything you do doesn't pinch a nerve. I wonder if a cold laser treatment would help it heal up faster?

Hi CJ,
I think that what you are experiencing with Vince now is entirely to be expected. The prednisone would have been working both at the anti-inflammatory level and the pain control level so you will see more of a realistic picture of where Vince is at now that he is off the meds.

Controlling the amount of exercise is a difficult call because on the one hand you do not want to lose all the muscle but on the other hand the disc is damaged and it takes a long time to repair; it is very susceptible to further damage at this point.

The bump is probably the disc fluid that has oozed out of the disc and this has to be slowly reabsorbed..although as mentioned earlier it could possibly be the vertebra twisted.

Pain management with acupuncture can be very effective. The laser shower simulates the effects of acupuncture as well. Motion provides its own pain management through endorphin release in humans; I do not know if this is true of dogs- I will see what I can find on that-when motion is used to provide endorphin release it has to be done for about 45 mins. before the endorphins kick in. (My husband has just assured me that this is the principle of massage in horses because it releases endorphins...so add massage to the list for pain management!)

The biggest cures of all---Time and patience with a huge dollop of love on top! The healing process will not appear to be linear..it isn't a gradual improvement...more like plateaus of varying levels! It will happen though.

My friend's Boerboel under went hydrotherapy as part of the treatment/healing process after he bust his cruciate and broke his leg in several places a few years back, he really benefited from it as exercise and pain relief, he is a bit arthritic now unfortunately, and at 9 years old and 80 kilos, he is remarkably agile and still as lively as a pup, though I do know it was a very long haul back to full fitness, I send her gluc/msm/chondroitin/HA powder regularly, and she does see the benefit of it in the old boy.

Would Vince get any comfort from a heated sheepskin pad?? I used one for a frozen shoulder many years ago, and it was lovely!

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Edited by tracey holden (02/12/2012 10:10 AM)
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