Dachshund with pinched nerve

A very good friend of mine has a Dachshund that has been suffering some
sort of excruciating pain for the past 2 weeks & has been at the vet 3
times. I told her I would post this on my newsgroup I visit - so if anyone has
a similar experience, please e-mail me and I will forward it to my friend.
THANKS

Last night, she took the dog to a Surgeon/Specialist. He said she has a
pinched nerve. Normally, they try to treat this with steroids & in about
2 weeks, they show improvement. Not so with D'Loris. She is still
cowering, keeping her head down & back up, screaming (crying) from the
pain. He told her that surgery may be the solution, but, that it is risky.
They will have to do a milogram (shoot iodine into the spine) to see which disc
has ruptured. Once he determines that, they open her neck in the throat area
to go inside &
remove the disc. Of course you can understand the risks of this sort of
operation (not to mention a huge expense).

After she spoke with the surgeon, she again consulted with the vet. She told
her to think about it, that she did not need to make a decision that night.
D'Loris is still taking steroids & the surgeon told her that the most
important thing she can do is to cage her & keep her as immobile as
possible, 24/7. I carry her up & down the stairs to go outside & she can
only go in the back yard, NO walks.

Needless to say, she did not sleep all night. This morning, she actually
appeared a bit better & tonight, she finds her much the same. I am certain
the immobility coupled with the medication is helping. She doesn't want to do
surgery unless it's necessary. Of course if she appears to be getting worse,
then she will have to consider that option.

What are your thoughts/suggestions? Have any of you been through this or
know a dog that has?

Tullitis" <tullitis.TakeThisOut@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040514212934.28729.00001478@mb-m28.aol.com...
> A very good friend of mine has a Dachshund that has been suffering some
> sort of excruciating pain for the past 2 weeks & has been at the vet 3
> times. I told her I would post this on my newsgroup I visit - so if anyone
has
> a similar experience, please e-mail me and I will forward it to my friend.
> THANKS
>
> Last night, she took the dog to a Surgeon/Specialist. He said she has a
> pinched nerve. Normally, they try to treat this with steroids & in about
> 2 weeks, they show improvement. Not so with D'Loris. She is still
> cowering, keeping her head down & back up, screaming (crying) from the
> pain. He told her that surgery may be the solution, but, that it is risky.
> They will have to do a milogram (shoot iodine into the spine) to see which
disc
> has ruptured. Once he determines that, they open her neck in the throat
area
> to go inside &
> remove the disc. Of course you can understand the risks of this sort of
> operation (not to mention a huge expense).
>
> After she spoke with the surgeon, she again consulted with the vet. She
told
> her to think about it, that she did not need to make a decision that
night.
> D'Loris is still taking steroids & the surgeon told her that the most
> important thing she can do is to cage her & keep her as immobile as
> possible, 24/7. I carry her up & down the stairs to go outside & she can
> only go in the back yard, NO walks.
>
> Needless to say, she did not sleep all night. This morning, she actually
> appeared a bit better & tonight, she finds her much the same. I am
certain
> the immobility coupled with the medication is helping. She doesn't want
to do
> surgery unless it's necessary. Of course if she appears to be getting
worse,
> then she will have to consider that option.
>
> What are your thoughts/suggestions? Have any of you been through this or
> know a dog that has?

I've seen disc problems occur and also heal without surgery. My female Min.
Dachshund somehow herniated a disc in her neck many years ago. She was fine
one minute and had her head limp and scraping the ground the next. A week
at the vet's, hooked up to monitors, being fed medication & kept on IV (she
couldn't eat, drink or get comfortable) and we were no closer to
understanding the cause. I was told she'd probably need surgery but when I
asked where/why they admitted to not knowing what was wrong. I was asked if
I wanted to euthanize her and said no. Finally, and to this day I don't
know how it wasn't caught before, an x-ray on day 6 showed the herniated
disc. She was put on anti-inflammatories & strong pain meds then sent home
on day 8. Two days later and she was fine, holding & moving her head as if
nothing had ever happened. It had been downright scarey for me though.

My BIL's male Min. Dachshund recently had surgery on a disc near his tail.
He woke up one morning and couldn't move, was urinating on himself, and
crying. He was sent to an orthapedic surgeon and back home on the same day
(I can't remember the name of the procedure). Two weeks of crate rest and
he was back to normal.

With Dachshunds, its hard to pinpoint, from what I've gathered by the above
two experiences, the exact cause & the exact treatment without extensive
testing. However, in alot of cases (I've heard many similar to the story of
my female), the use of medications first, to see if there is improvement, is
the preferred route. No sense in performing a surgery on something that
doesn't need it. If the meds don't help the dog's pain & symptoms then
obviously something more has to be done.

In your friend's dog, I suspect surgery is the only route. Its not fair to
the dog to keep her in that condition. Spinal surgeries, while delicate and
risky, aren't *as* risky as I think many people believe. The rescue I
worked with had 2 Boxers with spinal issues. Both had MRIs and one also had
the iodine-type test. One was awaiting surgery when I left but the other
had already had 2 surgeries. Both came out without a hitch. I know they
weren't Dachshunds but I just wanted to illustrate that these kinds of
surgeries are happening more and more and the dogs are making it through
just fine.


--
Tara