Possible Back Injury In Corgi

[I luv herfrds]

Noticed my oldest Corgi was having trouble walking on his hind legs. He has an appointment with the vet tomorrow.
I had talked to one of the vet assistance and she told me to square up his hind legs and then turn his toes under and see what he does. He stood there with his toes under until he turned to see what I was doing.

Going to do x-rays. Hope it is something that can be healed.

 

[wbvs58]

He has dachshund disease. Protruding disc around thoracolumber junction. If it is just protrusion corticosteroid will usually settle it down but there is always the risk of disc prolapsing and damage to spinal cord can be catastrophic. Surgery would be an option as results are better before serious damage to spinal cord occurs.
All the best with him.
Ken

 

[I luv herfrds]

Well the vet says he has an injury in the middle of his back and because it is so inflamed there is no way to see what is going on with an x-ray. So they hit him with a big dose of Dex next to the injury and he starts prednusion on Wednesday. Going to see if the inflamation can be knocked down enough for an x-ray. We have 2 options after that. Surgery or a doggie wheel chair. Will wait and see what the vet says before deciding.
I just know if the vet says the surgery will greatly help him then I will go that way but if they say it will only help him a little bit then the wheel chair might be the way to go.

He had to pee on the vets carpet before leaving.

 

[dun]

Years ago we were fortunate to have the vet near by that was developing the back surgery where they take the tops off of some vertebrae and drill holes in the lower parts of others. After recovery from the surgery she did pretty well, couldn;t jump anymore and if she turned a corner sharp while she was running her butt would fall over. She lived for 6 more years afterwards and never had any issues till just plain old age caught up to her at 13. Darn old for a Bassett.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Well he is still having trouble and I talked with vet more and she said that if he goes down and can no longer walk on his hind legs to let her know immediately and then he would need the surgery right away.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Best wishes for your baby. It is heartbreaking when this happens to our pets. I have had two with problems this week. I am dishing out 14 pills a day between them.

 

[highgrit]

It's a shame we love our pets so much that we put them through heck before they pass. Hopefully your dog will better and be able to be a dog again.

 

[I luv herfrds]

He went down on Monday. Could not get his hind feet under him. I called the vet right away. She said the MRI and possible surgery would run us over $2000.00 or we could do the wheel chair.
I called my other vet who does our cattle. He said to give him 1/2 a baby aspirin and see what happens. It took his pain away for awhile but is now taking 2 whole aspirins a day.
My Corgi is 10 years old.

It snowed last night and his favorite thing was to always go running through the snow and rolling in it. He would have trouble in the snow with the wheel chair so after much thought I have decided to have him put down. Seeing him looking up at me when he could not get up broke my heart.
Suppose to warm up again and once the snow melts we are going to have it done. :cry2: :cry2: :cry2: :cry2:

 

[dun]

I am so sorry it has come to this. But it is probably better for the dog. Too many people keep nursing along an animal that is obviously suffering and claim it's for the dog when really it is for themselves. I applaud you for making the decision that is best for the dog.

 

[Luca Brasi]

Rethink using that second veterinarian. While aspirin was recommended for use in dogs at one time, most veterinarians who like to keep current and practice the most progressive medicine understand that it can cause stomach bleeding, and usually prescribe alternatives which are proven to be safer. I would also ask yourself, just how committed is this guy to your dog's well being if all he can do is offer an aspirin as a solution that otherwise would cost $2000 to fix? He may have given you a temporary answer that you, and mostly your pocketbook, liked at the time, but that certainly wasn't in the poor dog's best interest.

 

[milkmaid]

We see a lot of "back dogs" here at the vet school since we have an MRI and a neurology department that does hemilaminectomies on a regular basis. Typical disc issues, once the dog is "deep pain negative" - meaning no nerve conduction from paws/tail to brain - there's 50% chance of recovery if surgery is done within 24 hours. About a 1% chance after 24 hours.

Remember when the back legs are involved, oftentimes the bladder is too - meaning he probably cannot urinate on his own now. What urine you do see is likely "overflow." Either swing by your vet's clinic in the morning and have them show you how to express his bladder, or else putting him down sooner rather than later would be in his best interest.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Luca only thing I will say to you is you do NOT know ME or MY DOG or MY VET'S. Money was not an issue. So please keep your sorry opinions to yourself!

Thank you for that info MM. I have the puppy training pads down right next to his bed and I change them every day. Was hoping the weather was going to warm up to make digging his grave easier but I guess not. Plan to do it soon. Going to talk to my hubby and see if he can get the backhoe started.

 

[Luca Brasi]

Luca only thing I will say to you is you do NOT know ME or MY DOG or MY VET'S. Money was not an issue. So please keep your sorry opinions to yourself!

Thank you for that info MM. I have the puppy training pads down right next to his bed and I change them every day. Was hoping the weather was going to warm up to make digging his grave easier but I guess not. Plan to do it soon. Going to talk to my hubby and see if he can get the backhoe started.

Wow! I certainly didn't see that coming.

My Dear Madam,
Read my comments again carefully, and I hope that you will have the sense to understand them as they were intended; an attempt to offer you some guidance that the advice which you seem to hold in such high regard from this second veterinarian is in no way in your or your dog's best interest. It was not a crticism of you or your dog and I'm surprised that you would misinterpret it as such.
I'll just brush your backlash aside and attribute it to heightened emotions caused by the situation which you are dealing with. Perhaps it is misplaced aggression born from frustration, in the knowledge that this poor dog has been suffering for weeks now. It is time to do something about it, other than giving some aspirin and "see what happens". Once you have your emotions under control, do some research on the uses of aspirin in dogs, and I'm sure that you will see why it is generally no longer recommended. Again, and I'll type s-l-o-w-l-y this time, my advice is given to hopefully help your dog, and encourage you to seek other solutions, which this veterinarian did not. It's odd that you would support him given that he has wronged you and your dog, but I guess that is a common syndrom which some use toward their abusers. I don't claim to even begin to understand it.
Best of luck to your dog.

 

[I luv herfrds]

If you had bothered to read everything the aspirin was a pain control. In NO way was it a way to fix my dog. The second vet has been my dog's primary vet for several years until he went mainly large animal and another vet came in to do the small animals.
What part of my saying I plan to put my dog down did you miss? The vet is coming out Monday night to do it. It is my day off from work so I can be there.
Maybe re-read what you wrote and figure out how YOU came across. I typed that s-l-o-w-l-y too so you can read it clearly.

 

[highgrit]

Sorry to hear that, losing a best friend stinks. Just remember all the good times and the laughs he gave you.

 

[I luv herfrds]

I hope the vet can make it. We have a blizzard going on right now. Roads are drifting in pretty good.

It does stink highgrit, but I have been thinking of all the things we have done together that make me laugh.
Like the time he sat on the bale bed controller and dropped the bale off the back of the feed truck as I was opening the gate. Or the time he had that coyote coming after him and I started shooting at the coyote, never knew those little legs could move so fast.
Laying behind my husbands chair after getting into the table scraps and passing gas.
His greatest loves have always been snow and chasing cows. Sad part right now is him trying to run in the snow and not being able to. :cry2:

 

[Williamsv]

Sorry to hear about your corgi. I know how it hurts to lose a pet. They are just like family members and we do grieve for them. As some have already said, remember the good times and all your memories of him. That will help to ease your pain and know that you did all you could to help him.
After my dad's last dog had to be put to sleep, it hurt us so badly until we never got another one.

 

[chippie]

I am so sorry about your pup. I am fortunate that my husband will put an animal down for me when the time involved taking it to the vet would cause it further suffering. He doesn't like doing it, but he knows that it is the kindest thing that he can do for the animal.

 

[I luv herfrds]

Vet made it and he went peacefully.
Only picture I have of him tied up. He was getting into the calving lot and we had cows putting us up on fences and on the back of the truck. After that spring he stayed when told.


He was out in the snow today and had to be rescued, he got stuck in a drift.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I am so sorry for your loss.......