It's Murphy's turn

Kathleen · March 29, 2012, 06:52:44 PM

Murphy's hospitalized tonight. He went down last night, and I made an appt at the vets for today, and crated him. And then my idiot sister took him out of his crate while I was at work today and took him for a walk.

He was so much worse when I got home from work, very wobbly.

They're keeping him at least tonight for injectable steroids and supervision, since he hasn't pottied all afternoon, either. I'm trying really hard not to be upset with my sister-she's not a dog owner, much less a dachshund owner, and I know she didn't realize. Ugh.

Merion · March 29, 2012, 10:25:45 PM

Sending a ton of HHHHHHH's & PPPPPPPPPP's for Murphy.

Hope this does the Job!!!
You take it easy on your self and your sister.
There is no way you could prepared for what she did.
You will be in our prayers.

Merion & Zena

Cheryl · March 29, 2012, 10:55:23 PM

Oh Kathleen I hope he's okay! Lots of hugs and rays to the little boy. Poor baby having to go for a walk!?!

Cheryl & the doxie girls Abby, Roxie & Baby Sadie

BonniesMom · March 29, 2012, 11:07:16 PM

Oh no!!!!! Loads and loads to Murphy. I can see how you must be furious at your sister. Hopefully, she realizes the damage she caused. So sorry. Hope the meds work. I'm sure sis feels bad now. Oh! I'm beside myself.

papbouv · March 30, 2012, 12:09:47 AM

Rays and Hugs to Murphy hope he gets better quick.Patches,Buddy & Papbouv

Roberta · March 30, 2012, 03:31:17 PM

Love and hugs to both with eyes toes etc crossed.
Roberta ane the gang

Kathleen · March 30, 2012, 04:41:57 PM

I heard from the vet this afternoon. She's hopeful that surgery won't be needed. A disc is definitely herniated and she said lateralizing to the left (the squishy stuff is coming out the left side). They've got him on heavy steroids and pain medication, and are thinking he should be able to come home tomorrow. Poor guy's going to be crated for a full 8 weeks, I'm sure. Thanks for the rays and thoughts everyone.

papbouv · March 30, 2012, 09:06:53 PM

Sorry to hear that I had a herniated disk extremely painful put a big sign on the crate for a reminder to everyone about the crate rest.More Hugs & Rays to Murphy feel better soon. Patches,Buddy & Papbouv

Kathleen · April 03, 2012, 07:50:22 PM

Murph seems a little steadier on his feet today-does my heart good to see.

Barb · April 04, 2012, 09:43:38 AM

oh nos...so sorry - just now seeing this...... Sending bucketloads of rays your way........ and some for mommy too...nothing fun about 8 wks in the crate..... but oh so necessary !!! Please keep us posted......

peterparker · April 04, 2012, 10:21:51 AM

How is Murphy doing????????

Leslie · April 04, 2012, 04:45:33 PM

hOLY *#&&@! I just saw this--how is the little guy?

Kathleen · April 04, 2012, 05:05:19 PM

He's okay, still wobbly. I thought I was seeing some progress yesterday, and I'm not so sure today-I think my mind is playing tricks on me. Here's a little video I did a couple days ago. It's just a very brief one of him walking from behind, so you can see the problem.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=387594237931884&saved

BonniesMom · April 04, 2012, 08:34:13 PM

Now I understand! I never new what a herniated disc looked like, respecting the legs and feet. Now I understand when we took Bonnie in because she jumped off the bed and slid on the floor, when our vet said her legs were nice and straight. Rays to dear Murphy.

Kathleen · April 05, 2012, 08:47:45 PM

Quote from: BonniesMom on April 04, 2012, 08:34:13 PM
Now I understand! I never new what a herniated disc looked like, respecting the legs and feet. Now I understand when we took Bonnie in because she jumped off the bed and slid on the floor, when our vet said her legs were nice and straight. Rays to dear Murphy.

Yeah, I hadn't seen it either! Winston had his problem about a year ago and he never got wobbly either-he was just painful. I didn't want to strain Murph too much, but I wanted to get that on video for my own reference later. It kind of gives me a baseline to compare how he's doing, day to day, I think.

Kathleen · April 12, 2012, 08:17:26 PM

Just wanted to update. Murph had a setback last weekend-we cut back to one dose of Pred. on Friday and on Saturday morning he was dragging his back feet. I increased his dosage back up and took him into the vet again Monday when the neuro vet was there. She and I talked about surgery, but agreed he wasn't there yet. Kept him all week on 2 doses of Pred per day, continued tramadol, and he's been doing much better again the last few days. He's clearly feeling really good, so tomorrow we're going to try cutting back the tramadol to twice a day. I won't cut the Prednisone again until the vet and I talk next week and see what we think from that point. Still a little wobbly when he isn't looking straight ahead, but he's much steadier than he was, and I'm having to take him out on a leash now because he's not being a good boy anymore and staying right near me-he wants to RUN (no, no!).

Kathleen · April 18, 2012, 07:45:11 PM

Another update. Murphy's doing MUCH better. He's been released by the vet to some exercise and time out of the pen during the day. We're being very cautious with that though, because of the rambunciousness of the group here-don't want him bumped or jumped on. I'm so relieved that he's improved. He's completely off the painkillers and weaning off the prednisone (down to one dose a day), and he's walking more or less normally (for him-he's got some back leg issues separate from the back issues). :xfinger: that his progress continues!

BonniesMom · April 18, 2012, 09:13:41 PM

Root Root for the Murphster!

papbouv · April 18, 2012, 11:08:00 PM

Good to hear more Rays & hugs for Murphy, might ask the vet about letting him swim in the bath tub if he is small enough or even walk in the tub might be good exercise for him.

Barry · April 19, 2012, 10:28:16 AM

They are letting him get some exercise? Great news. I have heard it from some posters that they will crate for 8 weeks. When I hear the word "crate" I assume only out for bathroom breaks. Would this be correct? I have also heard it is good for some mild walking with no running for the back.

Kathleen · April 19, 2012, 05:52:18 PM

Quote from: Barry on April 19, 2012, 10:28:16 AM
They are letting him get some exercise? Great news. I have heard it from some posters that they will crate for 8 weeks. When I hear the word "crate" I assume only out for bathroom breaks. Would this be correct? I have also heard it is good for some mild walking with no running for the back.

Yeah, the exercise is very minimal. He's allowed to be out of the pen I'm using to crate him for a little bit at a time, and we're doing short walks (meaning a few minutes), so it's not much yet. I think we're about 3 1/2 or 4 weeks post rupture, and we've probably got another 3-4 weeks of crating, so it will be 7 or 8 weeks in the end, I'm sure.

Barry · April 20, 2012, 11:26:28 AM

Is this Murphy's first bout with the back? It is a shame when the back pain starts because it is never 100% again and you know another bout is coming, but hard to tell when. I have back pain myself, but I know not to try to be 22 years old again, playing basketball, football etc, but with a doxie as soon as they start feeling a little better, they have the "full speed ahead" mentality, not knowing they are not fully well. They love playing and running so much that they try to block out the pain.
Hope he gets better.

Kathleen · April 20, 2012, 11:36:49 AM

Quote from: Barry on April 20, 2012, 11:26:28 AM
Is this Murphy's first bout with the back? It is a shame when the back pain starts because it is never 100% again and you know another bout is coming, but hard to tell when. I have back pain myself, but I know not to try to be 22 years old again, playing basketball, football etc, but with a doxie as soon as they start feeling a little better, they have the "full speed ahead" mentality, not knowing they are not fully well. They love playing and running so much that they try to block out the pain.
Hope he gets better.

Yes, this is his first back problem. It was trauma caused, too. He had rolled off my sofa because he was sleeping too close to the edge, and kind of slammed into the coffee table. I didn't see it, and he seemed okay at first, but a few days later, it was pretty clear he was down.

Barry · April 20, 2012, 07:13:39 PM

How old is Murphy? How is he doing now?

Kathleen · April 20, 2012, 07:48:55 PM

Murph turns 6 in late September. He's doing good. He's getting a little bit of time out of his pen, which makes him happy, and tires him out pretty fast, so he sleeps really well when we put him back in. He's completely off pain medication now and doing good. He's still showing a little bit of weakness in the left rear leg, but otherwise, you'd never know there had been a problem.

Barry · April 21, 2012, 01:13:48 PM

My Missy (wil be 7) in May had a flare up in January. The vet thought it was just a leg problem, but I thought it might be a back issue. She did the x-rays and the back looked good except there was a little cloudiness between one of the discs. She said that may be the area that is causing her discomfort. Only her right leg bothered her that is why the vet thought it was a leg issue because she said most dachsunds with back problems will have a issues in both back legs. Missy is doing good otherwise, but it seems if she is standing for a period of time, she will bounce her leg every now and then, maybe because there is some discomfort there.
Your Murphy is long (like my Missy) which isn't a good thing for dachsunds. We keep Missy in a pen during the day while at work (to keep her from jumping on things as our last doxie was paralized at 8 1/2 years old. So we have taken some precaution against the jumping, but even still Missy got back pain too) I have always kept my doxies a good weight because extra weight isn't good for the back. The problem with them being at a good weight is they can jump well. So either way there is a good chance of back problems.
Did your vet talk of acupunture? I made a post about it near the top of the page.