Dolly (?) and the crate????

[Sandishooligans]

Yep, that's right.  Miss Dolly Dollikers has decided that Maddie needs a buddy in her crate.  BTW, Maddie is taking to the crate  VERY well.  Dolly insists on being in the crate too and it's so sweet because she seems to know that Maddie can't be jostled and will just lay still with her and snooze.  They are facing me here in the Computer room (the crate gets moved to which ever room we're in) and I haven't heard a peep out of them.   :apls: to Dolly the BEST big sisser. 

Maddie still seems pretty stiff but isn't crying out as much.  We let her go 12 hours without a pill and she was starting to feel a little stressed or pained.  She is now pilled and resting.  I noticed this morning that although she is not holding her left leg, or limping, when I tried to manipulate it, she seemed to pull it away from me.  I'll see if this continues and then mention it to her Vet next week.  For now though, the crate has been a P.O.C.   I really thought we'd have a lot more protesting than this.  Asking for continued rays for little Maddie.  IF it turns out to be more than a sprain, I do believe I would look into the Chiropractic route before surgery.  We have a pet/people chiropractor in town (whom I have seen for myself) and she seems very good.

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Ugh I so feel for you, the crate stuff is not popular with the doxies kids. They just don't see the logic in it we do. :) I was moving crates at first and now I have just put a crate in every room so I can move her and not the whole crate.

I'm so sorry to hear she is still a bit stiff and or sore but it's still very early in her recovery. What I have learned from going through this is that the majority of the time with a doxie it is disc and without an MRI or myleogram (sp?) you can't tell for sure so to just treat as if it is a disc problem. Hallie's X Ray looked perfect, no calcification or disc space narrowing, etc, but that doesn't always tell the whole story. Has your vet mentioned putting her on pred or something similar? I now know that is the first line of defense for this, the ER vet was too conservative and put Hallie on Metacam to begin with (similar to rimadyl), I have since learned that pred is more effective and the drug of choice for disc problems in the beginning. She also told me to crate rest her for 10 days to 2 weeks which again I have since learned is far too short. 4-6 weeks minimum to allow it to heal (are you familiar with dodgerslist.com? Tons of great info and a forum there to help people going through this). Apparently a lot of doxies can relapse if taken off crate rest too soon, Hallie is looking normal at this point (actually she seemed normal the next morning after we were in the ER) but I am trying to stay tough and keep her quiet and crated (or right with me) for the full time to be safe.

I'm sure Maddie will be just fine! This darn thing hits way too many of our babies...but there are also tons of great success stories out there. Hang in there with her and I would keep her crated even after she looks like she feels well again to be on the safe side. I would also suggest leaving her on an antiinflammatory to get and keep the inflammation down so it can heal (that is the hard time when the inflammation is down thus masking the pain and they feel better so can reinjure...so very important to keep her confined even if she feels good). I was told to keep Hallie on hers for 2-3 days past when she seemed to feel good, to keep the inflammation down and give it a good start to healing.

I also was looking in to a chiropractor and an accupuncturist (did the accupuncture with Fred and Jessie) but I called the neurologist to ask his advice, as well as talked to 4 other vets (everyone seems to have differing opinions ARGH) and they had said chiropractors are not good while a doxie is having an episode as they need to be kept really still and no manipulations. But I have looked into something called VOM (I forget what it stands for...) which is a gentle type of chiropratic that is supposed to align stuff. (you can google it if interested as well...I have not talked to anyone who has done it but they make it sound good!) I am also looking for a place to do hydrotherapy once she is off her crate rest to get her muscles strong again.

I don't mean to be telling you something other than your vet suggests, she knows best! Just adding in the advice we have gotten, which will probably confuse the pot more than anything as there are so many suggestions out there!

Too bad we can't give them a book to read or a video game to play to make the hours go faster! Give Maddie and her REALLY GOOD BIG SISSIE a kiss for us both, Hallie sez she knows what you are going thru Maddie, the inhumanity of it all! Sounds like Maddie is being a really good crate inmate and getting lots of help from Dollers!

[Barb]

What a sweet sissie she is.......When Rudy has had his episodes in the past and has had to be crated - I always put Brandy's day bed right next to it and she stays right by him.  Good job Dolly girl !!!!  Still sending the doxie rays to the Maddaroo.....and keeping good thoughts that the rest and meds will heal her.

When Rudy had his episodes we were given Rimadyl and Metacam and they just weren't as effective for him as the pred.  When he hurt again after the initial one - I asked for the pred.    All our doggies are different though - just like us hoomans - so you have to determine what works best. 

Please keep us up to date on our Maddie !!!!  Too bad she and Hallie don't live closer together - all 3 girls could slumber party in the crate !!!

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

I was thinking the same thing, the girls could recover together! :)

Thanks for sharing that about the metacam Barb. It is good to hear everyone's experiences. You are right each are individual, that makes it harder to make decisions for us! But it's good to know what works the majority of the time so we have somewhere to start.

[Sandishooligans]

Good info, DD.  Thanks Barb for your insight, too.  I was noticing today and other days that Maddie seems to be really face shy.  Sometimes Dolly will bump her around her face and she squawks.  I have pet her around her face and she yips.  I wonder if she DID run into something and got her nose mashed?  Do ya think that kind of jarred her neck?  Maybe.  The Vet examined her neck quite thoroughly.  She didn't protest at all.  Who knows.  We'll continue as we are for now.  Hopin' for the best.

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

It could be that she did have some neck or back pain but not enough to be obvious and she was just guarding herself. Looking back now, I noticed for several weeks Hallie acting "slower" at certain times. I told her she was acting like a little ol' lady. It was small things but ones a mom notices. Maddie could have rammed into something, but with disc disease it is often not one or two incidences, it is more a wearing over time coupled with the predisposion to have this problem that does it. Both Jessie and Hallie, hadn't done a thing out of the ordinary when it hit them. That is why it's so important to not let them jump on furniture, steps, etc because it is the jarring and the wear over time that can catch up to them. I read that it is like a tire, over time the tread will wear thinnner and you don't know by the cars performance there is anything wrong. Then one day you run over something sharp and it will give you a flat tire. If the tread had been healthy and thick as in the beginning, the sharp thing would not have caused the flat. That is sort of how the discs work, you may not really see any signs until one little thing they do can cause it to flare up. All we can do is keep them as low impact lives as possible and try and keep them lean, in shape with moderate exercise, limit all jumping possible and good nutrition. The rest is out of our hands.

Do you give the girls any supplements? They suggest things like Vit C, Vit E, fish oil, Glucosamine and or Condroitin....

Also often a doxie who is hurting won't always exhibit the pain in a vets office because they are nervous and adrenaline is going, etc.

[Roberta]

Are'nt you a good sister.
PRED is the equivant of giving us a corisone shot, good for the short term, ie helps the healing, metacam is like voltarin, naprosyn and is a non steroidal, for long term use. I think we were  told it takes about a week for metacam to get up to speed,  similar to non steroidals in humans. Rymadyl I personally don't like as it was what Angus was on the night he  passed and I think it was the side effects that did not help his ailment.
But to all of you with sick kids hang in there they are in my thoughts.
Roberta

[Sandishooligans]

DD, the girls get Glacosomine every day.  Really seems to help Dolly on her pep.  I'm also very happy with Innova, which they LOVE and have been on for several years.  Rimodyl seems to agree with Maddie.  We're not overdoing on it, though.  So far, today is a good day.  She is presently crated right here with me and doin' good.

[Delia and girls]

What a good big sissie Dolly is! Keep us posted on Maddie's progress. I hope she gets to where she's not hurting soon. Prayers and rays going out to California.

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

it takes about a week for metacam to get up to speed

Hallie took it for 5 days...I wonder if it even had an effect then? That's good to know Roberta thanks!

You are a great Mom Sandi, I'm sure Maddie will be to her old self before you know it. Is she giving you the look yet? Hallie has graduated from a forlorn puppy look to a demanding BARK now and then! (she says it's just not funny anymore :))

[Roberta]

try giving her the bad hair day look then she might let you out. Also try the quick rapid arf arf arf, my mum says its the its me saying please please please.
Da udder hairy one

[Dee Dee and Hallie]

Auntie Roberta don't be giving these kid any ideas! LOL!