Help with crate rest 101
Hi everyone, our 6 going on 7 year old pomchi (12lbs) had his first IVDD incident last night. Screaming/yelling after jumping off the bed and then temporary loss of back legs completely. Back legs have been coming and going since. Got him into the vet today and she gave him meds and said 6-8 weeks of crate rest (she’s gonna see him again in 2 weeks). She kind of explained crate rest and thought we understood in the moment but of course it’s been a whirlwind and I just found this group and am looking though past posts as I can but just wanted some clarity/best practices.
We need to keep him in the crate as much as possible, that part seems obvious/easy.
Going to the bathroom; she said to support him and carry him outside to the grass. He’s peeing fine, not sure on poops yet but think he went this morning so will make sure he goes in the morning since he didn’t tonight. Is it ok to carry him to the grass and then let him sniff around (hobbling) until he pees/poops? He likes to “find the right spot” every time.
She said a sling was optional but with how much it seems like he is having trouble with the back legs seems like it could be useful? Is this something we should do while he goes potty?
I guess adding on to the sniffing around thing he does seem to get a little more control over his back legs after he gets going a little bit after leaving the crate. But I’m worried this is too much movement.
She also mentioned a brace for when he heals up but is this something he could/should wear while recovering??
Appreciate all the help from the Reddit community ❤️
This really sucks 😔
(Pictured: the goodest boy a couple of weeks ago before all this)