Seeking Advice Please
Looking for guidance on our 2nd IVDD experience
This is Frank, he started experiencing IVDD symptoms in January of this year right after he turned 4 years old. We have always had stairs and took the best precautions as we could since we knew this could happen to our mini dachshund but it still got him. In January, his symptoms were shaking, yelping, fatigue, and standing in weird positions. We took him to the vet and they started him on Carprofen and Trazodone. That same night, he went from just those symptoms to full blown rear legs paralysis. We rushed him to the 24/7 veterinary specialist hospital and he got an MRI and we went through with the $7,000 surgery. When we picked him up after a couple days staying in the care of the nurses, he ran when he saw us. It was the best feeling, he could walk, run, and was back to normal although we did the needed recovery crate rest.
All has been well with him since then until a couple days ago. He hasn’t been himself but it’s more mild this time. Only symptoms have been some whining and shaking. However, yesterday, he started to wobble and stumble. We immediately began crate rest and have started him back on Trazodone to keep him calm and Carprofen that we have left over from his previous injury. We are planning on strict 24/7 crate rest for 6-8 weeks.
He is in a small metal crate with two stuffed animals and blankets to keep him comfortable. We only let him out to eat/drink and go potty. He spends about an hour in total out of the cage a day.
Im just looking for any advice or guidance. Is there anything more we should be doing during this process? I don’t think another surgery is in the cards for us so we are trying to heal his spine with the crate rest. Please give any suggestions for how to make our boy as comfortable as possible with the best success rate at healing his spine.
What are the best red light therapy options for him, does it really work?
Should we take him to the vet or are we doing exactly what they would tell us?
Are there any other medications usually used for crate rest/rehab for this stage?
Is 6-8 weeks the ideal timeframe for crate rest? How will we know it’s been long enough?
Any help is appreciated! He is our best friend and will do anything to get him feeling better and healed. This is taking a huge toll on us. January was the hardest time and this is all hitting us once again. We love him so much and want the best life for him.