Brief summary of what happened
The
swollen, herniated disc puts pressure on
the spinal cord and other nerve fibers in
the area. This is painful and the pressure
on the spinal cord prevents nerve impulses
from passing between the brain and the
rear part of the body. The animal may be
unable to walk or control its colon or
bladder. Severe damage to the spinal cord
can lead to total paralysis. Quoted
from Drs.
Foster & Smith Pet Education
What
to expect during pain healing
1.
PAIN control happens in
approximately an hour when a prescription is
customized to your dog for the dose, the
frequency and combination of pain
meds. There is no one-size-fits-all
pain relief.
Make sure the medications are fully
controlling pain from dose to dose with no
break-through in pain. Continued feedback to
your vet is vitally important until the pain
medications have been properly adjusted for
your dog.
Signs of pain are:
◻︎
shivering-trembling
◻︎ yelping when picked up or moved
◻︎ slow to
move
◻︎ tight tense tummy
◻︎ arched back, ears pinned
back ◻︎ head held high or
nose to the ground. ◻︎ looks up with just eyes
and does not move head and neck easily
◻︎ restless, can't find a comfortable position
◻︎ reluctant to move much in crate such as
shift positions
◻︎ holds front or back leg flamingo style not
wanting to bear weight
◻︎ not their normal perky selves
A 2-3 combo of pain meds is
often necessary to address each source of pain
during a disc episode:
- Tramadol as the general pain
reliever. It has a short half life of 1.7
hours and may need to be prescribed at a
minimum of every 8 hours.
- Methocarbamol treats muscle spasms
stemming from aggravated muscles due to
nerve trauma related to the spinal cord
inflammation.
- Gabapentin may be added to the mix
for hard to control pain. Veterinarians are
finding this medication works very well in
combination with Tramadol.
Prescription of an
anti-inflammatory such as a steroid
(Prednisone, Dexamethasone, etc.) or a NSAID
(Rimadyl, Metacam, Deramaxx, etc.)
should be accompanied by a stomach protector
such as Pepcid AC (Famotidine) to
avoid serious gastrointestinal damage. For
some dogs Pepcid AC needs to be accompanied
with yet another protector, Sucralfate,
when there are signs of GI problems of
diarrhea, vomit, bloody stools.
D/l and print the
handy reference card for vet visits to keep
all the various meds straight and which are
dangerous to use together.
An
anti-inflammatory (NSAID or steroid) can
take 7-30 day to resolve all pain. When
a vet guesses all painful inflammation is
gone, a test stop of the pain masking pain
meds and the NSAID is called for.
Steroids
can't be stopped, they are tapered. During the
test-for-pain taper and stopping of pain meds
is the time to watch for any signs that pain
is returning, an indication that more time on
the steroid is needed. After repeated attempts
to go off any anti-inflammatory, if pain
cannot be totally resolved, surgery is a
consideration.
NOTE: $4 for 30 tabs Generic Rx Programs at
Walmart, Target, Kroger's and other
stores. Offerings can change, call to
verify
- Prednisone*
2.5 mg, 5 mg (steroid anti-inflammatory)
- Famotidine 20 mg (stomach protector)
- Tramadol 50 mg (pain reliever)
- Meloxicam*
7.5mg (Non-steroid anti-inflammatory
-NSAID)
*
Steroid and
NSAID classes of anti-inflammatories
should not be used together. They require
a 4-7 day washout from the body before
switching between these two classes of
anti-inflammatories.
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Acupuncture/laser
light therapy can be started right
away to help reduce pain and
stimulate the nerves to repair.
Studies show pain actually slows the
healing process not to mention
enduring the pain from a disc
episode is torturous.
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