Neuro Corner Answers
Dr. Andrew Isaacs
DVM Diplomate ACVIM (Neurology)
Dogwood Veterinary Referral Center
Primary interests include intervertebral disc disease, seizure management, luxations/fractures of the spine, and surgery for brain tumors
Question
LISA ASKS:
I recently became associated with Dodgerslist and am thankful for the support and community it provides dachshund owners like myself. My little guy, Bailey, is just about to turn nine.
He has undergone two IVDD surgeries; one about four years ago and the other about a year and a half ago. He recovered from both very well.
Recently, he has shown signs of beginning herniation again unfortunately. I’d like to note here that we keep Bailey from any steps or jumping at all! I know that sounds defensive but I love my dog greatly and I would never put him in an environment to exasperate his disease. Nonetheless, he is currently undergoing another episode. He is currently taking a tapering dose of prednisolone along with gabapentin and tramadol. We are about five days into the medication and he appears to be doing much better and seems to not be in any pain. We are not allowing him to move other than potty breaks so it seems the medical management may be working.
My questionis IF he doesn’t recover through the medical management or even encounters a future episode after this, is a third surgery an option… is it cruel? It seems like a lot to put him through but I will do everything to treat my buddy and am not asking from a financial perspective but more from a realistic perspective.
Thank you for any advice you may have and thank you so much for taking my question.
ANSWER
A third surgery is not cruel. Ultimately, you as Bailey’s advocate are the best to make the decision about his quality of life, but by no means would a third surgery be cruel. I would try to see how well he does with the conservative medical management, but if he does not respond or declines the next step would be to purse imaging to see what you are dealing with.
Andrew