Dachshund Disc Problems
Written by Ruby
My Miniature Dachshund is going through her first disc problems at age 6. I am beside myself wondering how I can help her get through 6 weeks of cage rest. She cries through the night, even though she does not have significant pain right now because she hasn't been crated since she was under 1 year old. Then when she finally is quiet, I worry about why she's quiet! According to the neurologist, she has very mild "ataxia", which I can't understand what that means and whether it will go away after this period of rest, but when I take her outside and watch her back end wobble around, I can't help but panic. Does anyone have experience with this? At what point is surgery a good idea? How does surgery compare to medical management when it comes to quality of life? Is there still a chance it will get worse, even after we follow the strict cage rest directions? What are the chances it will get better?
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Our 10 year old Dachshund had the Disc problem. We limited his activity and gave him the Meds for 6-7 weeks. He seemed to recover in about 4 weeks. It has been 5 months and he seems good as new. Our Vet told us the injured disc would come back stronger the the others due to the scare tissue but that does not mean another disc could go out. We keep him from jumping up on and down from furniture but his other running around and is back to normal. Best Wishes for your Mini.
Ruby, so sorry to hear your Dachshund is having disk problems. It is scary to see them it what looks like a lot of discomfort and staggering around. Ataxia just means a lack of muscle coordination that causes an abnormal or staggered walk. Although it is hard to see, the cage rest is crucial to her recovery, if she over does with too much activity she can do more damage.
It is great that your dog is being treated by a Neurologist. This type of injury is what they do and they know best. Each dogs case is individual but as a general rule as long as symptoms are minimal to moderate nuerololgical deficits (ataxia) and pain is controlable, then cage rest is the way to go. Again based on the case, surgery is usually considered when the dog has injuries that have caused severe neurological deficits (like the dog cannot walk) or the conservative treatment (cage rest) has not helped and there are recurrent episodes. Surgery is sometimes the only option for the continuation of a good quality of life.
So at this point, as long as you are doing your part with the cage rest and restricting activity, the recovery will just take time. Try to rotate her toys and make them interesting by adding a little peanutbutter or treats. You can give her frozen raw marrow bones from the butcher to chew on that will keep her busy for a while.
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