Cage rest for spinal cases

RE: Cage rest for spinal cases

Martin Atkinson — Mon, 27 Feb 2017 10:46:19 GMT

I am at a quandary understanding why one star man felt it necessary to apply his touch to my post. The simple fact is the OP has not told us what the cause of the back pain is so how can we make a judgement on treatment protocol, everyone seems to assume that the dog has a disc prolapse but we don't know that. Grow up.

RE: Cage rest for spinal cases

Lindsey Edwards — Sat, 25 Feb 2017 21:18:26 GMT

Pain and no proprioceptive deficits I advise confine to the ground (not laminate floors etc) and prevent access to chairs/stairs etc. Often equates to a very large crate for small dogs or a downstairs room with rubber mats. Gentle self movement is my preferred recommendation for muscle spasm pain with leash/harness walking for toileting. Explain carefully about the risk of disk rupture if dog jumps down off furniture and generally compliance is good. Any proprioceptive deficits or stumbling/knuckling to be reported immediately!

RE: Cage rest for spinal cases

Martin Atkinson — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 17:46:29 GMT

[quote user="Suzanne Kelly"]

Hi all,

I was just wondering what the current thinking was on cage rest for dogs with spinal pain and no proprioceptive deficits. AFAIK in humans the days of bed confinement are over and we're encouraged to try and keep moving. With dogs I usually advise gentle lead excercise if there are no proprioceptive deficits. Am i wrong? Should I be caging them?

Thanks,

Suzanne

[/quote]There are lot of things that can cause spinal pain so you need a diagnosis before you can get a straight answer on this question. Simple answer if exercise is likely to make it worse i.e. disc prolapse then rest, if its just painful let the dog decide.

RE: Cage rest for spinal cases

grumpyoldman — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 23:04:06 GMT

The important factor is the rate of change and deterioration, a dog that is grade 1 at 9 am can represent at 7 pm with grade 4 or 5 problems. If you cant do the imaging and surgery send it to someone who can. They are better hospitalised for regular neurological evaluation, Grade 2 cases recover a lot quicker than grade 4. Do not start what you cannot finish, X-raying these animals then sitting on the fence is just wasting time and money.

RE: Cage rest for spinal cases

Busybee — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 20:44:16 GMT

If we're suspecting disc disease causing the spinal pain -

- if painful but no proprioceptive deficits, adv strict rest (cage or severe restrictions at home; on lead out to toilet only) and recheck in 24-48hrs to ensure not worsening. With some owners, I show them how to monitor proprioception by flicking the paw over and tell them to phone me if the dog doesn't replace the paw normally. Warn of risks of deterioration and further options eg. referral, especially if proprioceptive deficits develop. Most referral centres won't worry about them as an emergency unless they have proprioceptive deficits.

- once proprioceptive deficits develop, discuss and advise referral if possible. If referral not an option, employ strict cage rest for around 4 weeks.

We had an owner with a pack of Dachshunds of which two (so far!) have suffered IVDD. Both presented with proprioceptive deficits. He initially refused referral for the first one then changed his mind - the dog was operated on 72hrs after initial presentation. The second one was referred immediately and had surgery the same day. The second dog has a vastly greater range of normal motion than the first dog and barely any residual deficits. I know n=2 but once proprioceptive deficits develop and referral is an option, get them gone asap!

RE: Cage rest for spinal cases

Anthony Dennison — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 12:37:52 GMT

I think the difficulty is with canine spinal cases the amount of exercise can only be controlled so much - yes the strict instructions for lead walks only a couple of times a day might be followed, but how good is client compliance?

Once the dog has been walked, it's then allowed to run around the house, up and down stairs, up and down on furniture (even if this has been banned by the vet - compliance issue again).

If the spinal pain is brought under control by decent analgesia, the dog will feel better and want to return to normal activity. The owner will see the dog is looking better, and probably push the limits of what was instructed by the vet.

The idea of cage rest I think is to allow the inflammation from the bulging disc to settle, and perhaps for some scar tissue to form to stabilise things a bit (the opposite of what is wanted with humans), though I'll probably be corrected by someone with more experience.

Anecdotally, my nurse has had 3 spinal ops. When she had nerve deficits she wasn't allowed out of bed to start with