Herniated disc -please help!! (No, not Charlie thank god)

[Charliesmommy]

My mom has a poodle and about a year ago she accidentally stepped on the poor guy when he ran under her feet as she was getting out of the car and he now has a herniated disc in the area where she stepped on his back. She has since gotten him tons of Cortizone shots (let's not even go there) and she gives him aspirin every day but he is getting worse and worse.

My mom is the kind of person that would put her dog to sleep before she would pay for surgery, which is the only thing the vet is recommending. Does anybody have any ideas on alternative txtmts that could help the poor guy? He is only 5 and mom has said she will have him PTS if he gets any worse so I want to find something to help him. There is a holistic vet in the area but mom doesn't buy into that stuff and won't take him but I thought maybe if I get something to give her to give him, she might go for it. I just don't know enough about this stuff but there's got to be something!

 

[Charliesmommy]

Anybody???? I don't want this guy to be PTS!

 

[Miakoda]

Unfortuntaely, there are no fixes of herniated discs besides surgery.

 

[bluezano]

I have a 1 1/2 year old husky/border collie mix with intervetebral disc disease diagnosed at about 7 months old. She had this horrible episode where she cried out in pain and went into shock, then recovered about 15 minutes later. A few days later, same thing, except her back legs went numb and she had difficulty walking. Our vet eventually determined through x-rays that one of the discs in her back was pressing on the spinal cord. Since she was so young, rather than surgery, the vet recommended a course of prednisone, a muscle relaxer and strict crate rest for three months. Basically, she could walk around the house a little and go out to potty, but that was it. Scar tissue needed to form around the disc. She is now able to run and swim, but absolutely no jumping or rough play with other dogs. I also give her a massage about once a week and glucosamine and chondroitin daily. If her back gets worse at some point, then I am going to look into acupuncture, water therapy, and rolfing.

Has your mom's dog had any other treatment, or was the herniation so advanced that surgery was the only suggested course?

 

[Charliesmommy]

He has had several prednisone injections and the vet said he can't have any more due to the side effects. My mom's vet has a bit of a reputation for being well, let's just say, not so good. So I was hoping there was some kind of alternative treatment that would at least help him with the pain.