The look on Doogie’s face told me everything. He hurt, and the
pain was intolerable. Mark and Ellen had brought Doogie into the
clinic first thing that morning because their little Dachshund had
been in a lot of pain for almost 12 hours.
The look on Doogie’s face told me everything. He hurt, and the pain was intolerable. Mark and Ellen had brought Doogie into the clinic first thing that morning because their little Dachshund had been in a lot of pain for almost 12 hours.
“He didn’t sleep hardly at all last night,” Mark told me. “Every time he tried to move, he would cry. Is there something we can give him?”
Doogie the Doxie was suffering from a sore back. In veterinary medicine, his condition is called Intervertebral Disc Disease. Disc disease can develop in any breed, but dogs with long backs (especially Dachshunds and Corgis) are more prone to it. And it can be very, very painful for its victims. Here’s why it is so devastating:
The spinal column is made up of a series of vertebrae. In a sense, these are like building blocks, and they are all connected by ligaments. Each vertebrae is separated from its neighbor by a disc, a small pouch-like structure that contains a substance with the consistency of semi-formed gelatin.
Discs are pads. They act as shock absorbers for the spine. They allow flexibility, but also prevent the vertebrae from contacting each other. In short, they keep the spinal column comfortable and they allow pain-free movement.
The large spinal nerve traverses through each vertebrae and sends out nerve roots very close to the discs. Some nerve roots are sensory (for feeling) while others are motor nerves that send signals from the brain to muscles throughout the body.
Trouble arises when a disc is damaged. Damage can occur from trauma or sometimes just from rough play. Repeated bruising of a disc can cause it to rupture. And even a minute hole in a disc, can allow some of the gelatinous material to ooze out and put pressure on nerve roots. The end result is a patient with serious pain or even paralysis. For many, the pain can be excruciating.
Treatment consists of potent doses of corticosteroids to reduce the inflammation in the affected area. In some patients, muscle relaxants and pain medications, including morphine derivatives, are also used. If a dog shows signs of motor nerve paralysis, risky surgery may be necessary.
Fortunately for Doogie, we were able to alleviate most of his pain in a short time with medications. He went home after 2 days in the hospital. For him, recovery was relatively quick and he felt more normal in a week or so.
The recovery for dogs that suffer partial paralysis can be much longer, sometimes lasting weeks to months. Intervertebral disc disease is a bad one, and as with many other problems, prevention is the best way to deal with it.
Several factors make a dog more susceptible to disc problems. Besides genetic tendencies in some breeds, there are other, more easily controlled factors.
The most important of these is body weight. Heavy dogs have a much greater chance of developing disc problems. Excessive weight puts tremendous downward pressure on the spine each time a dog jumps off the couch or a chair or even off the back steps. The longer the back and the heavier the dog, the greater the chance for problems.
Doogie was lucky this time. He returned to good health in short order, and his “parents” learned their lesson. He was put on a reducing diet and lost 5 pounds of extra fat he’d carried for a few years. He became a lean machine, according to Mark and Ellen. They told me that after a few months, he was taking longer walks and playing with his toys. And he really felt good all over again.
Q: My dog, Rex, is fat. We don’t feed him much, but he is so inactive that he can’t burn any calories. Are there any secret diets available to help him lose weight?
A: There are no special secrets to weight loss in dogs (or in people). But there are several health problems that can cause unexplained weight gain in dogs. The most common of these is Hypothyroidism (low thyroid hormone level). Without proper thyroid function, metabolism is slow. A patient with this disease feels tired all the time. Weight control is very difficult. The good news is that this problem is easily diagnosed with a simple blood test, and the treatment is effective, inexpensive and simple.
Take Rex in for an evaluation by his veterinarian and see if he has hypothyroid disease or some other problem that could account for his wide girth. Dietary management and special exercises may be also necessary to help him get over his weight problem and live a longer, healthier life.
Pete Keesling is a veterinarian at San Martin Veterinary Hospital and co-hosts Petpourri, a weekly show about pet health on KTEH in San Jose and a bi-weekly column for The Times. If you have any questions about pet care, please mail them to The Times, Attn: Vets, 30 E. Third St., Morgan Hill, CA 95037.
