Please say a prayer for my dog

[Brasscatz]

I know this is a little unusual, but our dog is our child. He's 8 years old now and is our life. We were only together for about 2 months before we got him, and we don't really know life without him. He's had some back problems in the past, but nothing this serious. A few days ago he started acting weird, and somewhat in pain. He whined thursday morning when I went to pet him before I left for work, and I took him to the vet that day. We weren't sure where the pain was, and the vet didn't find anything, but it became apparent last night.

We were watching TV on the couch, the dog laying on my wife, and when we went to get up he started screaming in pain and laying curved on my wife's lap. I rushed over and felt along his spine and felt a knot, kinda like a big muscle cramp/spasm. I was able to massage it out and he was fine after. Well, we went to bed and at 2:30 this morning we woke up to him screaming again. Our hearts just broke. I ran around the bed (he sleeps on the other side of my wife) and rubbed the knot out of his back again. We didn't sleep the rest of the night.

We left a voicemail for our vet and laid in bed rubbing his back until morning. The vet called and we picked up some doggy pain killers until the head Dr. (my wife used to work for him, so we wanted the best) can take some x-rays. The only thing the x-rays will be able to show us is if there is a skeletal problem. A few of the other options could be a bulging disc, nerve problems, etc. We'll be able to go in Tuesday for the x-rays, but if he gets any worse, we'll take him in earlier for the other Dr. to x-ray him.

Believe it or not, there are chiropractors for animals. We had his back adjusted years ago when his last problem happened. That Dr. unfortunately moved away, so we'll have to find another one if that ends up being his diagnosis.

The prayer request is so that our baby boy isn't in pain and that it is a very minor issue. We can't imagine life without him, and don't want to lose him.

Thank you in advance.

[4.3LXJ]

Sent one up for all of you Jim

[Brasscatz]

Thanks Steve. It's a tough day. We can tell he's in constant pain, and it seems every hour or so it really cramps up on him bad. I just put a little heating pad on his back and hopefully that will get those muscles to relax a bit more.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 because my microwave couldn't do it

[Mudderoy]

Thanks Steve. It's a tough day. We can tell he's in constant pain, and it seems every hour or so it really cramps up on him bad. I just put a little heating pad on his back and hopefully that will get those muscles to relax a bit more.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 because my microwave couldn't do it

Where on the back is it? I read it is commonly in the neck area.

[EekGirl96]

Poor guy :( sending well wishes your guys's way!!!

[Brasscatz]

Where on the back is it? I read it is commonly in the neck area.

about 3/4 towards his tail

[runnerswife]

Poor little dog. We will pray here too.

[bluedragon436]

Poor guy... Def well wishes for him... and hope they doc is able to find something this time around and it is something fairly easy to get him back up adn running around in no time!!

[OrangeXJ]

done our dogs are like our kidds too

[XJ Wheeler]

You got it bro! I'm a pet person too and they just become such a part of your life and family. Hope the little guy feel better soon.

Sent via messenger pigeon - i talk, he types.

[Dredwolf]

Prayers sent! In addition to 3 human children and 2 grandchildren (so far), Christina and I have fuzzy kids too!

They become part of the family!

[Mudderoy]

about 3/4 towards his tail

You probably already searched and read the same thing. Most things are pretty bad, but a few referred to a virus and this brought on by a mosquito bite. Hopefully it's something that is short term and everything will get back to normal.

[Brasscatz]

Thanks Muddy, yes, thankfully he doesn't show many symptoms of encephalitis but we're going to have blood work done as well to check for several things.

Last night was a little bit better than the night before, but we still didn't get much sleep. He does appear to feel a bit better with the pain meds we have him on and every time his muscles are really tight, I put that heating pad on him which also seems to help.

[Brasscatz]

ok, time for an update. Good and bad news. The good news is that the xrays came back normal, but based off everything we've told the Dr., his gut feeling is the neck is injured somehow. This could be caused by age and the constant jumping off of our bed and couches for years and years. He was given an steroid injection and prescribed Prednisone which is also a steroid. After 2 weeks or so, this should clear up. We have to limit his exercise, and continue the massaging and heat pad.

The bad news is my baby boy is still in pain. He had another pain attack in the middle of the night last night, and yet another today a few hours after we got back from the vet. I rushed over and paid attention to his neck this time (I had been focusing on his back every other time) and he did NOT like me touching his neck. So I said no shit... it IS his neck. It was hard as a rock and I could barely touch it without him crying more. It eventually subsided thank God. I called the doc immediately after he calmed back down and if he still has these attacks by next Thursday, we'll add in a muscle relaxer. I sure hope that he feels better sooner than 2 weeks because I don't know if I can take my little guy in so much pain much longer. I can only imagine if he was my real child.... it's heart-breaking enough being my 4-legged child.

Thank you for your prayers so far, and please say a few more for him. Maybe slip one in for my wife too, she's taking this even harder. She has been averaging about 2 hours of sleep a night through this.

[XJ Wheeler]

Thanks for the update bro. I'll continue praying.

Sent via messenger pigeon - i talk, he types.

[Mudderoy]

ok, time for an update. Good and bad news. The good news is that the xrays came back normal, but based off everything we've told the Dr., his gut feeling is the neck is injured somehow. This could be caused by age and the constant jumping off of our bed and couches for years and years. He was given an steroid injection and prescribed Prednisone which is also a steroid. After 2 weeks or so, this should clear up. We have to limit his exercise, and continue the massaging and heat pad.

The bad news is my baby boy is still in pain. He had another pain attack in the middle of the night last night, and yet another today a few hours after we got back from the vet. I rushed over and paid attention to his neck this time (I had been focusing on his back every other time) and he did NOT like me touching his neck. So I said no shit... it IS his neck. It was hard as a rock and I could barely touch it without him crying more. It eventually subsided thank God. I called the doc immediately after he calmed back down and if he still has these attacks by next Thursday, we'll add in a muscle relaxer. I sure hope that he feels better sooner than 2 weeks because I don't know if I can take my little guy in so much pain much longer. I can only imagine if he was my real child.... it's heart-breaking enough being my 4-legged child.

Thank you for your prayers so far, and please say a few more for him. Maybe slip one in for my wife too, she's taking this even harder. She has been averaging about 2 hours of sleep a night through this.

I can't remember what I read in the research now, but I do recall the neck area being the most common place.

[Brasscatz]

Alright, time for an update. It has taken a long time plus muscle relaxers, steroids and high dosage pain killers, but he seems to be back pretty much to normal!!! We are in the process of weening him off all the meds and we're still having to restrict his exercise which is pretty tough with him. He's pretty restless and wants to run around and play, but we can't let him yet. It is truly a gift to see him back at this level of wellness! Let's just hope he continues to feel well and has a long happy life! Thank you to all for your thoughts and prayers!!

[XJ Wheeler]

Alright, time for an update. It has taken a long time plus muscle relaxers, steroids and high dosage pain killers, but he seems to be back pretty much to normal!!! We are in the process of weening him off all the meds and we're still having to restrict his exercise which is pretty tough with him. He's pretty restless and wants to run around and play, but we can't let him yet. It is truly a gift to see him back at this level of wellness! Let's just hope he continues to feel well and has a long happy life! Thank you to all for your thoughts and prayers!!

Good to hear it!

Sent via messenger pigeon - i talk, he types.

[bluedragon436]

Glad to hear that he seems to be coming back to his normal self... Hopefully after having the down time it'll help with any of the issues that he had!!

[EekGirl96]

Glad to hear that he's getting better Jimmy boy!!!

[Mudderoy]

Alright, time for an update. It has taken a long time plus muscle relaxers, steroids and high dosage pain killers, but he seems to be back pretty much to normal!!! We are in the process of weening him off all the meds and we're still having to restrict his exercise which is pretty tough with him. He's pretty restless and wants to run around and play, but we can't let him yet. It is truly a gift to see him back at this level of wellness! Let's just hope he continues to feel well and has a long happy life! Thank you to all for your thoughts and prayers!!

This is great and to be honest I didn't expect this outcome. Great news.