Hi, while looking for information about my 15 yo beagle’s combination of symptoms, I came across IVDD and a youtube video about Hank by Dr. Krista Magnifico. Several years ago, my beagle started having short tremors that would last a few seconds. Those are fairly common now, occurring multiple times an hour. Last year, she became incontinent at night, and leaked sometimes during the day. She is on Proin for that, and it has mostly stopped that issue. And in the last few months, her legs have started giving out from time to time. She doesn’t seem to act like she’s in pain, though she pants a lot, but always has, especially in the evenings. I have some short videos showing the tremors and her legs giving out, and I can provide you a link to Google photos if Dr. Magnifico would view them and let us know if it looks like IVDD or not. Thanks!

HELP!!
I have a 3yo female Pom, Nomi, who is bullying our newly adopted female puppy, Ali.
Backstory: We had a senior Beagle (who recently passed away) and our current 3yo Pom. They got along very well tho the beagle was not in to playing with toys, he would play “wrestle” with Nomi. Nomi never had any aggression toward him (other than don’t go after my food) but she did like to boss him around….stay out of the garbage, don’t lick the dishes when the dishwasher is open sort of stuff. As said, our Beagle recently passed and we just (like yesterday) adopted a puppy, wanting to give Nomi another companion. Nomi is bullying the new pup; will not allow her to play with the toys…(.and we did buy new toys as we knew not to just give Nomi’s toys up for grabs)….will not allow her play freely, nips at pup if she makes sudden movements around her. Normally, Nomi is a very social dog with humans but has never been around dogs other than her beagle brother who was already here when Nomi came to us at 12 weeks old.

I need to know how to calm Nomi down and teach her it is ok for the new pup to play both with toys and in general. I need to know how to effectively “discipline” Nomi when she is mean to the pup without using tactics such as striking her or yelling. I have been giving her lots of praise in the moments when she doesn’t nip or growl at the pup, even treats. We’ve been very cautious to make sure we show Nomi affection right along with the new girl and we do not leave them alone together, and do not feed them together.

ANY help/advice would be so welcome as we want these two girls to get along and be pals for their sake and ours!

my 7 year old dog, we aren’t sure of breed, but we think a lab/beagle mix of some sort experienced extreme pain and loss of the use of his back legs 2 days ago. I immediately took him to the emergency vet. They told us med management and cage rest. They brought him to the car with the use of a sling for his hind legs stating he still had some movement of his hind limbs intact. 2 hours later I believed he had declined and had no use. I called back to the vet who made me feel guilty for asking for further evaluation stating she would not put a dog through an MRI and surgery that still exhibited neurological function. He cried all night long and every time I moved him to potty was in excruciating pain. he wouldn’t eat and no longer could void. I took him back to the vet the next morning where he received an MRI and underwent surgery for a ruptured disc. at that point he no longer had deep pain sensation. My question is did that delay diminish his chances of recovery? and what are the odds now? I’m just heartbroken for him and do not want him to suffer. I am a nurse practitioner and very willing to provide the care he needs however I don’t want him to be in long term pain or have a poor quality of life.

Hi Dr. Krista,

My name is Yana and I have beagle mix Charlie who injured his neck on 07/08/20 last week. We took him 10 flights of stairs for exercise and 30 min later he started crying in the dog park then yelping in the car and screaming at night. We took him to the ER and he was diagnosed with neck disc injury and prescribed Methocarbamol, Gabapentin, Tramadol and Caprofen. He seemed to be fine, not paralyzed but screaming 1-2 times a day usually on potty brakes. Then he started having episodes when he became more stiff and lifted his front paws…usually in the morning after sleep. We took him to a neurologist on 07/13/20 but he said he is 1 from 6 and not that bad. He stopped Caprofen and prescribed Prednisone, Fentanyl Patch and Acepromazine with other medications from the ER. So we were spacing out medications because we were afraid to give too much. He did not seem to be improving and we started all meds. He seems better after he screams like pressure relieved and he can lift his head and move more free.

Long story short, we placed him in a boarding hospital due to us living in a studio in highrise on the 10th floor, working from home and being 7 month pregnant. We are planning to visit another neurologist on monday and hopefully get x rays or mri.

Questions:

In your video with Hank he was paralysed and recovered in 17 days. So far I don’t see much positive progress in our dog and he is not paralized. How much chance do we have or what we should do moving forward?

October 2019 he had a similar episod and I took him to the vet, no x-rays were performed. Two reasons indicated neck or teeth. More towards teeth inflammation which I was focusing on by brushing and adding supplements. Medications prescribed Cephalexin and Carprofen. He got better in 3 days but his screams were not that severe. Should we try Cephalexin?

Any help, suggestion on advice will be highly appreciated! If we can bring him to your facility for boarding and recovery at least till he doesn’t have those screams we would like to do that! Please let us know how much it costs since it adds up quickly and I know that surgery is very expensive.

IVDD – Beagle
My 9 year old beagle is displaying symptoms of IVDD. Currently he is still able to walk. He holds up a paw when he stands but does have pain in the neck area. He has been displaying these symptoms for a month. This is the third times he has had issues with this leg which we always assumed was so sort of sprain and was helped by rest. The nuroligst wanted to do an emergency MRI and possible surgery if the MRI confirmed IVDD. However, his symptoms don’t seem nearly as bad as other have expressed. Is surgery really the way to go if I can afford it to help him heal the quickest? I want him to heal as quickly as possible, but I am nervous that the surgery seems risky. Any advice?

Five days ago my 7year old German Shepherd was out side playing and running with my beagle puppy. Next thing I know she is yelping in pain and rolling around on the ground. By the time I get to her she has stopped crying out and is laying still. I realize both hind legs are paralyzed. We immediately take her to the vet and she is examined. She doesn’t appear to be in any pain and she DOES have deep pain sensation! She is immediately started on Steroids, Muscle Relaxers, and Anti Inflammatories. She remains at the vets for five days and receives cold laser therapy and a small amount of PT. She never looses her DPS and really seems to be in good spirits. I took her home yesterday and I am determined to help her regain her mobility. I do not have a true diagnosis and seeing a Neurologist is not going to happen due to finances and living so far from one. My vet told me to take her home and gave me range of motion exercises and told me to buy her a harness. He said it will just take time. She is able to relieve herself without help! She is reacting more each day to us touching her legs and back!!
I am so confused and have read everything I can find on the subject and can’t get any answers. Should I start working with her and letting her walk or should I confine her to her kennel for a while? Should I use a harness or not? I just wish I had some answers!! Please help!!

my 8 year old beagle has a re-occurrence of IVDD. He has had surgery in his lumbar, thoracic and cervical areas – all within 2 years. His most recent 2 surgeries were thoracic in June 2019 and cervical in August 2019. He is now displaying symptoms of another disc problem. Help. Surgery is not an option anymore. He moving his back legs but seems to be getting worse. We have confined him but …. I don’t want him to have a life of paralysis. Is there light at the end of the tunnel here if we stick with conservative treatment. He does not appear to be in pain. We have been in contact with our regular vet but he can only do so much. Our neurologist always says the same thing to get an MRI and the MRI is another $2,000. I hate to bring money into this as a factor but I really think this will continue to happen. He lost over 12 pounds, got his harness, restricted his activity. We thought we did the right things. Has anyone had similar experiences. What about a doggie wheelchair. Any thoughts.

My 24 pound beagle, Shadow, jumped on the counter and stole a chocolate cupcake off of it. The recipe called for half a cup of cocoa powder and it made around 16 cupcakes (she only stole one).

Is this toxic and should I go to the vet immediately or is it only a certain amount of chocolate that would affect her?