Jasmine's Disc Injury(?) Day Three

Day three, Jasmine looks depressed. 

I want my happy, vibrant Jasmine back. Archive photo

She looked more cheerful on day one, even with all the pain she was in. On day two she looked like her normal self. But now she looks down.

This could be happening either

• a side effect of the steroids she's on
• a result of being in more pain today, though it really doesn't seem to look that she is (she's moving well)
• a result of the house arrest which she hates

Yes, this time I didn't argue about the steroids. 

I always fought against putting her on them, however, there is a time and place for everything. Not that I'm happy about it, but this was the time when the steroids seemed necessary.

So while it made sense to put Jasmine on it, now I have the added benefit of worrying about side effects. And depression could be one of them. Increased thirst should be one of them but so far I'm happy to see Jasmine drink at least her normal amount. So I have to see how much of a problem that can be.

Jasmine will be on high dose for five days total, than tapered off. She was given a moderately high dose, 1.25 mg/kg/day.

We can increase her pain meds to see whether pain is behind her depression.

Her appetite, at least, is normal. And finally she pooped, even though it was fairly dry and compacted, at least something made its way out so hopefully this might return to somewhat normal.

It's also been a while now since she last urinated. Earlier she was asking to go out quite frequently but I suspect it might have been her plot to at least get out of the house that way. Normally she doesn't need to go very often. But I still need to monitor everything as at some point I might need to get concerned about her kidneys.

Either way, plenty of things to talk to her vet about on Monday morning.

To make drinking easier for her, we devised a raised bowl out of  a filing box and toolbox rubber matting, as she isn't too keen on my holding it up to her nose. So hopefully she might drink a bit more now.

I realized one thing - that I like the old problems so much better!

With those, I know what to do, or at least what to expect. This is an unknown territory, which makes it that much more stressful.

I also purchased some of the Through a Dog's Ear music for her to see whether that might do any good.

***

Related articles
A Time Bomb Ought To Go Off At Some Point, I Guess: Jasmine's Neck 
Jasmine's Disc Injury(?) Day Two

Further reading:
Slipped Disc, Bad Back, and Muscle Spasms in Dogs