# advice on making lower back pain go away



## frebay (Aug 25, 2008)

Hi,
We have a VERY energetic 5 year old maltese. On 8/8/08 he whimpered in pain and we noticed that he wasn't doing his usual things, jumping on the sofa, peeing on trees while going for a walk, and not going up the stairs. We were very worried and took him to the vet, where as usual he showed no signs of pain. The vet suggested blood work and gave him a shot for pain. A week later it didn't go away, although he started going up the stairs very gingerly and would not stand on his hind legs. Whenever I touched his lower back he would yelp in pain. Because of this I took him to the vet for a second time, and this time we got xrays, and he showed no pain at the vet. The vet gave him another shot for pain, and put him on pregnisone for 3 days. It's now past the 3rd day and he shows no signs of getting better. The vet also said this back pain is normal in small dogs and should go away in about a month. It's now the 18th day and I am getting worried. He has no pain going downstairs so we are assuming his front back/legs are fine. Any advice is greatly appreciated.


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Back pain is not normal. It indicates that he has an injury or some other problem (bladder infection, kidney infection). Did the vet see anything on the radiographs? If your vet cannot help you past saying it is normal, I would seek a second opinion and get to the bottom of it. In the mean time, no running, jumping, stairs, etc.


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## frebay (Aug 25, 2008)

if he is going pee and poop normally can he still have a bladder or kidney infection? after the vet looked at the radiographs, he said all his organs look fine and everything is normal.

QUOTE (JMM @ Aug 25 2008, 11:55 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=624655


> Back pain is not normal. It indicates that he has an injury or some other problem (bladder infection, kidney infection). Did the vet see anything on the radiographs? If your vet cannot help you past saying it is normal, I would seek a second opinion and get to the bottom of it. In the mean time, no running, jumping, stairs, etc.[/B]


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Normal x-rays do not rule out referred back pain (ie your belly hurts from a kidney infection and it appears like you have back pain) or soft tissue injuries/disc injuries in the back.


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## paris (Apr 8, 2005)

QUOTE (frebay @ Aug 25 2008, 01:16 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=624635


> and he showed no pain at the vet.[/B]


Just because he didn't show pain doesn't mean anything. My vet said that most animals will NOT display pain while in his office. The animals tend to mask their pain. This is why he is a firm believer that "the owners know best".


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## frebay (Aug 25, 2008)

i just followed up w/ the vet again, he looked over the xrays and said kidneys and bladder were fine, and keep him on the pregnisone for a couple more days. if it doesn't go away, i will get a second opinion.


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## Maidto2Maltese (Oct 19, 2004)

Personally, I would seek a second opinion sooner rather than later. For a vet to say back pain is 'NORMAL!" seems outrageous to me .


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## njdrake (Apr 23, 2007)

Back pain is NOT normal. I'd go to another vet. I just had a back problem with Zoey a few weeks ago and she's fine now. The vet did x-rays and she had inflammation around two of her discs. The vet put her on a low dose of prednisone and said to keep her as quite as I could for a couple of weeks and take her back to be checked. She said I caught it really fast before it got very bad. It didn't even take the whole two weeks and she was fine. I hope this is the same for you but you need to get to a vet that will take this more seriously. That is just not normal and you need to find the cause. Keep us posted.


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## jodublin (Sep 27, 2006)

poor baby ,its sad to see his in pain :sLo_grouphug3:


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## Ladysmom (Oct 19, 2004)

As someone who suffered with back pain most of my life until I finally had surgery over ten years ago, I can tell you that xrays alone don't tell you much. Soft tissue damage, disc problems, etc. do not show up on an xray.

If it were a simple inflamation, steriods would have made a big difference in almost three weeks. I would take him to an orthopedic vet sooner rather than later as the inflamation and spasms will only get worse.


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