It’s heart-breaking to see an older dog struggling to get to its feet and not be able to go on its walks. At night, they may scrabble ineffectively to rise, becoming agitated and soiling themselves in the process.
Worse still is the small dog that becomes paralyzed from intervertebral disc disease. Some dogs can get out for their walks but have hunched stiff backs that make them stagger; or they may have to hop on one leg because of sciatica or a luxated patella.
All of these dogs suffer from diminished circulation to their spinal column that gets even worse in cold wet weather and especially at night, when they often wake their owners with their panting and pacing just to get the blood flowing through their aching joints. Some dogs even wake screaming at night if the stiffness has progressed to neck vertebrae fixations and spasms.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, pain relievers and steroids are often tried for these dogs, but if the pain or paralysis can’t be managed or they go on to become incontinent, many of them end up getting put to sleep.
Anti-inflammatory drugs work like icepacks, drawing blood away from an area, but these dogs need increased circulation to halt the degeneration and inflammation, restore suppleness, and relieve nerve and spinal cord impingement. Physical therapies like acupuncture, chiropractic and PEMF along with a real food diet help greatly to improve blood flow to the spine and so do formulas like Lumbrex, which has been used for these purposes for over 1400 years.
As circulation improves, older dogs become stronger within the first several days to weeks, allowing drugs to slowly be discontinued. Disc dogs may take a few months to walk again but chiropractic, acupuncture and PEMF expedites and improves results.
Once the maximum benefit of Lumbrex is seen, consider adding Voltrex to spark fruther improvements. For FCE cases or disc dogs where surgical repair was attempted but now the dog is worse, use Voltrex first. Transition to Lumbrex only once initial improvements are finally seen. Reduce dose in the event of loose stools
