My frenchie Henni has suffered a herniated disc, because she was dragging her back legs and yelping when I picked her up. This involved an emergency visit to Dove Lewis and then a trip to Northwest Vet Specialist in Clackamas, an overnight observation stay and an MRI the next day to confirm the diagnosis. Now she has to be on strick crate-rest for the next 6-8 weeks. Has anybody gone through this and how did you cope with the sad faced look of her being confined to her crate most of the day, except for potty breaks!!!
Anyone got any good advice???? By the way she is only 26months old.

Poor lil' Henni! Yes, one of my frenchies suffered a pinched disc (since Henni's was officially 'herniated' your case my be more severe than mine!) when she was also quite young (2-3 years, as I recall). I can tell you that it was a bear having her be immobile for over a month. The saddest part is that with forcing her to remain still for so long, she didn't want to move much afterward! Even today (at the age of 6), she is much less mobile than my other frenchie and I often worry it was from all the bedrest! All I can tell you is that "mommy knows best" and it's much better to have a restricted frenchie than a painful one!

I don't know if your vet has told you this or not yet but this will probably be a lifelong issue. I have had to take care with my little girl over the years-making certain she doesn't jump, go up stairs and the like. So far I've been pretty lucky and she's only pinched a disc one other time since the original incident but again, I'm pretty careful with her and I think she's become accustomed to moving around a little less, in order to save her back. I also try to keep her pretty trim (which my vet told me would help in combating the back issues), which seems to help. The first time she pinched a disc she was a bit overweight and it was recommended to me that I put her on "fatty girl food." I think having her a little lighter on her feet makes it easier on her back.

I hope some of this has helped. Give your sweet little Henni a smooch for me and tell her "mommy knows best-it's bedrest for you!"

Thanks Kris, this has helped. The Vet did tell me that she is not to be using stairs, jumping up and especially down, in future. She is getting used to me carrying her up the stairs when we go to bed and being put in her crate on my bed. I have been taking her out to go potty and also letting her out in the lounge under my supervision where she mostly lies down and chews on her nylabones anyway. She is actually going back into her crate without much protest now. She is walking OK so obviously I am making her rest more than she normally would.I realise that this is going to be a life-long thing but hopefully she will also adapt - its good that frenchies are laid back dogs and not hypa, at least Henni is mellow in nature.

Sounds like you are doing all the right things. Henni is a lucky girl! :)

Your little Henni looks so sad. Don't these little Frenchie's have a way about them. I don't have any advice, but was wondering if you know of anything she might have done to herniate her disc. Our little Truffle is always jumping off of things and sometimes even jumping on them. She also likes a lot of exercise and goes on about a one-mile walk every day. Since she is our first dog, this seems like a good thing. But we really don't want to hurt her.

I hope your Henni gets back to peak health soon, and as one message indicated, a little less mobile Frenchie is better than not having her. Good luck.

Terri

Terri, since we have had Henni, she went up and down our 12 stairs as she pleased, jumped on and off the sofa and the bed. At the dog park, she learned to jump on and off the picnic table, via the seats as the other dogs there were doing it. However in the future, she will be carried up and down our 12 steps, no jumping off the sofa and no dancing on her hind legs trying to jump at something just our of her reach (per Vets instructions) otherwise she will be back where she was. She is doing fine - two weeks have gone by - another six to go on really restrictive exercise - then its gradually back to normal minus unnecessary stairs etc....

Thanks for the information. Truffle does some of these things, minus the steps. We can avoid most of them easily with the exception of the dancing on her hind legs. This is a huge part of her life, but we will try to encourage her to keep it at a minimum. It is so cute though. What a shame that it could be damaging. Good luck with your little Henni.

Terri

What a difficult and scary situation.

If you go to the Ask the French Bulldog Experts tab on the French Bulldog Z site, Dr. Lori Hunt, DVM of d'Assisi French Bulldogs addresses a number of spinal issues and has posted some helpful links.

http://www.frenchbull...

Best of luck for a speedy and successful recovery.

Donna
Gnosticfire French Bulldogs & Boston Terriers
Member PNWFBC & BTCWW