Great Clint
Those Preds are a great thing- use them on occasion myself.

Well since we have tapered dosage the swelling is back a little, but he is still his same old self and seems to be feeling well.  Even went for a run with the wife Sunday.

Clint S
Well since we have tapered dosage the swelling is back a little, but he is still his same old self and seems to be feeling well.  Even went for a run with the wife Sunday.

 I'm really glad the meds are making him comfortable!  Awesome that you are getting some extra time to enjoy him!

Well the swelling is back to what it was a few weeks ago, but he is still acting fine.   He is snoring alot at night.  Upping roids to full dosage every day  and hoping

  Hey Clint, I don't want to go into great detail reiterating what others have said, especially Fisherlady2, but there were others as well, too many to name. In short, I believe you made the right decision. Keep him comfortable and don't hesitate to ask the vet for pain pills. That's much more than an animal, it's family and many of us understand that. Most of all, when you know it's time, let the Vet do his/her job and consider euthanasia. It's the right thing to do. I had an Aunt that loved her dog so much and everyone could see it was suffering greatly, could barely walk. I offered to take him to the Vet and she declined saying "I love him too much" when in reality she just couldn't let go. We all felt so terrible for that poor dog.

My daughter's 3.5 yr old Llasa started walking funny about a month ago, and she and my wife dismissed my observation as just her reaction to the snow and ice.  Last week she started having problems standing up, and as of this AM, can't get up on her hind legs.  The Vet said it is compression, like a slipped disc, and gave her some different kinds of meds to keep her down and  relax it back into place so the bone stops rubbing on the spinal chord.  But when called this AM, he says the only option is surgery at $7000, no gaurantee, mind you.  I don't have that kind of cake lying around and if I did, it would be paying a down on a new vehicle.  But if we put this pup down, I'm going to be on the shazit list with my wife and daughter for probably ever.  And it is not exactly making my day to think about either, I've gotten pretty fond of the little thing.  Oh Woe is me!
 
L13

Lucky13
My daughter's 3.5 yr old Llasa started walking funny about a month ago, and she and my wife dismissed my observation as just her reaction to the snow and ice.  Last week she started having problems standing up, and as of this AM, can't get up on her hind legs.  The Vet said it is compression, like a slipped disc, and gave her some different kinds of meds to keep her down and  relax it back into place so the bone stops rubbing on the spinal chord.  But when called this AM, he says the only option is surgery at $7000, no gaurantee, mind you.  I don't have that kind of cake lying around and if I did, it would be paying a down on a new vehicle.  But if we put this pup down, I'm going to be on the shazit list with my wife and daughter for probably ever.  And it is not exactly making my day to think about either, I've gotten pretty fond of the little thing.  Oh Woe is me!
 
L13

 I don't know if you can find a holistic vet, or a chiropractic experienced vet in your area or not... but if you can I would go that route before euthanizing or surgery.  I had a husky mix who jumped off of a retaining wall as a 5 month old pup and subluxed 3 vertebrae.  My vet at the time was into holistic medicine and prescribed muscle relaxants, anti inflammatories and rest initially, then she performed chiropractic manipulation to slide the spine back into line.  She repeated the adjustments about 1x week for a month, then monthly for a couple of months, then infrequently till Sadie was about 2 years old.  Sadie would sometimes have bladder leakage when the area swelled and put pressure on the nerves to the bladder but that was about it.  A Baby Aspirin or two would help that.
 At the age of 7 Sadie hit the edge of a raised flower bed when running full speed around a corner and it tore all of the ligaments in her hind leg/knee.  One of the ligaments pulled a large chunk of bone out with it and it broke into pieces in and around the joint.  2 vets told me to have her put down.  I went to a 3rd who I was told to try and he had her in surgery the next day and rebuilt the joint and reconnected everything with a prognosis of 85% of normal usage.  She recovered to nearly 100% and it was rare to ever even notice a difference in her gait...
 Both times I found a viable but unusual option that wouldn't cause her a lot of pain or suffering and would return her to a very good quality of life... that was the deciding factor for me... if she couldn't recover to happy and active I wouldn't do it... I was blessed to find the right vet and both recoveries were great.
 Sadie lived a full and wonderful life till her heart failed at just over 15 years old.  If my vet hadn't been willing to try something different at the time she would have been put down and I would have lost the chance to enjoy the time I had with her....
   I would be looking for a second opinion...
 
Edit to add.... both times I was lucky enough that the treatments were actually very affordable.. I wouldn't be able to do 7K out of pocket for any treatments. Seems like vet care costs have skyrocketed as bad as human health care.

That sux a giant bagodicks Lucky.
I loved my pup and cried like a baby when we had to put him down.
But that said I would have a hard time spending that kind of cash out of pocket on mt own health.
No hyperbole.
I put off the neck surgery for years because while the pain was extreme the cost of the surgery made me balk.
Until I was able to be on my wife's insurance (pre existing conditions were allowed were allowed) it was grin and bear it.
Justifying that kind of outlay for a dog , no matter how much I love him is beyond my logic.
Good luck figuring it out.
 

Well L I am truly sorry about the dog.  It is a very tough decision, but 7k is alot.  
 
An update on mine.............
I was actually coming on to post here.     His breathing  is getting bad and every breath is like a snore.   He seems to be in good spirits and will eat if I mix canned food in with the dry. He is still begging for scraps and wants to go outside off the rope to wander.  
 
He was quite bad when I got home , breathing was very raspy and his jowels were swollen,  but he met me at the door.  I am hoping the Prednisone is wearing off after 24 hours and he gets bad,  as he often will get a bit better a few hours after the nightly pills.   Last ditch I will try a pill in the AM and one in the PM and see if that is better.   That said if he is not a bit better tomorrow AM  than he is now I am calling in sick and we will go on our last ride up to the river........................
 
As I type he is standing by the stove hoping a piece of something falls on the floor.   I just want him to go out with some dignity and it is quite difficult to tell if he is suffering with this raspy breathing.    I also do not want him to  lose his breath when we are not home as that is no way for anyone to go.   

Well he is doing alot better this AM with some of the swelling gone and the breathing is a bit better.   I think this medication switch may get him a few more days.  At least for the moment I can tell he is in good spirits and not suffering that much.   We will see what tomorrow brings.