My 3 year old daschund has had two spinal operations in the last 6 months and recovered very well, but a third disc has just popped and the vet said all her discs are dry. He said we can do another surgery (£3000) or put her to sleep. I can't bear the thought of either option. She seems so happy but does shake with pain until I give her the painkillers and then she is back fine again but with a small limp. We would like to try box rest but am I just putting off the inevitable day ? Pleased o you know of any other treatment we can give her? What is best for her?

Have you looked into acupuncture? I know many a daschund owner that has had disc issues and acupuncture has saved the day..

Also, "the box" is your way of saying "the crate" (or cage?). Well, he does need "down time" to not be so physical. It's healing to lie down sometimes. It's not a prison sentence. Think of it as a playpen for the baby...

It sounds like your dog has seriously advanced disk disease. I'm not sure that there is much that can be done if you don't want to do the surgery. I am giving my dog Adequan to try and keep her bulging disk from actually rupturing, but I don't know that it does much good if the disk has already burst. But you could talk to your vet about it.

I had a dog that had similar scenarios and the doctor said that she had the same prognosis... either surgery or put the death...

I ended retraining her and providing her w/ a whole new set of rules. I just make sure there were no more jumping up on anything even up or down one step... Her life consisted of her 4 legs NEVER leaving the ground. For no reason what so ever.. so if you think about all the things she does w/ her front legs just know that they must be GLUED to the floor at all times of her life FOREVER, no exception.

This changed my dogs life. She was able to live w/ the pain. She was on pain killers, but they became less and less till she was able to be med free. She slept in her crate as her bed... she'd be put into the crate when we left the home, (with the door closed). She learned to love that crate... if was cozy and the crate was in every room we were in so she never felt isolated.

She lived a structured life... but she was a happy dog that no longer suffered from pain.

Dogs live IN THE MOMENT and the lifestyle that she'd had in the past no longer existed... the new one was just as happy. She was with me, she was satiated and she was pain free...

... Just food for thought.