Hello All,

I am new to the team however have had husky's as part of my life for ever. I am in need of assistance regarding our 11-13 year old husky named Misty. She is currently at the Vet awaiting an MRI for potential IDD (intervertebral disc disease) or slipped disc in her back / neck area.
My question to the team is regarding crate rest.

1. Any suggestion on best crate size? How to help her ease into crate rest when she has never been crated? Suggestions on treatment for IDD / slipped disc? Any suggestion or help is greatly welcomed and appreciated.

Thanks to everyone for support.
Scott

I have an XL crate for mine. Since you have passed the potty training stage the crate sizing is less important. Making sure that there's no "extra" room is more important when potty training and trying to discourage going in the crate. I would get a roomy crate and set it up in the house now and just start feeding meals in it without closing it. Get her used to standing in it and get used to it being there. I'm not sure if this will be a surgery type situation or just a treat with anti-inflammatory meds and rest. You may also be able to just get away with a fence or pen depending on your dog. I haven't dealt with back issues but have dogs with hip problems and I avoid stairs if we have one with pain issues when going out to potty and they go on leash. Lots of mental stimulation. If your dog is food motivated you may look into puzzle treat toys that she can work on for a bit. The himalayan chews keep my dogs occupied for a while.

Hi Twister II,

Thanks for the information and advise.  We will be looking for the cage today as well as toys so that she has them when she comes home from the vet.  It looks like we are going to try to treat with medication and lots of rest.  We called this morning and for her morning walk she did whimper a little bit in pain.  BTW our husky is white and looks a lot like yours.
Thanks,
Scott

Aw, she does look like my white boy a bit. My white is the one that has the hip issues that sometimes I have to adjust life for a bit. I hope she gets to feeling better soon.

I just started shadow on dasuquin a few days ago for suspected hip issues. So far it seems like its helpful. I have a size large wire crate that the 3 big ones use if needed. Its a little small for shadow but really i got it for squirt.

Hopefully your pup feels better soon. One toy shadow really likes is any type of toy with a knot. He likes to untie them.

I know this is an older post, but I was wondering what the final diagnosis was for your pup? My 12 year old was given an MRI with similar results of 3 bulging discs in her neck. They thought the same initially, IDD, but then determined it to be an autoimmune disease falling under MUE that was attacking her spine. Some prednisone, gabapentin, trazodone, and immunosuppressants. I mention this due to another question, was your pup on similar meds during the initial healing process of gabapentin and trazodone? If so, did you find that as your pup was getting to feeling better that after she was given the pain med and sedative and it kicked in, it would make them more vocal like some non-painful whimpering or howling or barking? My girl has fought off such meds in the past, I’ve heard it’s common with huskies, I’m wondering if maybe my girl is feeling so much better that she’s getting annoyed with the sedation. I’ve tried contacting the treating vet to ask for more info, but they’ve been sooooo busy and slow to respond. Thanks for any insight and I apologize for the length of post.

As my girl was failing, arthritis in her hips, my vet put her on galliprant and gabapentin.  I didn't have much of a problem with her because the meds let / made her sleep a lot.  As the arthritis worsened she'd get vocal (pained) when curling to sleep or sometimes when setting down / getting up - then I upped the gabapentin which seemed to help.

At one point we tried trazadone but that made her "antsy" she'd pace, was really restless and in pain ... we pulled the trazadone in favor of the galliprant.

Not sure if this answered your question but it's my two cents worth ...