Start Here
Move from recognising urgent signs to understanding diagnosis, making treatment decisions, recovery and longer-term support.
When Loui first developed IVDD, one of the hardest parts was understanding what came next. There were symptoms, referrals, scans, treatment decisions, home care and recovery, all at once. We built this roadmap to put that journey into a clearer order, so you can focus on the stage your dog is at today.
Choose your starting point
You do not have to begin at Step 1. Choose the situation that is closest to where you and your dog are today.
Start with the immediate signs and what to do next.
Understand neurological severity, imaging and the questions your veterinary team may discuss.
Compare the role of conservative management and surgery, then use the detailed treatment guides.
Focus on safe rest, daily care, rehabilitation and gradual progress.
Explore prevention, recurrence planning, mobility and living well with changing needs.
Step 1
Start here when symptoms are new. The first job is not to diagnose IVDD yourself — it is to recognise concerning changes, control unnecessary movement and get the right veterinary assessment.
Step 2
Once a veterinary team is assessing your dog, these guides explain the terminology, severity findings and imaging decisions that often shape what happens next.
Step 3
Treatment is individual. Use these guides to understand the questions and evidence around conservative management, surgery and developing treatments — then make decisions with the veterinary team responsible for your dog.
Step 4
After assessment and treatment, focus on the plan your veterinary team has given you: controlled movement, safe handling, daily care, monitoring and carefully timed rehabilitation.
Step 5
Once the immediate recovery period settles, shift towards realistic risk reduction, recurrence preparedness, mobility and quality of life.
If symptoms are new, start with the emergency and symptom guides. If you already have a diagnosis, jump directly to assessment, treatment or recovery.
Trust & safety
This roadmap is designed to organise the IVDD journey into clearer stages. It cannot tell you which stage your dog is in, diagnose IVDD, grade neurological severity or decide whether surgery, conservative treatment, rehabilitation or another plan is appropriate for an individual dog.
Symptoms such as pain, wobbliness, weakness, dragging, knuckling, paralysis or bladder changes can have causes other than IVDD. If symptoms are new, worsening or severe, seek veterinary assessment rather than using the roadmap to self-diagnose.
Your veterinarian or veterinary neurologist should guide diagnosis, imaging, treatment, activity restriction, medication and progression through recovery.
Aubenord’s IVDD guides are prepared by the Aubenord Editorial Team using peer-reviewed veterinary literature, specialist consensus guidance and reputable clinical sources.
Where owner experience, including Loui’s story, is included, it is clearly separated from veterinary evidence.
Trust & safety
This roadmap is designed to organise the IVDD journey into clearer stages. It cannot tell you which stage your dog is in, diagnose IVDD, grade neurological severity or decide whether surgery, conservative treatment, rehabilitation or another plan is appropriate for an individual dog.
Symptoms such as pain, wobbliness, weakness, dragging, knuckling, paralysis or bladder changes can have causes other than IVDD. If symptoms are new, worsening or severe, seek veterinary assessment rather than using the roadmap to self-diagnose.
Your veterinarian or veterinary neurologist should guide diagnosis, imaging, treatment, activity restriction, medication and progression through recovery.
Aubenord’s IVDD guides are prepared by the Aubenord Editorial Team using peer-reviewed veterinary literature, specialist consensus guidance and reputable clinical sources.
Where owner experience, including Loui’s story, is included, it is clearly separated from veterinary evidence.
