Our dog, Jedi, has back problems

Our poor puppy has back problems, a possible bulging disk. Jedi is lying in his bed with a pillow and quilt. He has a cold pack wrapped around his back and soon it will be exchanged for a heat pack.

Last night, I thought that I had stepped on him because he yelped. I don't have feeling in one foot so I could have and not realized it. Later, I hugged him at bed time and he yelped again. Both times, he was trembling in his hind quarters. 

This morning, he stayed in the bedroom instead of coming out to be with me in the living room. I waited an hour and he hadn't moved. I picked him up and brought him to the front room and, in the process, discovered that his back legs were again shaking.

We took him to the emergency animal hospital immediately. 

They suspected a bulging disk from his symptoms. He did not show signs of neurological damage, but if he gets worse, we are to bring him back immediately. 

They gave him muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatory medicine. Then we then picked up pumpkin puree to help prevent constipation. We also tried to find pill pockets. The store didn't have them so we got some soft treats that I could hide the pills in. It worked great. 

By the time we got home, Jedi felt a lot better. He finally went potty. He was still moving slowly and we are going to keep him crated to help him rest, but we are already happy with his progress. 

The photo above shows Jedi wearing a hot/cold pad to help his back. The vet tech told us that we could use it to help his healing. Five minutes of each (cold and hot) and we can do that four times a day. 

To help prevent injury from jumping off our bed, we are going to take the bed frame apart and just put the mattress on the floor with no box springs. Hopefully, the height of the mattress alone won't bother his back when he gets on and off our bed.