I have only seen one primary spinal OSA dog.  He was a very stoic Bulldog and over the course of 1-2 weeks he became neurologic and quite painful.  His xrays showed bony destruction and a trip to the neurologist and an MRI confirmed OSA.  Even with multiple pain meds we could not keep him comfortable and he started to bite his owner whenever she approached so she had to let him go after 1 month.  The neurologist told me that some of the most painful dogs he saw had primary or metastatic bone cancer and it is very hard to control the pain since it is inside the vertebrae, not just pushing on the spinal cord.  I have never forgotten that dog's intense pain, so that is why I did not hesitate to let Tazzie go when it became obvious that her tumor had spread to her spine.

Tazzie's oncologist told me that the fastest way to stop the pain was a combo of IV pamidronate (takes up to 3 days to be effective) and local radiation (can start to give immediate results).  Has your friend's dog had an MRI or CT scan yet to pinpoint the tumor location?  I would also start gabapentin at 10 mg/kg every 6-8 hours as well as amantadine 100 mg once daily to reduce nerve root pain and stop the "wind up" of pain receptors.

If the radiation helps then maybe this dog can have a few more weeks to months.  I hope they get some more time!  These dogs just seem to be getting younger and smaller (not your typical presentation for OSA).

Pam