OT: Looking for input on my injured dog

I'll be honest...when I left for the vet Saturday, i was afraid that was going to be the advice given to me because of her age. Didn't happen. Quite seriously, I'm a fighter and so is my dog. To look at her and see the life in her eyes, and to hear that her labs are coming back good and see that her xrays looked as good as they did....the only real choice for me right now is whether or not to pursue more serious testing and procedures, or to go conservative with the treatments being rendered and, if they don't work, go the route of the doggie wheelchair. On Saturday, the dark option of putting her down seemed to be on the table...but after all the seeing of the above and mulling it over, that option is off the table as far as I'm concerned, and would only return if she had a considerable downturn in health. I don't think she's ready to go, and I know I'm not ready for her to go either. So now I'm trying to figure out which path to go with that in mind.
 
I have had experiences with dog wheelchairs, and I have to say that the dogs are just as happy as any other one would be and once they get used to it they can really move! If you do want to spend the money and stuff, Mizzou's vet med teaching hospital has a great staff of knowledgeable people :)
 
Someone mentioned there to me today, but I might be a little biased to the U of I. :D

Seriously though, either way sounded like a good route if I went that way. thanks
 
Oh, and since you mentioned it, can you give me some input on manufacturers of the wheelchairs? You can PM it to me if you would prefer. It's just that I didn't expect to see so many places that make them, thus complicating the decision.
 
Sorry to hear about your buddy's accident. I spent a long while working at one of those "specialist" vet hospitals in NY so here goes my $0.02.

It does sound like nerve damage--possibly some sort of spinal injury. Because she can move some, and the reflexes are good clearly it is not a total thing. I think you are on the right track with the anti-inflammatories and steroids. I remember several cases of dogs who did similar things and ended up with the same kind of paralysis, most times more severe. For those dogs, the surgeon went into the spinal column and took away a bit of the bone to relieve the pressure on the spinal cord (like what you are trying with the drugs) and then the dog was in a body cast for some time. The longer the prssure is there, the longer it is irritating to the tissue and the longer it takes to heal.

Immobilizing the spine to prevent further irritation to the spine or nerves is a possibility and may be beneficial, though with the small signs of recovery in your dog it may not be necessary.

Wheelchairs are a great thing too--do look into getting one built or doing one yourself (we did a few with PVC, fabric and Velcro). In the meantime, for dog-walking and bathroom issues, make a sling of some fabric tied into a circle and loop it under the dog's tummy. Make it a good height for you to walk comfortably with the dog, and just boost her hind end up enough that her feet just brush the ground. It will make walking her a lot easier, and will encourage her to start using those legs. Just make sure it doesn't cover the important parts :).

Good luck and keep us posted--

Christine
 
My dacshund had similar issues from jumping. My vet would actually stand her up and turn her back feet under to see if she would flip them back over. She had a bulging disc in her back and with time and steroid therapy she returned to close to normal. This has actually happened on a few occasions. One time she lost most of the movement in her back legs. We thought we were going to lose her, but that was about 5 years ago or so and she's still kickin at 13.
 
Any recommendations here? The conservative medication route or the more aggressive, possibly surgical route? Plus, she gets moved quite a bit...by herself trying to scoot around, by me trying to take her out to the bathroom or moving her to other rooms. Doesn't seem to bother her at all.
 
talk to the vet about whether immobilizing the injusry area woudl be helpful, or even possible. Otherwise, I would stay with what you are doing--you're getting improvement, as long as the swelling is kept in check you should be good.
 
Shooter if your interested I can give you the name of the orthopedic surgeon that repaired our dogs hind end after a being hit by a car,their over in clayton just have to look up the name again.
 
hey just wanted to say the best of luck to you and da puch sounds like its gonna take a little time do every thing you can to make her comfortable and a little extra lovin gos a long way ya know how when you feel poorly they're there for you and stay w/ the medstil doc says to discontinue
 
Shooter, something else I just thought of...perhaps your vet can do a nerve block to help with the pain and/or locate the exact site of injury. Another thing you could try would be acupuncture...this is the leading edge of alternative meds for vets (vets can become certified in it).
 
same thing happened to my dog..I had to DEMAND pain medicine for my dog.I'm of the belief that the body will heal quicker when not under the pressure of severe pain.She could not walk and yelped if I even touched her back legs.X-Rays showed nothing,$1000 and four days later she was fine.
 
Has me wondering about my dog in that she doesn't seem to show any indication of being in pain. There was the initial yelp at first onset of whatever happened, she seemed to be a bit stiff and somewhat sensitive the day after, but since then doesn't show much in the way of having pain. I don't know if this is a good thing or not. Like, is she just fortunate that it's not causing her severe pain, or does this indicate a more significant nerve injury? Wish I knew...
 
Dave - I'm sorry to hear about your pooch. If it helps you at all, I think you should take the conservative route and see how it goes.

My pup had arthritis and he had days when he needed help getting around. Sometimes it was one back leg/hip & sometimes both. It never seemed to cause him any pain, it just kept him from getting around like he wanted to. We just doted on him and he always bounced back.

Good luck - I'll be thinking of ya.
 
Well, she's bright eyed and a bit frustrated that she can't do her normal sniffing around for crumbs duty after supper. She still has no function at all in her hind legs. I have found a message forum that deals with animals with various injuries and ailments and am consulting with them on what I should be doing. Looks like right now it's going to be a waiting game. Apparently there is a time zone of around 6-8 weeks where, if improvement is going to happen, it's most likely going to happen then. So, I've got upwards of 5 weeks to wait and wonder. The quotes of upwards of $4000 or more for surgical treatment with no promises is simply not something I can do. So, I give the prescribed meds, keep her fairly still, and wait for something good to hopefully happen. I'm really praying that she recovers because I can tell she expects to be around for awhile. Otherwise, I may be looking into the doggie wheelchairs that are out there.

Thanks for asking. :)
 
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