dog has paralysis of all four limbs

[jcastaldo]

My dog has paralysis of all four limbs. It was very sudden, one day she was fine and the next she was paralyzed. I have taken her to two Vets (regular Vet) and Neurologist. They took x-rays of neck, spin, and chest and found nothing. She has been on prednisone and dexamethasone; however we have seen only very small improvement. She can feel in her paws and legs but has no control. She has a little control of her bladder and has a few accidents, we have to express her.

She had blood\urine work to check for infection and nothing was found. It has been almost 3 weeks and no improvement. Vet said it could be cancer inside the spine, but one day no symptoms and next day paralyzed does not make sense to me.
One strange thing is she lost her bark/howl. She used to play bark or bark for door bell, now nothing in 3 weeks. She can only whimper when she wants something.

We live in Northern NJ. The dog is lab/border collie mix. She is an inside dog.

The vet has no idea. Any ideas or advise?

[CarolC]

Does her breathing seem normal?

There is something called coonhound paralysis where they will lose their bark. They generally recover from this but it takes a while to run its course.

http://www.hullvet.com/showpracfaq.cfm? ... &Private=0

I don't know if that's what it is, but it's the first thing that came to mind when you mentioned her bark being affected. It takes a while to recover from coonhound paralysis.

I know you are dealing with a large dog, I had a big dog go down so I know the work involved. I sympathize if you've taken her to 2 vets and a specialist and you really just want an answer and haven't received one. A tumor in the spine should show up on an MRI (expensive) or sometimes on a plain radiograph if it is big enough and if you can get an expert to read it. It would have to be pretty high up on the spine to affect her voice, though.

[Bobbie]

Did they suggest an MRI? That's what she needs.

[jcastaldo]

The Vets have no idea, they keep saying lets try A, then B, then C.

Fist it was dexamethasone and now prednisone, they also XRay much of her and chest. They doubt it is cancer and it came on suport fast - over night.

It is affecting front legs so nero said spin is out, could be something in neck. They suggested exploritory surgery. We have been to 3 vets and nothing in 3 weeks.

I read about coonhound paralysis and tick paralysis, but cant find how to truely diagnose them

Joe

[Bobbie]

X-rays wont show spinal cord damage. You may want to find another neurologist or try the nearest vet school. That is probably Penn.

[mallorymarie88]

Yeah sounds like IVDD... which is very time sensitive so get to a vet asap.. preferrably one with a neurologist on staff. Hope your baby is okay! I know how tough that is.

[jcastaldo]

Unfortunately Cola made no improvements in 3 weeks. We took her to a two Vets nero vet. None could find any reason for the paralysis in all four legs. After 3 weeks of her getting worse we could not bear to watch her suffer any longer. We had 7 great years with a great family dog

[mallorymarie88]

So sorry to hear that. I am sure Cola had a wonderful life and wouldn't have had it any other way! Just remember the wonderful years you had together. Hugs!

[CarolC]

I'm sorry the vets could not figure out what was going on, when you were willing to give her every chance. She knew how much she was loved. I'm sorry for your loss.