newly paralysed dachund

[Michelle]

Theawna lost the feeling in her legs four days ago when I had her at the vet to see why she wasn't her normal self. She had Diarea starting the previous week and though it had cleared up she was not herself. We really didn't think it could be her back. Now she is down and the vet diagnosed a herniated disc. We can't afford surgery so the vet started Theawna on prednisone and cage rest. On the second day I suspected she had a bladder infection because she had foul smelling cloudy urin. My husband didn't think that possible so I waited until I read the info about downed dogs on the internet to call the vet. My biggest problem is convincing my heartbroken husband that a handicapped dog is manageable and can live a fulfilling life. The vet said she might need up to a month of cage rest before we would know if any of her muscle control will return. My husband doesn't think we should make her suffer that long. Any encouragement for him?

[Kid John]

Have you thought about looking into the abledogs site. There is much support, and advice for the back injuries.
I received information from these people in the beginning of my search for understanding. John has a degenerative disc, and much information is to be gained by joining this group.

AbleDogs is an e-mail support group for people whose pets are experiencing back problems, recovering from surgery, paralyzed, in carts, etc.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AbleDogs/join

WWW.abledogs.net

Kid John

[jdf]

Our dog, Roxy, suffered a disc embolism which is an inoperable condition and which paralyzed her hind quarters. She was a large dog - a German Shorthaired Pointer and weighed about 65 pounds. We got her a cart and with a lot of TLC, Roxy had a long, happy life. She lived to be 15 yrs. 9 mnths. old and for the last 6 years of her life, she was paraplegic. Dogs can adapt well to being handicapped and as long as quality of life is good, can live long lives.

Urinary tract infection (UTI), especially with female dogs, is a problem that can become chronic with paralyzed dogs. The bacteria causing UTI's typically come from the dogs own GI tract (Roxy had many UTI's over the last 6 years of her life). It's important to keep this in mind so that urinalysis and culture can be done immediately if there seems to be a problem. Urinalysis can tell you if there's an infection but it's also important to run a culture to indentify the specific bacteria causing the problem. This will allow prescription of the most effective antibiotic. There are about a half dozen different GI tract bacteria which can cause UTI's and they all respond differently to available antibiotics.

Best of luck with Theawna - handicapped dogs are obviously higher maintanance, but they can live good lives in spite of that. I hope you can work things out so you can give Theawna some more time and keep her with you.

[Sandi]

Hi Michelle,

I would definetly say to keep the hopes high and don't give up on Theawna or yourselves be any means! I have a paralyzed basset hound am soooooooo greatful the decision was never made to put her to sleep. (something I could never have really done in my heart anyway if she was painfree.)
I was first concerned that my basset would be in pain. But the vet guaranteed she wouldn't be hurting since the nerves were damaged/severed. I then realized that with alot of love patience and care it can be done to care for a paralyzed dog and they have every bit of a quality life as given them. (It's really more of an inconvenience for the humans involved. The dog once free of pain takes it in stride once they adjust and act like nothings wrong!! They are just as happy and excited to see you be with you go for walks or lay by your side. They actually give you back more than you can believe. Their unconditional love, determination and spirit are true inspirations for us humans!! My little girl gets sooooo excited when I take her cart out for a walk. Actually I have to slow jog to keep up with her and she has short legs! THey realize that that cart is there freedom to walk and sniff and enjoy themselves again so as long as you provide that love and care and time to them the loving in return is paid back in full and I wouldn't trade it for the world. My girl is the light of my life and I'd hate to see anyone be hasty or rush a decision that important without giving alot of time and effort and benefit of the doubt to your friend that they can prove to you their life is worth the extra effort!!
Please just give Theawna some love patient and time and she will reward you with tons of licks!!!!!!!

Take care, keep a bright outlook and feel free to E-Mail me if you'd like!
Sandi

[Cindy]

I have a GSD that weighs 140lbs that became paralyzed after back surgery. It is a lot of work taking care of him but I really think that he has adjusted quite well and is happy. He actually can do more now with his cart than he could before the surgery. We play ball, go for walks and rides, go the beach, etc. I try to put him in the room where we are so he still can beg for food and be part of the group. I am extremely lucky though that he does have control of his bladder and hasn't developed a UTI except right after the surgery. It is worth the effort believe me.

[Cindy]

I have a GSD that weighs 140lbs that became paralyzed after back surgery. It is a lot of work taking care of him but I really think that he has adjusted quite well and is happy. He actually can do more now with his cart than he could before the surgery. We play ball, go for walks and rides, go the beach, etc. I try to put him in the room where we are so he still can beg for food and be part of the group. I am extremely lucky though that he does have control of his bladder and hasn't developed a UTI except right after the surgery. It is worth the effort believe me.

[lynn]

don't give up. these guys are such special creatures and they depend solely upon us. a month isn't so long to wait to find out if she'll be o.k. i'm sure youe husband agrees that she deserves at least that much

I posted a message about my shepard today--she'll take at least 6 months before we;ll know if we can keep her. good luck!!!!

[Betty]

Hi, I wanted to let you know it is possible your dog will get better with rest. My neighbors dachund was dragging his hind legs and she just put him in a clothes basket outside in the weather, I volunteered to take care of him even though I have 2 dogs. I have him now for about 2 months, kept him in a cage in the house for a month, with diapers around his middle. He had no control. I noticed he wanted to go out with the other dogs so I let him, I carried him out to the grass, he has urinated on his own, has a little trouble lifting that leg though. He still has a problem poohing anytime. He tries to run and hops like a rabbit sometimes following the other dogs. I gave him ibuprofen, 200 mg a day, half in the morning and half at nite. He is such a determined little guy. I am praying he gets all feeling back one day, if not he will have wheels. My neighbor may not want him back because she works a lot. There is a desease dogs like him get called "wobbler desease", kind of like bad arthritis I think, thats the reason for the ibuprofen. Dont give up, take care

[Liz]

Hi Michelle, I sympathize with what you and your husband are going through. We have a highly active toy poodle named P.J. A week before Thanksgiving 2002, P.J. lost the use of his back legs. He too was diagnosed with a herniated disc, and because he had no deep pain sensation, he was not a candidate for surgery (he had no pain). Our veterinarian told us about this website, WWW.K9CARTS.COM, and she measured him for a wheelchair. We ordered the wheelchair, catch all (for catching the pooh when in the house), and a bunch on "male wraps" which I line with a small baby diaper - Huggies. P.J. took to the wheelchair like a fish to water! He could run on any terrain with it, the park, the beach, anywhere. I worked with P.J. doing therapy every night when I came home from work. I would flip him on his back on the rug, and do the bicycle with his back legs. Then I would try to stand him up on the rub positioning his back legs to try to get him to stand. By doing this daily, he was walking again in 6 months. He no longer uses the wheelchair, and can even run now, although his walk and run is funny. He still wears his Male Wrap and diaper, and he can't control his poopy so we do poopy checks frequently in the house. He's really happy and has never been in pain. I think your little Dauchsund will be just fine, and yes, keep him in his kennel for alittle while, he needs to be still for right now. Hope this helps, God bless you.

[Pam (Riley's mom)]

This is a question for Liz who responded to the earlier message. You mentioned that your dog wears a male wrap. How much time does he spend in the wrap? I've been letting mine sleep without it so his skin can breathe. Also, what kind of sleeping/kenneling arrangements do you have for him? I'm the only person I know with a special pup and I always wonder if other people have discovered better ways of caring for them.

[Sheri]

Pete is a Jack Russell and had an accident in May 2003. It was a big decision but loved Pete to much to part with him. He had no feeling in his hind quarters until July of this year. Pete is still not walking but will stand on his own to eat now. He regains more feeling each day. Don't give up! Massage and touch as often as possible. There were days, but this site has been terrific.

[Lindsey]

I had a cripled dog "Peaches" for 7 years after her accident. She lived to be 10 years old. She was hit by a car at the age of 3 and was paralyzed for 2 weeks. We almost put her to sleep, when she started to show signs of wanting to live. Her general personality started to come back. After some therapy so did a little feeling. Her hind end was completely gone. But she ran around with the big dogs enjoying life, regardless that she crapped her self & fell over sometimes. She lost all poop control...needless to say, she no longer slept in bed with us, but rather in the wash room at night, outside during the day. They have wheelchairs now, that would have been wonderful back then, but I didn't know of them at that time.

They have wheelchairs for paraplegic dogs too. You really ought to check the various sites out. It's so cool to see dogs that would have normally lost their lives due to unfortunately situations having a great time enjoying life again.

Don't give up! I can tell you honestly and from experience you will know in your heart when it's time to put your doggie down. Don't let other pressure you one way or the other. You will know. You have a bond with your dog and your dog will give you a sign that they are ready to pass on to the other side of the rainbow.

If it were a child, you would do what you could...and these pups are our children You are in my thoughts and prayers. Best of Luck!!!

One of many companies

[Michelle]

This desporate plea was posted over a year ago and thanks to all the people who responded we learned to manage and Theawna learned to walk again. She now runs a little crooked and her back legs move somewhat rabbitish but she loves life and can get some serious speed when chasing squirrels. We followed as much advise as we had the resources for including hydrotherapy and dietary supliments but the biggest thing we found that helped was taking her to a kinesthesiologist. I personly think this is not a sound scientific thing to do but we didn't have an animal chiropractor in our area. After the first treatment she had feeling restored to her let and the next day began to stand on her own and then gradually to be able to hold her weight and later to walk. I don't know how to remove my original message so I hope my story will somehow inspire someone else who feels completely lost and helpless.

[critters]

You don't have to worry about removing your old message, and you're right--people have been going back and getting stuff from 1-2 years ago. I guess maybe they're coming up on searches, but it doesn't matter because a happy ending is a happy ending, no matter when the post was written. Glad everything turned out so well.

[RichB]

Good job on seeking out treatment for your dog!
Rich