URGENT help, dog hit by car cant move back end

[Sherynr]

HELP, my dog was hit by a car Friday night, we took her to emergency vet they said her spinal cord was severed and wanted to put her to sleep, we said no took her home where she is eating, sleeping, drinking plenty of water and urinating, just no bowel movement since. she can drag herself off her bed to go pee, and the vet said she did a pain test and no response, well I penched her back paws really hard and she wined and pulled her foot away from me this tells me there is some feeling in her back end, im giving her childrens ibprofen every 4 hrs??? Any suggestions on what we should do!!! I just cant think of putting her down she is so full of life!!!

[Christine]

Before I say anything else, I Googled Ibuprophen for dogs and found this: Ibuprofen is highly toxic to dogs and cats. It can cause bleeding ulcers, liver damage, and may even be fatal. A vet should prescribe something for her after an accident like this.

I am so sorry about what you are going through and commend you for seeking additional help. It is wonderful that your dog is still urinating on her own. That being said, do you think she is urinating as much as she normally did? You just want to be sure that she is fully emptying her bladder, so you might might need to learn how to express her. It is even easier to help her have a bowel movement. Take a look at the "poop on demand" method. Look under the Incontinence and Kidney category and read the red category. I have been trying to copy and paste the links here for you, but having a hard time. Finally....here you go:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4

How did your vet come to the conclusion that her spinal cord was severed? If it is, we are all of the same mindset in that that is not a death sentence. The fact that she is eating, drinking and alert says a lot. Many times six to eight weeks of crate strict rest and an anti-inflammatory can do wonders and prevent permanent damage. You can read all about that here also.

Can you consider seeing another vet who is more of the opinion to work with you and your dog rather than giving up so easily? If you are not able to find the information I suggested, we will give you the links - I am on the run right now.

Please stick around and let us help you. What is your dog's name? We'd love to see a picture. You are both very welcome here.

[Christine]

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10626

Here is where you will find all the best compiled information regarding paralysis, crate rest, what to ask the vet, etc.

[Sherynr]

OMG, I had no idea it could be harmful giving her ibprofen. Her Name is Lucie and she is about a year and a half old. We actually rescued here from a family that moved out of the neighborhood and just left her in the back yard with no food or water. So she has already had a tough life. I know she is a fighter. Thanks for the advise I believe I will try taking her to a different vet that I know more about. thanks again!

[Christine]

Well...I am ready to say "Uncle"...if you have not already found the incontinence information, copy and paste the link I just added to my first post or maybe one of the other moderators will make it clickable for you. Gotta run....check back later.

[CarolC]

Hi Sherynr,



What tests did the vet do on your dog? It is uncommon for the spinal cord to actually be severed. Without knowing more it is hard to say, but I think your idea of a second opinion is a good one. If your dog is whining when you pinch hard, it seems unlikely the spinal cord is severed. As Christine said, strict crate rest can help dogs in some cases, and in any case I would not let the dog drag around right now. If it was my dog I would want her on prednisone to help with the swelling. It is hard to tell whether the urination you are seeing is overflow of a full bladder or voluntary urination. Dragging herself off her bed to go pee does sound like she knows she needs to go and is doing it voluntarily, which make me feel optimistic for her, but she needs the right treatment.

I agree it would be better to get a second opinion right away. Some dogs can be helped with surgery if it is done soon enough. Also, if your dog does not have bladder control (is only urinating when overflowing) the vet can show you how to express the bladder to keep your dog comfortable and healthy. If you could get a referral to a specialist (board certified neurologist or surgeon) they can evaluate your dog better and tell you the best course to take. Even if the dog never regains mobility or lacks bladder control, you can still have a happy healthy dog. There are a lot of people here with paralyzed pets, I have 2 paralyzed dogs, they are still happy and enjoy life.

[slshepherds]

Hi and

I'm Joanne and I have a paralyzed Lab named Carl. I also work as a vet tech, and second what others have said about using Ibuprofen, you need to find something that is for dogs. You mention the ER vet suggesting euthanasia - did they give you anything for pain or swelling? Did they take radiographs? Have you been to your regular vet? Would you think about going to see a neurologist? It is important that you find out where the damage is (spine, pelvis, what section of the spine etc.) and if the area is stable. It may be that your dog needs stabilization surgery. Until you know you should keep your pup very quiet and still, crating her and only taking her outside to pee/poop.

I'm glad to hear your pup is eating and drinking, but am concerned that you may just be seeing her bladder overflowing, not her urinating voluntarily. I adopted Carl in January and was told he could urinate - he couldn't he was just overflowing when his bladder got so large it could hold no more urine. You may want to see if you can stimulate a bowel movement. I do this twice a day for Carl (avoids accidents and him dragging himself through poop), using a q-tip that I roll round just inside his anus, works every time.

Wishing you the best and looking forward to hearing more about you and your dog.

Joanne and Carl

[Sherynr]

We are taking Lucie for a second opinion today, She is so full of life and I know she has feeling in her back end you can take her back feet and push them towards her body and she will push against you, she was on the back poarch last night and saw a cat and sat up on her hind end but couldnt fully get up, she is eating and drinking as she normally did and she also had a bowel movement last night. There has got to be some type of mistake with what the er vet told us Friday night she has so much life in her to just put her down. The er vet took a xray and said that her spine was broken beyond fixing!!! I just dont believe that but it may be true. thanks to everyone for their suggestions I will keep you posted on the second opinion. We have also been told that we can send her To Auburn Al to have a surgery but its not guaranteed it will work!

[slshepherds]

How did things go today? Did you get any more information? I don't want to sound negative, and hope what you are seeing are positive signs, but what you are describing can also be explained by reflexes.

My Carl's lesion is in his L3 vertebra. The location of this lesion means that he has upper motor neuron signs in his bladder and rear legs. Very simply put this means that he can't pee unless I express him (he can overflow if his bladder is too full), and his legs are hyper reflexive (exaggerated reflexes). Two of these reflexes are the flexor and extensor reflexes. If you pinch Carl's toes he'll pull his leg away, if you push on the bottom of his feet he'll push against you. The reason he can do this despite being paralyzed is that these impulses need only to go to the spinal cord and back, they do not need to travel to the brain like some others do.

There have been many people who told me not to take Carl and that it isn't right for a young Lab to be in a cart. They tend to change their mind when they see Carl. He's a typical, goofy Lab who sees himself as no different to other dogs. In his cart there is no stopping him (when he gets excited he can jump his cart off the floor!), and when we are out walks take forever as people are always stopping us wanting to say hello and get some Carl lovin'. I have absolutely no regrets and would take in another down dog in a heartbeat. I hope you got good news and your pup will be able to walk again, but even if she can't she can still have a great life!

Joanne

[CarolC]

If the x-ray shows it is broken I think you need to do the surgery to stabilize it ASAP. If it moves and pinches the spinal cord further, you could lose the abilities she has, and all she has to do is move wrong for that to happen. I would be sure she does not move around at all. Crate her in a small crate. The statement "beyond repair" does not sound right. Broken backs can be stabilized. My dog's back was also broken, the two parts separated completely. They did surgery to "reduce the fracture" (push it back into alignment) and fix it in position. I would get the referral to Auburn ASAP. When they say it is not guaranteed to work, I assume they mean it is not guaranteed that she will regain full function, but I'd say you have less of a chance if you don't do surgery because the fracture is not stable and possibly may not even be aligned correctly.

By the way, another dog here was treated at Auburn and they were very nice to the dog.

[Sherynr]

Is there any one that can get me in contact with the vet in Auburn, I was told by another vet that we could take the chance of sending her there but no guarantee it will work, but I guess worst case is she will just never walk on her back end again. We took her yesterday to a new vet for a second opinion and they to suggested putting her down, so we left her there for them to try a 3 day steriod shot and pain med? but after getting home and realizing that she would greeve herself to death there we rushed back to get her to find that they are only giving her a steriod shot once a day and the pain med is a pill that we can give her at home they told us that all her internal organs are functing properly just cant and wont walk again. It tore us up to think of putting her down after all would you put a human that broke their back to sleep just because they would never walk again!! No you would get them a wheel chair and help them adapt to the new lifestyle they would have to live. She is in such good spirits, wags her tail, growls at noises she hears wants to get up and chase cats but just cant. She did stand for some time yesterday evening on her back end her legs were just really week but looks like with each day she is improving so much more than the day before.

[Christine]

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13529&p=70750&hilit ... vet#p70750

Not sure if this is who Carol is referring to, but I wish both vets you went to would read about this case!

[theservs]

Hi Sherynr and hello all!
My heart goes out to you and each time I'm asked to assist I live it all over again. I hope you had the opportunity to read the link to our story the Christine posted. If you haven't, please go read that to give you an idea of my empathy for you.

I agree that Lucie needs low dose steroids right away (I think I read where she is getting them) and strict crate rest. I truly believe that our combination of urgent care at Auburn, steroids and crate rest was the key to our success.

I don't have to express Dolcezza Mia because her break was a bit lower than Lucie's, but she does have to wear panties all the time due to incontinence (and a permanent uretherostomy).

Anyway, I read that you are thinking of Auburn. Please ask your vet to call Auburn animal critical care for an emergency consult and get her up there. You have to have a consult to go there I believe, and make your vet fax and give you copies of all records! Insist that you want a hard copy as well as their faxing. If she hasn't had steroids, I would insist on them 20 minutes ago. And if you need any "pull" at Auburn, we have a relationship with the foundation and I will pull any strings I can to help you and Lucie.

Lastly, I couldn't agree more with what everyone else is saying: give it time, do your best, pray, lean on us and control the controllable. Lucie will let you know if she doesn't want to fight and it sounds like she is wanting to stick around despite her challenging life thus far! She can be our next miracle, right ladies?

In conclusion, please let me know if there is anything I can do. Our Dolcezza Mia is bright, lively, fun and is still pooping outside twice a day (a rare "nugget" is found after she barks sometimes) and loves her panties! Our vet said I need to write a book on how to keep a dog with a uretherostomy tube clean. She has never been on antibiotics, has no urine scald and if I didn't think it would gross anyone out I would post a picture of her uretherostomy tube to prove it! Ha!

Carol and Christine, on that note, if you all every want to see what it looks like or you feel it would help someone out to know what it looks like, just e-mail me and I'll send you the pic. Otherwise, I've attached an updated photo of Dolcezza Mia and Sherynr...stay strong!!

[critters]

I think you ought to post a pic of the tube; I doubt anybody at HP has seen one except me and you!!

[Christine]

I agree..we are all here to learn and help one another, I am sure we have seen worse. I would put it in a brand new post so it will be easy to find in a search. And thank you and Carl's mom so much for stepping up to help here so quickly!