Beagle with lumbar spine fracture need advice

[mhah03]

My beagle was hit by a car 4 days ago. Injuries are: pneumothorax, rib fractures, hole in sinus cavity and lumbar spine fracture. Local vet sent X-rays to a specialist who said surgery isn't an option on her spine. They won't cast her either do to pneumothorax and broken ribs. She came home for crate rest yesterday and I have so many questions! She is urinating and having bowel movements. How do I turn her so she doesn't get sores? Should I wait to turn her so her ribs can heal? What is the best way to move her to change bedding? How long will her spine take to heal without a rod or cast? There are a million more, but those are my main ones. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated! Thanks.

[slshepherds]

Sent a reply to your PM

Joanne

[CarolC]

Is she wetting the bed, or does she have bladder control?

[mhah03]

Thanks Joanne! She is wetting on her puppy pads.

[CarolC]

I apologize, I am still not clear, is she wetting intentionally, or is she dribbling and leaking (so you put puppy pads under her)?

[mhah03]

I don't think she is intentionally doing it.

[mhah03]

Her first 3 days after injury more like leaking, it was always small amounts and I don't believe she has control. Last night and today she isn't leaking all the time and is releasing larger amounts of urine when she goes.

[CarolC]

OK, thanks for explaining. It is hard to know what to say here. Normally I would say if she is dribbling, you need to find out whether she is emptying her bladder completely. If a little bit of "stale" urine is remaining in the bladder all the time, it creates an environment for germs and she can get a urinary infection. I would keep an eye on her urine for any change in color or odor. Bladder infections are normally pretty easy to treat with antibiotics, so it's just something to watch for. If she is only emptying her bladder partially, your vet should show you how to empty it fully by expressing her bladder. That means you squeeze her tummy to help her urinate. Since she has a lumbar injury, your vet should show you where to put your hands to do this in a way that will not affect her injury. Some dogs empty completely with dribbling and others do not, so you don't know if she is emptying unless someone with a practiced hand who knows what to feel for can check her. If you take her to the vet and the vet tries to express her bladder and gets some urine out, then she may be not be emptying completely on her own. In that case, a program of expressing her bladder several times a day would help keep her bladder healthy during recovery.

I have a dog with a lumbar injury who dribbles 24/7 (and empties completely), and she wears a diaper. I hesitate to recommend a diaper for your dog if she has a recent lumbar injury because there is a certain amount of manipulating the hindquarters to get a diaper on, so you would have to use your judgment on that. The problem without a diaper is, if she is wetting on the puppy pads, whether dribbling or voiding larger amounts intermittently, she is likely to be getting her coat and skin wet with urine. Normally I would say with a dog this weight, you do not have a lot of worries with pressure sores as long as she is on soft bedding that is not wrinkled, but if she is getting her skin wet with urine, you greatly increase the risk of a pressure sore. All it takes is a little redness and urine burn to break down the skin slightly and a pressure sore can form much more easily, whereas if you can keep the dog dry, she can lie in bed for months without a sore, or that is my experience. If your dog is lying without moving around right now, then it would probably be possible to take a Pampers or some kind of disposable diaper (or Poise pad or something) that is really absorbent and kind of tuck it between her legs and under her tail without moving her too much. That way she would not be wetting the bedding.

Puppy pads, or anything similar, will keep the bedding dry but they do little or nothing to keep the dog dry. If your dog wets the puppytraining pad, the urine will most likely migrate to the lowest part, which is usually under the hip, and your dog's whole hip will be wet. Then you are busy trying to wipe off your dog with baby wipes or bathe your dog, and that means more manipulation. So that's why it's kind of a "use your judgment" situation. I know your are supposed to rest her and you want to be careful moving her, but at the same time a urine burn/pressure sore is one of those things that is much easier to prevent than it is to treat once you have one. It is a case where an ounce of prevention is worth more like a ton of cure. If it was my dog, I would try some kind of pad to catch her urine and keep it from getting on the puppy pads.

The other option is special bedding where the urine goes through the bedding and does not soak the dog's hip. Examples are Palace fleece bedding which you can buy online http://www.sitstay.com/gear/nap-time/pa ... d-48-x-48/ , or whelping pads, or to some extent infant crib pads that consist of a fluffy fleece or felt type cover over a vinyl inner layer. If the fleece is lofty enough, the urine will not be right in contact with her skin, and if it is not perfect it will still be better than puppy pads or disposable human incontinent pads. The crib pads are sold in stores like Wal-Mart or Target, and if you can get the ones that are just flat without elastic, those are best.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Waterproof-Po ... ck/5446849
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Garanimals-Qu ... 2/15767686

Hope this helps.

[critters]

I couldn't agree more about sores. Oddly enough, the guy across the street from my parents got a "bedsore" after surgery, and he said it was FAR worse than the surgery itself.