my dog has been paralyzed In all legs

[hi2d]

my dog is about eight years old going on nine and December she's a Yorky terrier and she has been paralyzed in all four of her legs up and take her to the vet and all they do is give her steroids and antibiotics because we cannot afford therapy or surgery or any other kind of treatment I don't know what else to do I've been giving her then to biotics that they give us and she also has been urinating on herself recently hasn't been able to go The bathroom at all or walk around and see her by here and sometimes she can still lift up her neck and move her neck around she does have a breather and her nose is very dry which I know means that she is sick I don't know what else do I bought these pills for her from chewy.com they are capsules called the vetri disc and I've been giving them to her also that that I first took her to I been giving her something that her second that said it was making her get worse I don't remember the name of it but then when she started urinating of yourself I took her to the emergency room hospital for animals and all they did was give her or antibiotics and I asked them about the capsules I bought and they said that they were more likely used for arthritis but I started reading the reviews on it and they said that it worked for dogs with IVDD from with the vet has been telling me that my mom is that she slipped a disc in her spine and that is why she cannot walk she does jump off the bed often well obviously not anymore but before she was when she would sleep with me she would end up in her bed on the floor and I guess that is what caused the disk to slip and I honestly don't know what to do anymore I am hoping that these capsules work for her when I was reading the reviews it said that it would take about a week maybe two and I really am not trying to put my dog to sleep and very upset because I have to go to school tomorrow and I don't know who will take care of her please answer I need some answers

[CarolC]

There is a chance that rest and steroids can help her recover. It depends on the degree of the disk problem. I would continue to give her the steroids, they are to help the swelling of the disk go down so function can return. I would continue giving the antibiotics too, they are probably to prevent a bladder infection. The medicine sounds appropriate for her condition.

Do you know if she can still feel her toes? That is called "deep pain sensation" and it would mean she is not completely paralyzed. In that case she is more likely to recover. The vet probably checked for deep pain sensation, you can find out from the vet whether she still has it.

You need to help her potty while she is paralyzed. If she continues to wet herself, it will cause skin breakdown. If you help her urinate every 8 hours, it will help prevent skin breakdown. It will also help prevent bladder infection, which can occur if her bladder is not fully emptied every 8 hours. You can help her urinate by a procedure called "expressing the bladder". Basically, you squeeze her tummy and she pees. Here is an article about it, and there are many videos listed at the end of the article. Your vet should show you how to do this, but some people have taught themselves. I recommend you try to express her bladder before you go to bed, and again in the morning before you go to school. Then do it 3 times a day every day.

Read the introduction on this article, then scroll to the end and look at the videos.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=16027

If you need a loan to help pay for veterinary care, you can try Care Credit, http://www.carecredit.com, or ask for the application from your veterinary reception desk. They often have the application at the check-in desk and will submit it for you while you wait, and you find out right away if you are approved.

If you cannot care for her, there is a small chance you may be able to find a Yorkie Rescue that will try to help her. You could check your city for Yorkie Rescue or try on facebook to see if anyone knows of one in your area. If she still has deep pain sensation, there is more of a chance someone might offer to take her. There is also a small chance the breeder will take her back and try to help her. This may not be too likely, but some breeders are dedicated to the dogs they breed and would rather have the dog surrendered back to them than to a rescue...it's just an idea, you never know until you ask.

[hi2d]

thank you so much I will start doing that, if I help her urinate will that also help her stomach because her belly is extremely big and she has gained a lot of weight which is another thing I'm afraid of for her i don't know how to help. her lose the weight she's gained while she's paralyzed and yes she can feel her toes when I massage them inbetween she curls them which makes me very happy to hear that it means she not completely paralyzed and to be completely honest my vet seems to not care much when I take her he just checks her and moved on to the next person I never get much info from him which is why I've been googling for 4 days and how long do you think it'll take for her to get better because I also was thinking about getting her a wheel chair , and I appreciate your help !

[CarolC]

How long has she been down?

Can she move her head in a normal way when you pick her up? Does she have any neck pain that you can see?

Expressing her bladder should make her belly smaller, but there could also be something else making her belly look round. Lack of excercise or overeating can cause weight gain. Prednisone may also have weight gain as a side effect. Sometimes steroids can cause Cushing's, which gives a pot-bellied appearance. How long has she been getting the prednisone? It is very important not to stop the steroids abruptly, they must be tapered off gradually.

Has she lost any fur on her belly or tummy?

[hi2d]

not from what I can see she has no neck pain and yes she does lift her head up normally when I pick her up she's been like this for about 2 months not paralyzed but like it slowly got worse and worse it went from her just limping to slowly walking funny from her front legs and then falling and then she just stopped one day . she also has the front legs very stiff but I been doing physical therapy on her by myself and I can't really tell if she's feeling me move her legs all 4 or if she's just stiff from how much it hurt because when I'm done sometimes she's shaking. and as for the medication I'm not sure about either because the vet never really shows he cares for her or any of the animals he just says how is she okay give her this this and that and then calls in the next person I hate that so much they never said anything about slowing down the steroids either because I have to go to them to get it done . I really hope the Vetri disc is going to help her get back on her feet and no she hasn't lost any hair on her belly she does get very pink though and heavy breathes a lot and well what can I do to help her lose some weight now that she can't walk or anything ?

[hi2d]

her front legs are the ones that started giving up in the first place and it slowly went to the back of the legs now they're worse than the from legs they stiffen up when I scratch her or tickle her in a part of he knees br she always has her front legs stiff although the from legs were the ones that didn't work first and now it's the back I can never tell if the stiffness is paid or if she's gaining power in the legs

[critters]

Really the best exercise for her now would probably be swimming. Can you swim her somewhere? Pool, tub, pond, lake, etc? It would both strengthen her body and help her lose weight. A Yorkie could probably swim in a bath tub or slop sink.

[CarolC]

her front legs are the ones that started giving up in the first place and it slowly went to the back of the legs now they're worse than the from legs they stiffen up when I scratch her or tickle her in a part of he knees br she always has her front legs stiff although the from legs were the ones that didn't work first and now it's the back I can never tell if the stiffness is paid or if she's gaining power in the legs

That sounds like Schiff-Sherrington, but I'm not a vet. Here is some basic information on it:

http://www.ehow.com/info_12227947_schif ... -dogs.html

Here is more detailed information on it:

Question

Somewhere in the back of your mind you remember Schiff-Sherrington syndrome might be associated with a poor prognosis – but is this correct?

Answer

Absolutely not. The presence of a Schiff-Sherrington syndrome is not a prognostic factor, but simply an indicator for a specific (and, unfortunately, often misleading) clinical presentation in patients with acute thoracolumbar injuries.

With Schiff-Sherrington syndrome, the patient is usually unable to stand unaided on all four limbs and is presented in lateral recumbency with severe extension of the forelimbs and hindlimb paralysis (Figure 1).

This can mimic a cervical spinal cord lesion, but when the patient is held up, the forelimbs are normal apart from stiffness, and the hindlimbs are paralysed. There are very good voluntary movements in the forelimbs, whereas voluntary movements are usually absent in the hindlimbs (paraplegia). The proprioception and the flexor withdrawal reflexes are normal in the forelimbs, but proprioception is absent in the hindlimbs. Quite commonly, these patients will also have a thoracolumbar cut-off of their cutaneous trunci reflex.

The sign of increased extensor tone in the forelimbs that results in the clinical picture in Schiff-Sherrington is the result of the disinhibition of the extensor motor neuron in the caudal cervical spinal cord segments. This occurs due to the injury of a specific layer of neurons in the cranial lumbar spinal cord segments called the border cells. These cells, located in the border of the grey column of the cranial lumbar spinal cord, will normally inhibit the extensor tone of the forelimbs via their axons sent cranially to the cervical intumescence (from L1-L5 spinal cord segments to C6-T2 spinal cord segments).

In cases of Schiff-Sherrington syndrome, the acute thoracolumbar myelopathy leads to an injury of these border cells and a lack of inhibition of the cervical spinal cord motor neurons, hence the hyperextension of the forelimbs associated with the hindlimb paralysis.

The Schiff-Sherrington posture only occurs in association with acute and severe thoracolumbar spinal cord injury, but is not a prognostic indicator. The prognosis in patients with Schiff-Sherrington instead depends – as is usually the case in patients with paraplegia – on the presence or absence of nociception in the hindlimbs, perineum and tail. This is independent from the disinhibition of the forelimb extensor muscles, which will normally spontaneously resolve in the first days after the onset of the neurological signs.

Here is a dog who recovered from it.

http://dreamemporium.com/Nyssas_Gift.html

[hi2d]

when I put her in a sink once last week to give her a bath I filled it to see if she'd move she would even move a bit

[critters]

That's a good idea. I used to do the same with my Baby.