Beagle/Jack Russell mix completely rear paralyzed

[Jasmine'sMom]

Hi Everybody. I just want to say that I am so glad I found this site. 3 weeks ago yesterday my little Beagle/Jack Russell mix woke up completely rear paralyzed. She is only 2 1/2 years old. We saw the vet immediately who took xrays, put her on prednisone and pain meds and sent her to a brand new animal hospital where they did an MRI. The neurologist there said she is not a candidate for surgery, the one slightly compressed disc he found was not the problem, her totally swollen spinal cord was. For several days we lived on pins and needles praying it wasn't myleomalacia, the doc wasn't sure. But it has been over 3 weeks now and we are slowly learning how to cope with a paralyzed pet. Luckily she only weighs about 15 pounds, but she is so afraid since the initial few days of intense pain that I haven't been able to really hold her. Today we are going to get diapers since she is getting a few short periods of exercise out of her crate every day, instructions from the neurologist. Anyhow, I hope to find the time to read all the way thru this site. I've already gained wonderful information and just wanted to say thank you to everyone here.

[critters]

Jasmine's mom!! Can she pee by herself? If not, you should see the sticky post on the incontinence bb for expressing info. Diaper info is there, too.

[CarolC]

Hi Jasmine's Mom,

I gave you your own thread because you are dealing with a special condition. Did the vet diagnose what is causing the swelling in her spinal cord, and when it might go down? Did they give you a name for it? Bless her little heart. If you have any questions on care, however small, please don't hesitate to ask, chances are someone here will have experience with it. Glad you are here!

[Tinker's Mom]

Jasmine's Mom-

Ironically, my Beagle/JRT mix, Tinker, had surgery for a ruptured disk 3 years ago today. At the time, he was just turning 5, so he was young like your dog. We are one of the fortunate ones who have had a positive outcome. Maybe retelling our story can help you now...

From the time of the initial onset of symptoms (a Friday night) to the time of surgery (Wednesday morning), way too much time elapsed, beyond the optimum 48 hour window, and yet here we are today with a very successful outcome.

On Friday night we took him to an emergency center where we were told that it was probably a muscle pull, the attending vet wanted to "spare us the expense of Xrays", and after a shot of steroids, we were sent home with Dexamethasone because I insisted I didn't want him on an NSAID (which annoyed the vet but proved very fortunate, in hindsight). Not one mention was made of a possible disk problem, nor were we cautioned to keep him on crate rest. We went home and by Saturday evening, he was screaming in pain and we had a true emergency on our hands.

Saturday night, he was in pain and showing weakness in his rear legs and knuckling. We brought him to the hospital and they started him on a steroid drip. Because it happened over a weekend (when there was a snowstorm), it took until Monday to get him an MRI. The surgeon had the MRI read by "the best veterinary radiologist in this part of the state", and called us with the finding that he had ascending/descending myelomalacia. He called us to say that based on the radiologist's opinion, surgery would be futile and actually came out and said "if you ask me to proceed with surgery, I would tell you that you that you weren't listening."

Then we did something that has made all the difference: We <b>asked for a second opinion</b>. We got the MRI in front of a veterinary neurologist who disagreed with what the radiologist saw. On that basis, our surgeon agreed to proceed with surgery. Lo and behold, the second opinion was RIGHT.... there was no myelomalacia.

Tinker had the surgery, followed by 6 weeks of crate rest and range of motion exercises. After that, we began rehab (underwater treadmill therapy) 3 times a week and acupuncture weekly. For 6 months, he was either in a cart or we walked him using a lead and a rear harness. At about the 8 months mark, he was truly walking on his own.

Today he walks with a stilted gait that is actually a combination of regular walking and spinal walking. He runs and he plays and enjoys life. Besides the strange gait, the only other thing that distinguishes him from a normal dog is that he doesn't empty his bladder completely by himself (we express what he doesn't empty himself), we don't allow him up on furniture, and we carry him up and down stairs (he weighs about 21 lbs.)

Jasmine's Mom, is sounds like your vet is still unsure about the diagnosis. My strong recommendation would be to find a veterinary neurologist to read that MRI and give another opinion. Don't feel embarrassed to get another opinion - A professional vet will understand and respect your thoroughness. If the 2nd vet can see your dog, too, that's a bonus. But, even just another interpretation of the MRI could prove invaluable.

Is your dog currently on an oral steroid or any other medication? Does she have any bladder or bowel control? Does she have any deep pain sensation in her real legs?

Please keep us posted on what happens.....

~Tinker's Mom
http://tinkerbeagle.blogspot.com/

[amyd]

Hi, Jasmine's Mom -
I don't have any experience with IVDD, but I do have a tiny chihuahua and she is completely incontinent. I found the store's diapers to be very costly and not really fit her very well. I would like to help you by sending you some instructions on how to make your own disposable diapers for Jasmine if you would like. They are lifesavers for us. There are posts on the pros and cons of diapers, and with the advice I have found on this site, we have been very successful with our use of them. Just email me and I will gladly forward you what I have - a simple diaper pattern and the instructions on how to make them. I just made about 25 of them in about 15 minutes this morning. I hope Jasmine is getting her pain under control. Hang in there. Here's my email: keebleredwards@yahoo.com Amy

[Jasmine'sMom]

Thank you for all the responses and critters for the forum guide, and CaroleC for Jasmine's own thread! She is due to go back to see the neurologist this coming week, so hopefully I will have some more information soon.

Tinker's Mom, that is some success story! In our case, it actually is the veterinary neurologist at the animal hospital who read the MRI and told me that he was "worried about 3 to 4 on a scale of 1 to 10 that this is ascending myelomalacia." But he also said that we would have our answer in 3 to 5 days because if it was that, by that time it would reach her respiratory center and she would have to be put to sleep. That was almost 3 weeks ago now and my regular vet has said that Jasmine is out of danger at this point. The neurologist was the doc who said no surgery because the one affected disc was not ruptured, just barely compressed, and it wouldn't do any good. Jasmine's official diagnosis is "IVD", at least until her f/u next week. The neurologist was just as surprised as we were because he was sure that the MRI was going to show a need for immediate surgery, and I had actually already signed the consent form for him to just proceed, as she was still an excellent candidate at that point. His phone call came as a complete shock. The physical therapist has given us some exercises for her rear legs and I expect to make another appointment with her this coming week.

No sensation as far as we can tell, and Jasmine has no control over her bladder or bowels. We have been expressing her several times a day and she tends to have a bowel movement then as well. Only real issue there is that her abdomen is so tender that she hates for us to touch her there. She starts to carry on as soon as she realizes it is time again. I actually found this site when I was looking for help in expressing her bladder. We just put the cloth diaper and liner on her now, and she is fine with it. Just to prevent some of the leakage when she is out of the crate and moving around. She just finished being weaned off the prednisone and pain meds, and seems to be doing fine w/o them. She did get a mild UTI which my vet said was probably from the initial high doses of steroids and she is taking Clamamox for that.


amyd, I saw your information on diapers this morning. I will email you this weekend to get some more information as you are right, they are expensive. I don't sew, but maybe I can find someone who I can pay to make me a bunch. Thank you for your kind offer of help, I really appreciate it.

Jasmine is one of 7 dogs in our house. She is a rescue, we have 2 older Beagle (sisters) rescues, 3 pugs, and a chihuahua/mini poodle mix! A little crazy, but I love them all!

[CarolC]

We have been expressing her several times a day and she tends to have a bowel movement then as well. Only real issue there is that her abdomen is so tender that she hates for us to touch her there. She starts to carry on as soon as she realizes it is time again.

I'm not sure what to make of this but wanted to give you feedback on it. Paralyzed dogs can generally be expressed without complaining.

I wonder if she still has a UTI that wasn't completely eliminated by the round of antibiotics (or she got a second UTI). That could make her tender. Or possibly she is very constipated and uncomfortable. She may have other pain, for example her back may be bothering her when you postion her for expressing. Perhaps it is simply as you say, and she is tender from the pressure during expressing. Does it take quite a bit of pressure to express her? If she has a tight sphincter and you are having to use quite a bit of pressure to release her urine, there are medications that can relax the sphincter and make expressing easier. You might ask about that.

I would recommend having the vet take a urine sample and check again for UTI. Even if the vet doesn't find germs in the urine (sometimes it requires a culture, which takes several days) it can be helpful to put the dog on preventive antibiotics, especially when you are new at expressing. Also, you might want to consider pain meds. It is not uncommon for dogs with IVD to be on a pain med.

The fact that she is still leaking after you express makes me think that either you may not be getting it all, or she has an infection. My dog never leaks unless she has an infection.

(Tinker's Mom--how wonderful that you are here! Jasmine'sMom--if you look at the expressing article under "Medium or Large Dog" you will see pictures of Tinker. http://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Express_a_dog_or_cat )

[Jasmine'sMom]

She is actually still taking the Clamavox for the UTI, it was a 2-week dose. I suspect that her discomfort comes from being constipated. Does anyone know of a mild, natural laxative I can give her? Today I am going to add some prescription ID canned food to her dry food and see if that helps. I weaned her off the pain meds because she didn't seem to need them and I thought the codeine was probably adding to the constipation problem. The Tramadol that the vet initially put her on didn't seem to help at all with the pain.

[critters]

I'd try pumpkin or Metamucil, but, IMO, your best bet long-term is lactulose. It's a cheap Rx, very yummy, consistent, and easy to adjust the dose. If she's constipated, which is likely if she's been taking codeine, i/d isn't likely to help. w/d might, if you have that.

[Jasmine'sMom]

I'd try pumpkin or Metamucil, but, IMO, your best bet long-term is lactulose. It's a cheap Rx, very yummy, consistent, and easy to adjust the dose. If she's constipated, which is likely if she's been taking codeine, i/d isn't likely to help. w/d might, if you have that.

How much pumpkin would you recommend giving her? And how many times a day? I usually feed her twice a day, with a small snack in the middle. I assume you are talking about canned pumpkin, the kind you would make pie with? I have a vet appt. tomorrow and will ask him for the prescription for lactulose then. The more I think about it, the more sure I am that constipation is the problem here. She pees easily as soon as her bowels relieve themselves, so it must be blocking her bladder. Thanks!

[CarolC]

It is very common to see that the dog needs to potty when you are expressing. Squeezing the abdomen tends to kind of mobilize the stool. A way to handle this is to "express the bowel" before expressing the bladder. You can feel the bladder much more clearly after the colon is empty.

Here is a link showing how you can get your dog to "poop on demand". There are many ways to stimulate the evacuation reflex. I simply pinch my dog's bottom and she potties. Then I express her bladder. I promise you, this isn't nearly as bad as it sounds. It helps a lot!

https://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/?title=Bowel_management_in_incontinent_pets

Lactulose gets my vote, too. With my dog it takes less than the prescribed amount to keep her regular. She likes it. I just measure it carefully and squirt it onto a saucer and she laps it right up. Be sure to get a couple of syringes to measure it for your dog. You'll want to be precise. Once you find the amount that is right for her, you can give her the exact amount as often as needed. The bowel is simply a little slower in a paralyzed dog--like you say, the medication, plus inactivity, etc. You may want to talk to the vet about her calorie intake while she is on crate rest. If she gains weight it will make it harder for her to resume walking when her neurological status improves.

Do you have any more pictures of her you could post? You can upload pictures straight from your computer to the message board. Here is a link showing how (if you have time).

http://www.handicappedpet.net/helppets/ ... php?t=6764

[Jasmine'sMom]

[amyd]

When we first got Brooklyn, she was always constipated and when I expressed her, it made her prolapse worse and sometimes she even bled. I tried all kinds of things to get her poo the right consistency - canned pumpkin, metamucil, adding water to her food, Laxatone - which is in the cat section...all of these helped, but the regime was quite a task. Ended up, simply changing dog food brands makes her poo "just right". She loves warm milk, yesterday, I gave her some, and that seemed to loosen her up some. I donno if milk can have a laxative effect or if it's just Brooklyn. Either way, I think you can find a way with trial and error to get Jasmine's expressing to be very easy. It's hard at first because you feel like you don't know what you are doing. But, then, before long, you become the pro and instead of posting questions, you will soon be posting advice, and helping others, like Jasmine and Brooklyn.

[Jasmine'sMom]

Well, after a few days the pumpkin is working miracles for Jasmine. At first we were giving it to her three times a day, now just twice a day with her meals, about a rounded teaspoon. Her bowel movements are more regular and her abdomen is MUCH less swollen. Vet said to hold off on the lactulose as a last resort.

The good news is that I discovered that Poise pads (or the Walmart equivalent) work WONDERS inside the washable diapers. Even when she really fills one if we've gone a bit too long in between expressing her, the natural curve of the pad just absorbs all the moisture right away from her little body. And the diapers were on sale this week at amazon.com, buy 3 get 1 free, which means I got 4 diapers for under $42, which sure beat the over $16 each I paid at the pet store.

So, all in all, things are falling into a routine and looking up after only 4 weeks. She's still my little girl, just needs a little more help these days.

[amyd]

I'm glad to hear the pumpkin is doing the trick for you. It's good for her too! I can't believe how much those poise pads cost. unreal. I'm glad Brooklyn is 3.5 pounds. I couldn't afford pads for a bigger bladder!! Best of luck...it gets easier, huh? Oh, while we are on this subject, I had read in places to try mineral oil, but then I found out it could be dangerous because they could aspirate it into their lungs. I donno, I tried mineral oil before I knew about the aspiration thing, and it didn't really help anyway. Amy