New Handicapped Doxie Owner

[RowdyFan51]

Hello all

I'm Manda, and my girlfriend and I adopted Oscar (a red 13lb male Doxie) about 15 months ago. He was abused in his last home, and had scars from attacks by other dogs. We got him rehabilitated, and now he's fairly calm around other dogs (though cats and other small animals are what he enjoys chasing.) Wednesday morning he woke me up whimpering, crying, and unable to move his back legs. I rushed him to the vet and we found out that he has a slipped disk in his spine.

Oscar is like a son to my girlfriend and I, and I couldn't even dream of having him put down for something that is treatable. So I brought him home today, and unfortunately my vet isn't a Doxie specialist so there was very little she could tell me. I've been researching on the internet, and have been reading anything I could find. He has very little control over his hind legs (only moving them when you pinch between the pads of his feet) And seems to have lost control of his bladder and bowel.

My girlfriend is picking up puppy diapers on her way home from work, and we're scheduling an appointment with a specialist to get him back surgery ASAP. I guess I'm just looking for any tips, hints, tricks, or encouragement ya'll can offer.

Thanks so much for take the time to read this.

[critters]

Did you read the read sticky post on this bb? It has TONS of info on every aspect of care. You'll also want to read the similar red sticky on the incontinence bb for info on diapers, expressing, and the works.

[Dianne]

Welcome Manda and little Oscar,

I see from your blog that Oscar is on steroids and IV which I assume is for pain. Pain can actually be a good thing as it indicates a dog hasn't lost all feeling in his rear. But, loss of bladder (incontinence) means the injury is rather severe.

IMPORTANT: When a dog loses bladder control you need to express his urine so he doesn't get a bladder infection, or worse, kidney failure. If you don't know how to express urine, ask the vet. Oscar shouldn't be allowed to go 24 hours without expressing. If it has been that long, please get him to the vet to be expressed or catherized. Keeping the urine flowing is very important to his health. Those of us who express our pets usually do it about 4 times per day.

Read here: http://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Express_a_dog_or_cat

There are a lot of dogs on this board who had the surgery. The sooner you get him to a vet for possible surgery, the better.

There is something called CareCredit if you need a loan to pay the vet bill. It is a loan. http://www.carecredit.com/

You might want to post your questions on a special site for doxies with back problems: http://www.dodgerslist.com/

Meanwhile, put him in crate rest; don't let him walk around. He needs REST.

Instructions for crate rest: http://www.dodgerslist.com/lit/CrateRRP.pdf

Dianne
Schnitzel, paralyzed and incontinent, 3+ years

[Allicia]

Hi there. I'm sorry to hear about your baby getting hurt. We had a paralyzed Doxie come through our rescue several years ago. He was taken to the Vet by his owners to be put down. We took him into foster care. He had strict crate rest for 2 weeks. We also had to express his bladder so he could potty. We then put him in hydro therapy. He recovered somewhat and now walks......just a little goofy. I would HIGHLY recommend hydro therapy for all kinds of ailments. We currently have a dog in foster care who is unable to walk because of a birth defect. Swimming has really built her strength up......to a point where she can now at least stand. You might want to check into it for your Doxie. Good luck!


Allicia

[Dianne]

...except you don't want to do water therapy until crate resting and surgery are over....6 to 8 weeks.

Dianne

[RowdyFan51]

IMPORTANT: When a dog loses bladder control you need to express his urine so he doesn't get a bladder infection, or worse, kidney failure. If you don't know how to express urine, ask the vet. Oscar shouldn't be allowed to go 24 hours without expressing. If it has been that long, please get him to the vet to be expressed or catherized. Keeping the urine flowing is very important to his health. Those of us who express our pets usually do it about 4 times per day.

I actually have a brother who's a vet tech and he's been AMAZING through all of this. He's going to coach me through the expression tonight (and the rest of the weekend) and the doctor he works for is going to be the one doing Oscar's surgery. We're taking him up Monday, so hopefully he'll be home at the latest next Friday.

And for now he's in a laundry basket because we don't have a crate. Tomorrow we'll be going out and getting him a playpen, which is what our vet recommended because it'll be easier to get him in and out of.

And thank you, and everyone else for all your information and well wishes.

[Cindidoxiemom]

You are very lucky to have a Vet Tech in the family to help you through this.
Did your vet give you steriods? Reducing the swelling in the area is VERY important right now as it is the pressure on the cord from the swelling that may be doing additional damage to the cord. Pain killers?
Please join Dodger's list. It is a forum of over 1400 people whose dogs have IVDD. The vast majority are dachshunds.

I have two IVDD dachshunds...Hunter and Oscar. Will be thinking good thoughts for your Oscar.

[Paul Coover]

We have 9 dachshunds total.

We have 2 dachshunds that are paralyzed and use wheelchair carts. We also have Riley, a dachshund that we adopted as a downed dog but he recovered. Here is his story:

http://www.handicappedpets.com/gallery/riley11/

We also have Johanna, a dachshund that was left paralyzed from an attack with a baseball bat.












Here is a link to when Johanna and I were on the news in Boston in August of 2006.

http://www1.whdh.com/features/articles/specialreport/BO25472/

Pork Chop has a slipped disc in his neck that has left him paralyzed.













Handicapped and disabled dogs can live very happy and healthy lives, as I hope you can see. Remember, being disabled doesn't mean being destroyed!

It is important to keep a good, positive atitude right now. I know it is very difficult, but it is so important right now. Your dog will feed off of your energy, and you want to give them the best possible chance to recover as quickly as possible.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Good luck!