Jack Russell Paralyzed

[NoreSammi]

When I first posted last year about my then 4 year old Jack Russell being paralyzed on the 4th of July I had so many wonderful and very helpful reponses. Mandy had surgery and she walked now and then for about 8 months but now she has totally stopped. When I try to help her get on her feet she is so wobbley but I think she just needs to get strength in her legs. Maybe I am just being unrealistic. Her ilimination is better but the defication is very much in need of help. She "scoots" in a circle when she has to deficate. How does everyone deal with this? Also, Mandy is getting new sores from her hind legs dragging. What can I put on her legs that will actually stay?

I havent seen anyone post about a Jack Russell being paralyzed. Does anyone have JR that is paralyzed?

Thanks so much in advance. I think I am coming to the realization that my Mandy isnt going to walk again

Noreen

[CarolC]

Mandy had surgery and she walked now and then for about 8 months but now she has totally stopped. When I try to help her get on her feet she is so wobbley but I think she just needs to get strength in her legs.

Hi Noreen,

You are in a situation where it is hard to tell. My feeling would be that if your dog had surgery and was able to walk some for 8 months, then something else has happened to cause this setback. I would recommend that you have your dog re-evaluated. Sometimes when a dog has disk disease, more than one disk can be affected. It may be that your dog has another disk flaring up. I would put her on crate rest and take her to the vet. I am afraid if this continues to get worse she will lose bladder control.

My second idea would be to check her for a bladder infection. My dog is like yours, she learned to walk again after being paralyzed but it doesn't take much to throw her off. When she has a bladder infection, her walking goes all to heck. She sits, scoots, and drags. I will notice problems with her walking before I see or smell anything in the urine. It might be a good idea to have the vet check her for a urinary tract infection.

I understand what you mean by the scooting in circles when she has to defecate. My dog can walk, but she cannot walk and move her bowels at the same time. The answer on the fecal incontinence is something people here call "Poop on Demand". That means you can stimulate your dog to have a bowel movement at a time and place of your choosing, instead of whenever and and wherever it happens. Here is a link giving lots of different methods people have used to accomplish this. I use the pinch method with my dog.

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

On the scooting, crate rest for right now will give the sores a chance to heal. They do make little sacks to protect paralyzed pets that drag. Here are some links.

http://www.k9carts.com/protect.html

http://www.paralyzedpets.com/ (I had a problem with this link just now when I tried it, says they are doing maintenance)

You know, I can't tell what is going on with your dog, and I think you will need a vet to find out. But I wouldn't give up on the walking if I were you. My own dog did not start to walk until 9 months post-injury. There have been dogs here that walked later than that. If you can take care of whatever is causing this setback, there is hope you can get her back on track.

[Aus Dilecce]

Hi Noreen

Cinders is a super hairy 5 year old JR who 'went down' on March 24th, had surgery on March 25th and started walking on April 20th.

She manages to hold her urine until I get home from work or get up in the morning but has to go immediately then due to excitement. Defacation is managed by diet and timing and we're really getting a handle on it now and have hardly had any 'land mines' lurking on the carpet in the last week.

Her walking is still very much as if she's been on the wine. When walking slowly it's like watching an astronaut with over emphasised leg movement and when she runs she bunny hops her back legs together but she and her brother who we also own have done a bit of this all their lives. We try to do PT every night and really notice a difference if we don't do it, we also do hydrotherapy with her lifevest on in the bath once a week and the difference the next day is dramatic. I would love to do it more but we are in a terrible drought here and we can't spare the water. As it is I tend to get in the bath when she's finished!

I'd be tempted to get Mandy back in the crate and then get her to the vet. After Cinders' scan our surgeon told us that she was highly unlikely to have the same thing happen to her again but I don't know if that's just her from what he saw on the scan.

I hope everything works out for you. I know how devastated I was when Cinders first went down, then how ecstatic when she walked again, I can't imagine how I'd be if she went back down hill.

Sending positive thoughts from Downunder!