Paralyzed dog suddenly urinating on their own

[nat_gascho]

Hi everyone! I'll give you a quick back story on my 8yr old boston terrier/beagle mix. In early September, he ruptured a disk in his spine. I got him to the major Vet School in our area within 3 hours of noticing the first signs that something was wrong, and he still had the ability to stand on his own, and also had deep pain perception, but could hardly walk. The neurologist gave him a 85-90% chance of a fairly full recovery with surgery, so we decided to go ahead with that. The surgery went very well, but the next day he was left with no deep pain perception at all and is now paralyzed in his hind end. They were stumped as to why it all ended up this way. I got to bring him home after the 5th day, and they told me that if he had no deep pain in 2 weeks, he probably wouldn't get it back. I went through the whole emotional roller coaster that everyone on this discussion board has talked about (and this site helped me in so many ways!! I'm so glad I found it). After 2 weeks, I took him back to the neurologist because he seemed to be getting some reflex movement back whenever I pinched his toes, but was told it was just reflexes and that he probably would be paralyzed and incontinent for life.

I've now come to terms with this, and my boyfriend and I are committed to looking after him. I got him a cart after 6 weeks of sling walking, and he's much happier for it! We live on a farm, and he was used to roaming around all day, so this loss of independence was especially hard on him. He's now back to his normal self and seems totally happy. I've been getting him laser therapy once a week, and I've noticed a lot of changes, especially in the past 3 weeks. He started by pulling his feet out of his slings on his cart quite often, and lately we've been getting snow here, so I decided to let his feet hang down on the snow to see what would happen. In the last 3 days, he's started to move his hind legs under him, and sort of push off as he's walking. I was wondering if this means he's maybe starting to think about spinal walking?? Yesterday, and today, he's been moving them in a walking motion, just not quite as fast as his front legs. I know that when they spinal walk, it's out of sync with their front legs.

My main reason for writing all of this though, is that today we had a very exciting development! My friend and I were walking him, and he stopped to sniff some litter on the side of the road. I noticed his tail went up, but it moves randomly a lot so I didn't think much of it. My friend said, "Oh my gosh, did you see that!! He peed!!!". I ran over to the place he was standing, and sure enough, there was a small puddle of urine there. He then proceeded to kick his front legs back, like he used to do when marking his spot. He does this quite often still whenever he smells the scent of another dog, so I don't know if it's related or not. Now, he hasn't leaked pee very often since he was paralyzed. I'm lucky that way, because they only time he leaks is if he's got a full bladder, and even then, it's only very little. So I don't think he leaked on the walk today. Also, the fact that his tail stood up makes me think he consciously did it. When I express him, his tail always sticks straight up when I squeeze his bladder.

So has anyone here experienced this? I still don't think he has deep pain perception, but I have noticed him getting restless sometimes, and it seems to correlate to his bladder being full. The other day he started panting and whining, so I lifted his back legs up and he ran right to the front door. I then expressed him and he ran back into the house! I'm thinking he can maybe tell he has to pee now. Is this a possibility if he doesn't have the deep pain perception back? I'm toying with the idea of taking him back to a neurologist again, just to see what they think of all of this. I'm going to keep a close eye on him in his cart to see if he tries to pee again, and I'll keep everyone posted on it. Thanks for any help you all can give me.

[Bobbie]

It's certainly possible and it is a good sign if it was under control (or at least he knew he was doing it.)

[CarolC]

Hi everyone! I'll give you a quick back story on my 8yr old boston terrier/beagle mix. In early September, he ruptured a disk in his spine. I got him to the major Vet School in our area within 3 hours of noticing the first signs that something was wrong, and he still had the ability to stand on his own, and also had deep pain perception, but could hardly walk. The neurologist gave him a 85-90% chance of a fairly full recovery with surgery, so we decided to go ahead with that. The surgery went very well, but the next day he was left with no deep pain perception at all and is now paralyzed in his hind end. They were stumped as to why it all ended up this way. I got to bring him home after the 5th day, and they told me that if he had no deep pain in 2 weeks, he probably wouldn't get it back.

I don't think that's true. My dog had no deep pain following her injury or at the follow-up to her surgery, but when they tested her again at 149 days (nearly 5 months) she had it.

I went through the whole emotional roller coaster that everyone on this discussion board has talked about (and this site helped me in so many ways!! I'm so glad I found it). After 2 weeks, I took him back to the neurologist because he seemed to be getting some reflex movement back whenever I pinched his toes, but was told it was just reflexes and that he probably would be paralyzed and incontinent for life.

I've now come to terms with this, and my boyfriend and I are committed to looking after him. I got him a cart after 6 weeks of sling walking, and he's much happier for it! We live on a farm, and he was used to roaming around all day, so this loss of independence was especially hard on him. He's now back to his normal self and seems totally happy. I've been getting him laser therapy once a week, and I've noticed a lot of changes, especially in the past 3 weeks. He started by pulling his feet out of his slings on his cart quite often, and lately we've been getting snow here, so I decided to let his feet hang down on the snow to see what would happen. In the last 3 days, he's started to move his hind legs under him, and sort of push off as he's walking. I was wondering if this means he's maybe starting to think about spinal walking?? Yesterday, and today, he's been moving them in a walking motion, just not quite as fast as his front legs. I know that when they spinal walk, it's out of sync with their front legs. Yes, it sounds like it. I agree about it not necessarily being in time with the front feet.

My main reason for writing all of this though, is that today we had a very exciting development! My friend and I were walking him, and he stopped to sniff some litter on the side of the road. I noticed his tail went up, but it moves randomly a lot so I didn't think much of it. My friend said, "Oh my gosh, did you see that!! He peed!!!". I ran over to the place he was standing, and sure enough, there was a small puddle of urine there. He then proceeded to kick his front legs back, like he used to do when marking his spot. He does this quite often still whenever he smells the scent of another dog, so I don't know if it's related or not. Now, he hasn't leaked pee very often since he was paralyzed. I'm lucky that way, because they only time he leaks is if he's got a full bladder, and even then, it's only very little. So I don't think he leaked on the walk today. Also, the fact that his tail stood up makes me think he consciously did it. When I express him, his tail always sticks straight up when I squeeze his bladder. It sounds like he marked his spot, and he must be so proud of himself! You'll know if he continues to repeat it. One thing to keep in mind is, even if he is beginning to develop the ability to urinate on his own, he may not get himself completely empty every time during the early days of recovery. They recommend continuing to express until urination is dependable, meaning you would let him go out and empty as well as he can, then before you go back indoors you express any urine that is left. There is a very good video about expressing a dog who can urinate but doesn't empty. Here is the link:
http://www.scoutshouse.com/videos/video_bladder.html


So has anyone here experienced this? I still don't think he has deep pain perception, but I have noticed him getting restless sometimes, and it seems to correlate to his bladder being full. The other day he started panting and whining, so I lifted his back legs up and he ran right to the front door. I then expressed him and he ran back into the house! I'm thinking he can maybe tell he has to pee now. Yes, they can sometimes feel that they need to go even if they don't yet have the control to manage it all on their own. Is this a possibility if he doesn't have the deep pain perception back? My personal non-medical guess is, he does have deep pain sensation. It is possible he recovered it, or he may have had it to begin with but they missed finding it. Dogs do not always display pain in an obvious way that is easy to see, supposedly it is partly because they are pack animals and so they hide it. There was an article somewhere (I could look for it if you want) talking about the subtle clues that a dog might exhibit when tested for deep pain, some were very slight. I'm toying with the idea of taking him back to a neurologist again, just to see what they think of all of this. I'm going to keep a close eye on him in his cart to see if he tries to pee again, and I'll keep everyone posted on it. Thanks for any help you all can give me.

[nat_gascho]

Hi CarolC:
I've read that some dogs can urinate on their own, but still need help emptying completely, so I will make sure to pay attention to that if he continues. I watched him like a hawk today, but unfortunately didn't see any peeing happening . He did get out of my sight for a minute, and when I checked his tire tracks in the snow, I did see some pee in the same area. There are also 3 other dogs at the farm we live on, so I can't be sure it wasn't one of them. I know these things come so slowly though, so I will keep checking every day! I have noticed the past few days, he has been easier to get fully empty in a shorter period of time. Maybe this means that he is helping a little?

As far as the deep pain goes, I'm not sure that he does have it, although he has very strong reflex movements. When I pinch the webbing between his toes very hard, he pulls his leg in and kicks it multiple times, but never acknowledges it by looking at his foot. If I pinch his front feet for comparison, he will look, or whine, or even put his mouth on my hand. If I scratch the skin just above his tail on his back, his tail swings like crazy and hikes both his hind feet right up under his belly. He also pulls his tail away from me if I touch it. It's so frustrating to think that all of these movements don't actually mean something, because they seem so big. He's definitely improving more recently, and while I'm not getting my hopes up, it is exciting to see. Even if he could learn to spinal walk, that would be awesome. This is why I think I should make another neuro appt. Every regular vet that sees him, thinks that he can feel things, but both the neurologists that have looked at him think he has no deep pain. Who do I believe!!?? Thanks for all your responses! It's so nice to have others to talk to who have the same situation as I do Having your dog become paralyzed is one of the last things you think will happen when you get a dog!

[SmilebackStewie]

I have a dachshund who woke up paralyzed from a ruptured disk the morning after Thanksgiving. We were ordered to 8 weeks-6 months of crate rest, plus steroids and antibiotics in case of a UTI.He has completely lost deep pain sensation in his feet and has no control over his bowels. For the first week I expressed his bladder and did a lot of laundry and had him wear a wrap. One day I took him outside to express his bladder and told him to "go potty" and he did. After that he has been successfully urinating with me holding him up. He has been sniffing around like his old self and simply urinating on command. I'm puzzled because no other improvements have been made and I can't seem to find anything about regaining the ability to urinate while still paralyzed. I was glad to read your story because it sounds like we have similar situations on our hands. I will send good vibes your way and hope your dog keeps up the improvement…it's funny how much a dog peeing on their own can change our entire day!!:) Best Wishes.

[critters]

SmilebackStewie!

Functions don't necessarily come back at the same time. Poop, pee, and movement can, and probably will, come back at different times.

Yes, liquid gold is something we celebrate around here!!

[smaselli]

If a dog who currently has no deep pain sensation, but is now peeing on their own considered a good and positive sign?

[CarolC]

Absolutely! It's a GREAT and positive sign!


EDIT: Just read your other post. When you say "now peeing on her own" it sounds positive, like she regained some function, however I am unclear on her condition so I am not sure how to interpret it.