Help -Out of surgery - Loss of DPP

[barrycasey]

Hey folks

This website is a godsend. Our 4 year old Japanese Spitz did damage to her back on saturday while going for a pee (Still cant wrap our heads around how it happened). She let out real high pitch screaming and then quietened ...although shaking from shock. Her front legs were locked and her back legs completely limp. We raced into the vets and were there within half an hour.

She was given a sedative and the vet check for DPP. AT the time the DPP was present in one of the hind legs the other had no reaction. Next morning the situation was the same

We opted for the surgery rather than putting her down which we were told was the usual course of action. We stumped up the money and she was operated on just within the 24-hr window.
She is now recovering from the operation and is in her 2nd day of recovery.

Now the problem seems to have exacerbated with both legs now feeling no DPP. Im extremely worried now I must say although the vet did say that this may be due to post-op swelling but im not sure. Has anyone experienced this happening with their dog.
Only bit of good news was that they feel she may have recovered some bladder function as she peed twice last night and he reckons it was not due to her bladder overfilling as she had been expressed by the vets.

Could anyone please let me know what you think her chances are. No mater what we will NOT put her down and are prepared to take on the extra responsibility that come with looking after a small animal as she feels no pain and we think we can provide a great quality of life.

Thanks
Barry and Brigid (Ireland)

[Bobbie]

Nobody can really tell you what the chance is of your particular dog recovering completely. I could give you statistics about surgery in general, but that doesn't really tell you anything. Having DPP going in to surgery is a better predictor than the 24 hr window. But losing it quickly after the injury is a negative- it suggests a more severe injury than if she'd lost dpp over a couple of days. Getting it back right after surgery is a good predictor, so not having it back is not good. But it's all statistics, and does not tell you what an individual dog will do.

How are her front legs now? If she has full front leg function that's a big plus. Where is her injury? (What vertebrae?)

Spinal cord swelling takes awhile to go down. You really won't know much until it does. Also, getting DPP back is a good sign, but doesn't necessarily mean complete recovery. And lots of dogs come out of surgery not walking and can take months to walk again.

[barrycasey]

Hey Bobbie

Her front legs are good. I asked the vet today while visiting to make sure

The problem happened between T12-T13 on her spine.

Unfortunately the fact she peed last night means nothing as she had no control over her poop today according to vet.

So we just gotta wait and see I guess, although Im not holding out too much hope.

Thanks for taking the time to reply Bobbie

Barry and brigid

[Bobbie]

T12 is pretty low so getting bladder back is not impossible. Control of bowels takes more- a lot of older females lose that with no spinal cord damage. But you are right- wait and see. She can live a long, happy life in a cart if she gets nothing more back.

[nat_gascho]

Hi there,
My 9yr old boston terrier/beagle mix also ruptured a disk between his T11-T12 vertebrates. I got him into surgery within 3 hours of it happening, and he had DPP in both hind legs going into surgery. The neurologist told us he had an 85-90% chance of being able to walk again, but unfortunately after the surgery, he had also lost DPP. We were obviously shocked by this outcome, but kept our hopes up that it would come back in a week or so. It's been 9 months now, and he still has no DPP, and is totally incontinent, but I swear is happier than before this whole ordeal! It took about a month for me to get used to this "new normal", but with a lot of trial and error, and help from this group of people, I don't even remember life before this happened. We got him a cart, which he loves, and today I bought him a life jacket so that he can swim in our pond again. He went for his first swim today and had a blast! I'm not saying that this will be your dogs outcome, but I hope my dogs story helps you see that it's ok of things don't end up how you hoped. I spent a month agonizing and crying over what to do with Otis. I didn't think he could possibly live a full life as a paralyzed dog, and I definitely didn't think I could look after him! I was surprised to find that he still has a great quality of life, and that I can deal with a lot more than I gave myself credit for. I hope your dog regains his DPP, and I know there are dogs in this group that have started walking months after their injuries, so never give up hope! But even if it doesn't happen, your dog will still be able to live a great life, especially since you sound like you are committed to helping her:).