My wonderful American Bulldog Lincoln had an accident last week, he slipped on wet paving dashing up the garden after a cat. Somehow he has slipped and banged his spine, presumably on the sharp edge of a stone step. He instantly lost the use of his back end.
He has had x rays, there are no fractures. There are no dislodged discs. He does have pain sensation on both legs but no real motor control. He did have a soft swelling on his back where he must have banged it. This has gone now.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has any experience of this kind of paralysis. There have been signs that one leg has a small amount of strength - I'm hoping that this has been improving slowly - it's been six days now since his accident. When I walk him with a towel under his hips the right leg will make a walking gait movement, it is in the correct time with his front legs. Left leg does not though. His tail will clamp down when he has his bum wiped. When play fighting which he was inspired to do yesterday - when he would normally, on his back, push you with all four legs - there was some resistance with the right leg! When I talk him outside and stand him on his feet he is able to weight bear for a few seconds but that's all, and he can't put his feet down or position his legs at all. He does seem to ever so slightly use the right leg to help him change sides if he is sitting up in the right position and the leg happens to be under him in the right place.
Poor boy has had a bladder infection, began urinating blood when he first came back from staying at the vets on the Saturday morning so I had to wait until Monday morning to get antibiotics. I think these are working now although his pee seems to be black - could this be old blood?? It still stinks, fishy like and looks black which I'm hoping will clear as the course works through. He is incontinent, doesn't seem to be able to hold it at all, it regularly leaks or spurts if he moves. I have tried expressing but I am not sure there's any in there although it works sometimes!!! For the first few days he was catheritised and then he wee'd by himself when the nurses towel walked him out the day he came home, so I don't know if he is incontinent due to the bladder infection or not. He can't hold his poo although he can tell me when he can feel it imminently ready to come out which is good. I can hold his hindquarters up in a sitting position and he can get it out (or his bowel does, lol).
What I saw tonight and I don't know if this has made me more sad or given me more hope - but he has been sleeping by my feet and he began to dream - both legs were twitching with the front ones as they do in chasing dreams???? Is this indicative of a possible recovery? (He has just done it again as I am typing - the weakest left leg - uppermost - was jerking like crazy!!!)
When he has turned himself onto his back and stretched as they do, I have seen the right leg move back too. He has just stretched half asleep now and I saw his tail move...
He got sent home with Metacam which I never administered as he was passing a lot of blood when he first came back. Leaking a lot. I read up about the side effects and thought colitis or intestinal distress but best to avoid the Metacam. This has stopped now.
I can't give the care I have been doing indefinitely. I guess I'm just fishing for any hope that he might be able to even partially recover so that he might regain some independent mobility and continence. I'd love to hear other forum user's experiences or opinions. Thanks for reading this far!
Here's a couple of pictures of the lovely soul - sorry, they are massive!
I am also hoping that his dinner isn't through him before I am up in the morning - he had loose stools for the first half of today which was challenging 
I consider ANY leg movement to be positive; in fact, I've seen them move in sleep when there's not enough strength to move when standing on them. 2 of the 4 SCI boys I've had have kept weird, extreme sleep movements, to the point that their legs will knock them out of the bed, even after recovery. I suspect that the "dampening" of the movement that the brain does during sleep can't get to their legs anymore.
