Needing Hope & Help for our Dachshund

[Beccabuckle]

My name is Becca, and my husband and I are feeling so lost right now. Our seven year old dachshund, Lady, has been dealing with some back problems since last year and she has continued to get worse over the last couple of weeks. We don't have the money for back surgery and we're terrified that even if we did the surgery it wouldn't help her since over the weekend she's started to lose the use of one of her legs; the vet this morning told me that she wasn't responding to the deep pain pinch like she had hoped which makes me feel even more helpless. I don't know what to do and I just thought that maybe you might have some thoughts or success stories or just prayers.

We know the damaged disc is near where her ribs end. She was doing really well with her recovery until two Saturdays ago when she started to deteriorate again. This past Saturday we took her to another vet for the second opinion and she's still not improving. She's taking so many pills right now to try and help; 10mg of prednisone, amoxicilin for a uti caused by the first round of steroids, pain pills, muscle relaxers, and this morning our vet added another pill to the list. The second vet suggested low-level laser therapy but we're skeptical about whether or not it actually works. I just had to take her to the vet this morning because she hadn't peed or pooped since 8am yesterday. They said her bladder wasn't that full and so she was still ok. They are recommending we get an MRI done to determine the damage and I'm pretty sure we're going to get one. They are also suggesting acupuncture might help her and we had talked about maybe doing some hydrotherapy for her.

We're just so lost on what to do to help her. Every time I think about her or try to talk to someone I just breakdown. We've talked about making or buying her a wheelchair or a special harness, but my husband is worried that her quality of life won't be the same with a wheelchair. I just don't know where to turn to. We need some support and I had hoped that I might find it here.

Thanks,
Becca

[CarolC]

Hi Beccabuckle,

You may want to check out Dodger's List which is especially for the kind of problem your doxie is having.

http://dodgerslist.com/healingindex.htm

While you have her on medications, did they also tell you to do strict crate rest, and are you truly being strict about it or being a little lenient? If the disk problem is going to improve you need to do strict crate rest, no wimping out and giving in because you feel sorry for her being stuck in a crate, tough love is needed.

I don't know if the UTI was caused by the first round of medication, I would think it was caused by her not peeing often enough or not emptying completely. Since she can't run out and pee right now she may be waiting too long. But also, when you have neurological issues that affect walking, you often see bladder control issues as well. Some dogs can't urinate at all, some initiate a stream but do not completely empty, some dribble off an on during the day but again do not fully empty. It is the retained urine that provides a breeding ground for germs and can result in UTI. Expressing the bladder helps prevent this.

Most dogs do well in a wheelchair, unless they have other health issues that cause them weakness or something like that. They also manage to enjoy life when out of the wheelchair. Here is a little video giving you a sample of a dog that cannot walk. I hope you enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Saf_kZvwClE

Laser therapy is supposed to be truly helpful, I would probably try it if it is available. Here is some information.

http://dodgerslist.com/literature/heali ... ncture.htm

P.S. Here is a great picture, I wish I could remember who posted it originally so I could give them credit, it was someone on this message board.

[Beccabuckle]

Hi Carol,

It's so odd that you mention Dodger's List because yesterday a group I follow on Facebook posted information about it too. I'm going to try to look at the website today. We're starting to look into a wheelchair too, but I want to wait until we do the crate rest for a while.

Right now she's staying at the vet's office until tomorrow. They wanted to keep her under observation. In the beginning before it was this bad our vet had us crating her while we were at work and we were allowed have her out if she stayed stationary next to us. She's a pretty relaxed dog so we allowed her to lay with us on the couch, but not to walk unless we took her outside. Tomorrow we will be talking with the vet about the next step, but Daniel and I are already in agreement that we have to keep her in the crate at all times expect to go outside. He's afraid it's mean, but I know it's for the best for now. We just have to figure out how long her crate rest should be for. I've heard some people say a month and others say 4 months.

They believed the UTI was caused by the high dose of pred and her not being able to completely empty her bladder when we were taking her outside. Twice she had not urinated and the vet we went to for a second opinion on treatment didn't suggest to express her bladder, she only said that her bladder wasn't overly full and she would be ok; she ended up urinating when we got her home. The second time it happened we went to her regular vet and they expressed her bladder, but they also said it wasn't very full. I've asked the vet to show me how to express her bladder so that we can do it at home if necessary. Tomorrow they are going to show me how to do it.

Everyone this week I've spoken to has said they feel very hopeful about her recovery and it's helped to relieve some of the stress I'm feeling. I'm starting to feel better equipped to deal with this.

[Bobbie]

Quality of life with a cart can be excellent. I had one corgi in a cart for 9 1/2 years.

You do need to watch out for UTIs and if she's already had one, keeping her on an antibiotic until you get the urinary issues resolved (peeing or being expressed) is a good idea. In early years of paraplegia UTIS are a leading cause of death (by euthanasia or because of overwhelming infection.) That's not common, but it is very much more common right at first.

Acupuncture has been shown to help disk disease, and sometimes dogs recover without surgery.