Pug Returned With Back Leg Paralysis

Neurological Disorders Resources. Treatment and care for pets having pain or trouble walking or standing due to spinal injuries or neurological disorders like IVDD, FCE and DM.
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Jess
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Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 2:14 pm

Pug Returned With Back Leg Paralysis

Post by Jess »

Hi Everyone,

A pug that I bred about 4 years ago was returned from his owner yesterday due to a change in her circumstances which means she is no longer able to care for him. I have never had a dog with mobility problems so I am hoping for some advice of therapy or any other exercises we could use to try to help him. We have taken him to our vet to get an idea of his condition today and they were very negative, recommended euthanasia.

As a background, the dog took a nasty fall down a high embankment as a 9month old puppy leaving him with a spinal fracture and nerve damage. His condition improved from conplete paralysis of his backend at the time of the accident, to now he is able to stand and bear weight and does kick his legs when he is in his wheels but drags them behind him when out of his wheels. I think this might be laziness on his part as he can move faster shimmying on his front legs than if he tries to walk. We had him walking a bit with a sling under his belly and he did attempt to move his back feet and walk when he got the hang of it and calmed down. I am reluctant to got straight to euthanasia at this time but if it is best for him I will do it when the time comes.

He has little or no bladder/bowel control which is my biggest concern at the moment. His owner was expressing his bladder but he seems to "dribble" as he sits anyway.

He is very happy in himself and apparently in no pain. We are having a consultation with a physio and will look at starting hydrotherapy but any support or advice for his mobility or continence issues would be appreciated.

Thank you!
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critters
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Re: Pug Returned With Back Leg Paralysis

Post by critters »

I don't see anything there to kill him over; vets are VERY apt to suggest such a thing as a knee jerk reaction, I'm sad to say. If they aren't properly willing to look after a handicapper (and MANY vets aren't), you may have to find another who's more willing.

My Koi was a leaker when he slept, so I used mattress pads on TOP of other bedding. To this day, I'm very fond of waterproof crib mattress pads for a multitude of bedding needs, although Koi has been dead for some years now (from cancer, NOT the spinal cord injury).

You might consider hydrotherapy (swimming) as a way to strengthen his legs while supporting them at the same time.

Responses might be slow through next week because of the long weekend and all, so stick around...
Jess
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Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 2:14 pm

Re: Pug Returned With Back Leg Paralysis

Post by Jess »

thank you so much for your reply!

The vet was very much of the opinion that because an operation couldn't be done to "fix" the dog then he would be better off PTS. But he really is the happiest little character so we want to give him every chance possible.

Here are some photos of him today, he visited the pet shop in his wheels :)

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Bobbie
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Re: Pug Returned With Back Leg Paralysis

Post by Bobbie »

A few years back I adopted a corgi whose owner could no longer care for him, who was pretty much in the same shape. He'd gone down in 2004 (age of 4) and was now 8, and he lived to be 13, happy and healthy as a cart dog. In his case it was the breeder who wanted to euthanize him (or at least considered it) but luckily his owner found me.

The foot movement might or might not be on its way to walking. My current paraplegic corgi (adopted four years ago) can move his legs and stand up, but his proprioception isn't good enough for walking on the left so he falls. When he drags he doesn't really use his legs but sometimes he takes a half step or so when he is up. In his cart his feet go- but without the cart he can't keep them in the right place. If you have the resources it may be worth a rehab evaluation to see if your pug will get anything back with therapy but if he doesn't he can still be a perfectly fine dog.

Once you are used to the care it really isn't much. The book I wrote on corgis in carts (see my signature) would be mostly applicable to pugs (a lot of it is about DM but much of the care is the same for disk injured dogs). I spend maybe ten extra minutes a day max doing things for Oliver that I don't do for my other corgi (expressing him and putting him in the cart). He wears a belly band so very little extra laundry, and he's very active so goes wherever we go.
Bobbie Mayer
"Corgis on Wheels: Understanding and Caring for the Special Needs of Corgis with Degenerative Myelopathy or DIsk Disease available now!
http://www.corgiaid.org/cart/corgisonwheels
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CarolC
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Re: Pug Returned With Back Leg Paralysis

Post by CarolC »

If he is dribbling, then I'd put a male wrap on him. I prefer the kind that are a snug fit, not the pouchy elastic kind. You can buy them or make them. They go around the waist and fasten with velcro and hold an absorbent pad in place so any dribbles are absorbed and your house stays clean. Malewraps are your friend.
:malewrap:

You are absolutely right about him being too eager to go so he drags instead of taking the time to walk, and absolutely right to exercise him first to get his energy down and then let him work on walking. I had to do the same thing with my dog.
http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16346&p=86384&hilit=four+corners#p86384 wrote: When my dog had recovered to the point where she could take a few steps, we ran into a problem that she was just so eager to be active, she would constantly be trying to "drag off to the four corners" of the earth. She would not want to practice her steps, or take the time to place her feet correctly, she wanted to head out, so she would immediately begin dragging, and no amount of telling her to slow down did any good. This included if I tried to tail walk her, away she'd go on her front feet. She was much more interested in darting off to smell things. So literally, when I would come home in the evening, I would put a long scarf around her waist and we would go out the front door with me carrying her hindquarters with the scarf, and she would ***run*** the first half block to the corner, with me running to keep up, carrying her with the scarf. That was how much energy she had. We must have been quite a sight. * * * But anyway, I learned the most valuable lesson...I had to give Katie at least 30 minutes (or more) of really active playtime to get her energy level down, so afterwards we could practice our standing and walking. And I could tell when she would start to settle down. I used to say, the first 30 minutes were hers, the next 30 were mine. If we hadn't done this, honestly she never would have learned to walk, she just would have dragged wherever she wanted to go and never slowed down enough to learn to walk, because slow is not her nature.
Here is another thread:
http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/view ... 34&p=14383
summerlover
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Re: Pug Returned With Back Leg Paralysis

Post by summerlover »

that's a good looking dog! :D
Jess
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Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 2:14 pm

Re: Pug Returned With Back Leg Paralysis

Post by Jess »

Hi there,

I thought I would give a little update on this in case anyone was interested.

He has now been back with us for one month and is currently having laser acupuncture/therapy. The lady doing it is very pleased, apparently all his "points" are responding well which they weren't at first and he is also now having a reaction when you touch his rear paw pads which he didn't appear to feel at first. He has quite a violent reaction of kicking his leg but apparently that is good.

I have put some videos below that I think show some improvement. We are very happy with him but trying not to get too excited!! Haha! Hopefully the videos will work, I am posting from my phone so was having trouble with them!!

He still is very wobbly on his legs but able to walk several steps at a time (when he is not too busy sniffing!!) and the muscle is improving in his backend a lot. He is able to empty his bladder on his own without needing to be expressed but does have the occasional accident.

The laser therapy lady said it is such a shame he didn't have this treatment at the time of the accident as he may well have made a very good recovery. As it is at the moment, she is very excited about his progress and is pretty confident that with time we will reach our goal of George being able to walk around the garden unaided safely. We don't need him off galloping, but to just be able to get where he wants when he wants would be amazing as he gets so frustrated when he can't play with the others!!

Thanks for all the advice and support on here, myself and George are very grateful :D

Videos!! Excuse the commentaries!! They are done for ourselves as a way of keeping track of his progress so sorry about all the chatter haha!

22nd May - first day home

http://youtu.be/MLEUUcVz7vE


Today, 19th June

http://youtu.be/_3kbBkTgHfQ
Jess
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Joined: Sun Oct 08, 2006 2:14 pm

Re: Pug Returned With Back Leg Paralysis

Post by Jess »

And just to prove that even a disabled dog can enjoy the shows, here is George last weekend enjoying a lovely show with Delilah my elderly pug and Ruby my basenji baby. George was the centre of attention and even got a special award (complete with a bag of treats!!) for being the cutest dog there :D very nice of the show organisers to do that for him!!


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critters
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Re: Pug Returned With Back Leg Paralysis

Post by critters »

Cute! Congrats!!
summerlover
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Re: Pug Returned With Back Leg Paralysis

Post by summerlover »

Wow. That's good news. Congratulations! :trophy:
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