HandicappedPets.Net

Hello,

My dachshund Max just got his first case of IVDD. (He is 6 years old) For 2 days he was week and didn't want to get up. I blamed the hot weather for that. But then he got much, much worse, he was in pain and wouldn't let us touch him. It was allmost midnight and in our country there are no 24/7 veterinary hospitals, so we had to wait untill morning. He didn't sleep all night and in the morning I noticed that he couldnt move his hind legs. We drove to the nearest vet and he said that Max has a bad case of IVDD he expalained all the opporrunities.(he had hind leg paralysis, no deep pain) We chose opperation. It was done in the next day and the doctor gave us 80% chance of recovery. It has been 7 days since the opperation, but Max hasn't shown much improvement. He has good reflexes. When we squeeze his tail it waggs strongly and he moves his hind legs, same happens if we squeeze his toes, I have noticed that he tenses his legs a bit when I stand him up to express his bladder. But he doesn't show signs of deep pain.
The problem is that now my daughter is with him all day and can express his bladder whem needed, but in September, when she will go to school, there will be noone home to do that because all of us come home late.
Is there hope of recovery? Should I be worried of no deep pain?

Did the vets say he has no deep pain?

Seven days is very early. If he really has no deep pain it isn't a good sign, but it still doesn't mean he won't walk. It can take time, though. Whether or not he gets bladder control back is another question.

If he still needs to be expressed maybe you can find a pet-walker who can come do it. You should still be able to leave him as long as you did in the past, though it is better for him if he is expressed regularly (helps prevent UTIs).