Paralyzed dog with bladder issues

[critters]

A little off topic, but I have a pro sound reinforcement company as a part-time hobby, so we get to haul lots of heavy professional speakers and amp racks around. In UHaul-style box trucks or trailers with rear ramp. Loading and unloading in all sorts of venues. Venues that have stairs we use stair-climbers on nowadays. My biggest speakers are around 100-lbs each, have a sturdy large pulling handle, on 5" casters each corner. There is still almost no way, even for the strongest crew member, to move ALONE one of those 100-lbs boxes UP the ramp with a normal incline (like into the box van). Can be done, but a major struggle, definitely unsafe. Going down the ramp alone is easier, but we've broken a few corners that way and now I require two people, would hate for that to happen with a person on board. If you decide to use a ramp, I would strongly recommend also mounting a cheap little electric winch, you can get them on craigslist or amazon or harbor freight for around $100-150, way way worth itHarbor Freight is terrific, as is Northern, if you have access to one of them. Definitely birds of a feather.... they are small enough that you might even be able to mount it to the wheelchair and use its batteries,She doesn't have a power chair. like on an ATV, they are definitely a life (and back) savers...

I am about to take the dog on another "walk" in the back yard and will try to catch some more pix. He was just looking out of the open sliding door and barking like he used to just a month ago when he wanted to go outside. Sigh. We'll get him there. He kept looking at his rear legs and then looking outside...

As for the w/c frame, this is probably the best route to go, unless something really custom is needed. Aluminum is the lightest material. But welding aluminum takes some skill and special equipment. Sad but true.Regular steel (DOM) is much stronger, that's what I use on my offroad trucks, but it's also really heavy and would be an absolute no-go. Even a smaller gauge steel? I'm NOT a welder; that's one thing nobody in my world can do, much to my dismay. The "kit" from BFM is alright for a starting point, kinda dinky, but can be modified and strengthened where needed. I will keep tinkering with it every time we use it to see if it can be improved upon.That's the way to do it.

[illusha]

First, an update on our dog, it’s been just over a month now, but he is showing some slow progress, clearly much better that on the first few days. He has been able to control his bladder to some degree. He now tends to “go” about 3 times per day and is very good about letting us know when he needs it. He is able to hold his bladder until he knows we are ready to “drain” him into a large adult diaper. He’s had a couple “accidents” when he could not hold it any more and no one was at home. Poor thing. But something is changing and I am hoping he’s improving. We have not been back to the vet in about 2 weeks now = no catheterization has been needed !!!

The tail wags pretty regularly, even more often than before the accident, and clearly based on emotions (not a reflex). Both hind legs are starting to regain some muscle tone and he appears to be able to move them while he is laying on the side. Right leg is much stronger than the left. But both legs move when I squeeze the toes a bit. I would say that he has 70% control of the Right leg and 40% control of the Left leg while laying down. Also, sometimes he straightens out both legs and it takes considerable effort to fight his muscle to bend the leg. However, still not bearing any weight, not even trying.

I’ve been coming up with creative exercises for when he is in the wheelchair. He likes to be pushed forward, so that he rolls about 6 feet, then he backs up and repeats. During those back’n’forth rides, I did observe him trying to properly place his Right foot (the stronger one), not quite successful, but definitely trying. The Left foot is just dangling there though for now. Hoping to see some more progress in the near future. Wish I could find the time to take him out of town to water therapy and acupuncture. But I have limitations also.

We’ve been doing the doggy wheelchair every day. I realize that it should be 2-3 times per day, but it’s simply not possible, I am already spending my entire lunch hour to exercise him. The wheelchair itself has been holding fine, for the most part, but the aluminum tubes that go from the rear wheels to the front wheels definitely get bent EVERY single time we use it. I will be “sleeving” them with another metal pipe to increase strength. It will be needed very soon before something breaks. And we only have maybe a dozen “rides” in the wheelchair up-to-date. A bit disappointing considering the $500 price tag. So it’s just a poor design and cheapest materials possible. Still was the best design I could find when I was looking though – with the exception of custom made wheelchairs – but those take a while and are just a little spendy.

I will post some ideas about stair lifts here below and in the linked thread also.

[illusha]

I took some photos of the manual stair lifts that we have in my work building for emergencies. Not sure how easy these are to operate. Look very similar to the stair lifts we’ve used for moving speaker cabinets. I just did a quick google search for “manual stair lift” and found a bunch of products, including a lift that’s similar to what’s in my photos, it is described at http://max-ability.com/stair-trac-wheelchair-stair-lift and there are many more models out there. Some are quite spendy. There are also some unique wheelchairs with multiple wheels. But the same concept could be applied to build something DIY for much cheaper at home. I would have to put my thinking hat on to figure out how to assist a single caregiver using such a lift to move a person UP the stairs. Going down is easy. It’s going up that takes skill, muscle, and improvisation in addition to luck and common sense. You may also find some useful info in this blog: http://wheelchairstairclimbing.blogspot.com/

[illusha]

moar photos...

[critters]

You know, I'd never actually seen such a beast until I visited the Library of Congress, and they have stair chairs like that on all upper floors. Nifty beasts!

I peed my Buddy into a diaper, too. It worked very nicely for us and was a way to use up the diapers that were too small to fit on his butt.

[illusha]

An update. It’s been three months. So much for “we’ll know more in a couple of weeks”. Still don’t know for sure if he’ll recover. But the dog is making some progress, which is notable, considering he had such a massive stroke from L3 to T3. His tail started wagging after the first couple of weeks. After about a month, his Right Rear leg started showing signs of him being able to control it, the Left Rear leg was not working as well and was often cold to touch. He first was able to re-learn how to EXTEND the legs. He is now able to also WITHDRAW his Right leg with no trouble – but only when laying down – not when in the harness. And he is finally starting to withdraw the Left Leg now too, but still much weaker than the Right. The wheelchair turned out to be more hassle that it’s worth. It’s more useful as a long-term solution and only if you find one that doesn’t bend all over. The dog did not like it and needed to be supervised at all times when using it. Plus I figured that he is not getting any exercise for his rear legs if they are just strapped into the wheelchair. So I started again lifting weights in gym at work (really), now assisting the 100-lbs dog by the harness is not all that difficult any more, just gotta switch hands once in a while. We are doing a variety of exercises that I improvise to ensure all of his muscle groups get worked (as much as possible anyway). So anyway, three months later, he can stand unsupported for about a minute at the beginning of the exercise session, then he gets weaker, often needing to lay down to rest. Not trying to move his legs while he is in the upright position and in the harness. When we “walk” around the back yard, he either drags his legs behind, or picks them up because he knows I got the harness. Still doing manual bladder expression, I think that he has some control over when he goes, he just waits for me to “cue” him by placing an adult diaper under and squeezing a little (and I got quite comfortable with this unusual procedure in general). We will be trying acupuncture in a few days. Set an appointment with an experienced doctor that uses needles who also recommended looking into electo-stimulation. And we even found a doggie pool here in town, although I’m more tempted to just go to the lake like normal people, but we’ll have to think about that.

[critters]

People use ponds, lakes, pools, etc. for swimming (hydrotherapy) every day. Personally, I use life jackets all the time, especially on "wild water," just in case.

[CarolC]

The lake does have some advantages, it would probably be more interesting to him. Here is a post by Doc_Moore_J showing swim therapy at the lake.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11991&p=61777

You are getting your workout for sure. They say a dog carries 60% of his weight on the front legs and 40% on the hind legs, so each time you are lifting him that is about 40 lbs if he is 100 lbs. However I found out with my big dog that if the dog lunges or looses his balance or even just tries to take off in excitement the minute you have him on his feet, then you are really dealing with extra weight based on the pulling, etc. At the same time, it is a kind of a nice mental trick to tell yourself you are lifting 40 lbs, and it is true during normal lifts.

Here is another video about the lake.
http://www.handicappedpets.com/dog-in-w ... swims.html

I'm not sure exactly how the stirrups are on the wheelchair you have (the one that keeps bending under the weight). Some wheelchairs allow you to have the feet in stirrups in such a way that if the dog gets the hind feet moving a bit in response to walking with his front feet, there is enough freedom for him to do so. You can see Lucy doing it a little in this video.

http://www.handicappedpets.com/dog-whee ... ngton.html

Here is another idea. It shows using a Biko brace in conjunction with the wheelchair. (click to enlarge) It allows the dog to have the feet down and the straps of the brace help with the stepping motion.

[illusha]

Another progress update. Went in for acupuncture 2 days ago. Had a well-experienced doctor place needles and another doctor who came in to hook up a pulsating frequency electro-stimulation machine to the needles. I know little about acupuncture and always considered it a luxury that I could not afford myself. So I have little personal experience in this area. I am assuming that it's gotta do something, since it's a recognized branch of medicine, but I still have to be convinced by seeing the results for myself and I still think that dropping him into a lake (figure of speech) would do more good.

Yesterday, the dog did something strange, he peed on his own twice, as soon as he saw the diaper being brought to him. That's never happened before. Called the vet after second time and they advised that it might be a sign that acupuncture is helping the nerves wake up. Alright, I'll buy that, still frustrating to deal with when you are on the way out of the door to an 8 am meeting or just coming home after working for a good 10+ hours. Cleaning the dog with washcloth has proven to not be effective in the past and so he goes to take a shower (walk in) whenever there is an accident.

After taking the second shower yesterday, he started bleeding from one of the elbows, the place where he had a callus. We've been using Gentaspray as needed previously. But he started bleeding and oozing, so I've placed a bandage over that elbow, although keeping it in that place has been challenging. He was up most of the night panting and drank a lot of water. I went to work this morning and the dog was lethargic and kinda laying on the side without much emotion. I read this morning a little about bed sores and the how quickly infection can become dangerous. When I came back on my lunch break 4 hours later to get him out into the back yard for exercises, I noticed that his elbow area had inflamed and was about twice the diameter of the other elbow, so glad that I have a very understanding boss. Went to the vet, who drained the cyst and applied some special silver cream that he also gave me some to take home, he also prescribed an antibiotic and another anti-inflammatory painkiller for 10 days. The vet had a clever idea of using a 2" stockinette that's normally used for making casts. He also suggested cutting up a tight long-sleeve shirt to get similar results. When I brought the dog home, the stockinette already worked it's way off the sore, so I poked a big paperclip through it and connected the other end to a very loose collar around his neck. Will find out how it held up when I return after work tonight and might end up making another improvised medical device. It's also been suggested to make a "doughnut" pillow or get some hockey elbow pads.

Any other ideas that maybe folks have used in the past to keep pets with only front mobility from wearing their elbows raw supporting themselves?

P.S. to CarolC regarding the wheelchair - it's an interesting device - that Biko brace thingie. With my dog there are several issues. He really needs a better built wheelchair. But he also does not like it, hates it actually, has not been able to figure out how to go forward with it and only been moving backwards when strapped in the wheelchair. Which resulted in a couple of spectacular jumps on my part to save him from falling off the deck for instance. When his feet are in the stirrups, they do move a little, but not nearly as much as when he is in a harness. So, really, the wheelchair is more hassle than it's worth (in my case). Might be different for those who are looking for a long-term solution. But I am already kicking myself for not exercising him in the harness more frequently (usually been daily) because he has some notable muscle atrophy in hind legs. So harness it is as long as he is willing to take it. And we do generally try to work all the muscle groups by adopting what I know about human exercises. He can do squats pretty well, if I could only get him to do burpies, that would be a neat trick...

[ChristyDuffy]

Hi for exercise try a rear support (like the google image attached) and attach it to your washing line or garage roof (if straps ain't long enough use a retracting lead) it will take all the pressure off your arms and free up both for the exercising (one for placing feet other for massaging/movement). Thanks for the advice on week 3-4 here with Maguire and only home 6 days, I stink of pee .

[critters]

After taking the second shower yesterday, he started bleeding from one of the elbows, the place where he had a callus. We've been using Gentaspray as needed previously. But he started bleeding and oozing, so I've placed a bandage over that elbow, although keeping it in that place has been challenging. He was up most of the night panting and drank a lot of water. I went to work this morning and the dog was lethargic and kinda laying on the side without much emotion. I read this morning a little about bed sores and the how quickly infection can become dangerous. When I came back on my lunch break 4 hours later to get him out into the back yard for exercises, I noticed that his elbow area had inflamed and was about twice the diameter of the other elbow, so glad that I have a very understanding boss. Went to the vet, who drained the cyst and applied some special silver cream that he also gave me some to take home, he also prescribed an antibiotic and another anti-inflammatory painkiller for 10 days. The vet had a clever idea of using a 2" stockinette that's normally used for making casts. He also suggested cutting up a tight long-sleeve shirt to get similar results. When I brought the dog home, the stockinette already worked it's way off the sore, so I poked a big paperclip through it and connected the other end to a very loose collar around his neck. Will find out how it held up when I return after work tonight and might end up making another improvised medical device. It's also been suggested to make a "doughnut" pillow or get some hockey elbow pads.Hmm. I wonder about neoprene, although it would be hot. You could get a neoprene brace from a thrift shop and sew or glue velcro onto the seam. You'd have to watch that it's not too tight, but neoprene is so "sticky" I don't think it would slip. You'd have to watch for skin breakdown, too, but that's true of almost anything.

Any other ideas that maybe folks have used in the past to keep pets with only front mobility from wearing their elbows raw supporting themselves?

P.S. to CarolC regarding the wheelchair - it's an interesting device - that Biko brace thingie. With my dog there are several issues. He really needs a better built wheelchair. But he also does not like it, hates it actually, has not been able to figure out how to go forward with it and only been moving backwards when strapped in the wheelchair. Which resulted in a couple of spectacular jumps on my part to save him from falling off the deck for instance. When his feet are in the stirrups, they do move a little, but not nearly as much as when he is in a harness. So, really, the wheelchair is more hassle than it's worth (in my case). Might be different for those who are looking for a long-term solution. But I am already kicking myself for not exercising him in the harness more frequently (usually been daily) because he has some notable muscle atrophy in hind legs. So harness it is as long as he is willing to take it. And we do generally try to work all the muscle groups by adopting what I know about human exercises. He can do squats pretty well, if I could only get him to do burpies, that would be a neat trick...

Christy!

[CarolC]

I started to suggest http://www.dogleggs.com for this a few days ago, but they have changed their product. Somehow they don't look as comfortable now, more fitted. The old model used to seem more appropriate for dogs that lie down a lot, the new model looks more appropriate for active dogs. Think the old ones were polar fleece or something. Here was the old model, and they made them for one leg or both legs, this just happens to be one leg.
http://raven.tripawds.com/2009/11/30/ra ... re-tshirt/

[FYI]

http://gear.tripawds.com/2013/12/20/elb ... -problems/

[illusha]

Another update, posting a few days after the fact, as things have been busy. The same day when I went to the vet on lunch to check out the infected elbow – came back from work a few hours later and noticed that the dog’s leg with injured elbow was swollen twice the size of the other one – obviously went back to the vet immediately. He administered IV antibiotics, as well as IM antibiotics, keeping the dog for 24 hours to stabilize the infection. He still has to take another 10 days worth of oral antibiotics. The vet was kind enough to give me a sample of a special “silver” paste that has anti-microbial properties and needed to be applied to the sore callus every few hours after cleaning with Peroxide. I am glad to report that just a couple days later the infection under control, all swelling went away, just finishing up with oral antibiotics now.

So how do we prevent this from happening again? I immediately went out shopping, all pet store clerks just stared at me blindly when I tried to describe what I was looking for, so it was time to take the matter in my own hands. Started with pharmacies, looked at a number of elbow support straps and knee straps. Tried an adjustable elbow pad, it was too small, a knee pad was too large. After going to Walgreens, RiteAid, Freddy’s, and a couple of smaller pharmacies, I switched focus to hardware stores looking for hard knee pads. Home Depot and Lowes had good selections, tried two sets, kinda worked, but were simply too clumsy and uncomfortable for the dog, plus they slipped off too easy.

The final solution was found at a sports supply store. Checked out a few chains like Big5 and SportsAuthority who did not have what I was looking for. Then I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods and found these awesome things called “arm sleeve” or “forearm shiver” that are used in football. There are several different styles, have to pay attention to the padding design and location, but a few options were great. I ended up picking up a pair of UnderArmour Flex Forearm Shivers that are pictured below and have good padding. Work great.

We’ve also looked at the doggie bed. After having been used 24/7 for the last 3 months, it’s not as nice as it once was, time for a new one. Several layers of soft blankets on top. I also used a 2-inch thick poly shipping pad that I got with some electronics previously plus an egg-crate-foam pad. The bed was pretty soft at that point. While I was out shopping for sports sleeves, I also happened to find an extra-thick exercise mat with gel, it’s almost an inch thick and ultra soft. Now the doggie bed is soft like a feather blanket. I also picked up an inflatable exercise ball at the same sports store to help during exercises.

Went for the second electro-acupuncture session yesterday. The dog was extremely relaxed afterwards. Checked his “bad” leg (left) before the acupuncture and immediately after… It might be a placebo effect on my part… but it seems like he has more muscle control after being stuck with the needles stimulated by electricity… guess we’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing and see what future brings us…

I’d like to go play with the dog at a lake since it’s summer time and all. Talked to the vet about the idea, they generally support water exercises, but had a long list of cautions when it comes to wild lakes and rivers. Everything from drowning to poisoning to infections. They recommended going to a specialized doggie pool for PT and professional supervision. But those are pretty spendy and it’s the middle of summer. Will need to do some more research on this topic.

[critters]

Brilliant! And for posting about your long quest and ultimate triumph! That's the kind of creativity and perseverance that it takes sometimes.