paralysis to recovery to paralysis! HELP!

[CarolC]

Wow! This is g-r-e-a-t news! She must be feeling SO happy, running across the yard! There does not seem to be any one single road to improvement, though you might think so in scientific terms, but people have taken very different approaches here and succeeded in rehabilitating their dog. I will remember to tell people about your experience with the toe grips.



Not for you and Smiley, but for others who might read this (perhaps without ever posting), I want to share a link about chiropractic. They should keep in mind that Smiley is a senior rottweiler, and the link is referring more to younger, chondrodystrophic dogs, like dachshunds, beagles, bassets, or lhasa apsos with a disk herniation. Disk disease in these kinds of dogs is not the same as with older large breed dogs like Smiley. I would not want someone with a down dachshund to read that chiropractic helped one dog (a senior Rottwelier) and assume it would be appropriate for their dog.

http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/chiro.htm

I was recommending against it for Smiley partly because anything with the neck makes me nervous, and partly because I am never sure what kind of training/etc. you may have with doggy chiropractic in one location or another, but I am sorry I recommended against something that ended up helping and I'm glad you followed your best judgment.

Here is another large breed senior dog who was down with a cervical problem and recovered without surgery.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18181

And a 7-year old large breed (Doberman) who had surgery, then required very extensive rehabilitation, but also walked again.

search.php?keywords=&terms=all&author=j ... mit=Search

[critters]

You're right-- people seldom post updates. Sounds great!

[smileydog]

Sept 6.
Here I am /here we are with an update just shy of 6 months after the initial seizure-injury.

We had our last chiro session in late July because I had to travel. Smiley has been improving in small increments since.

He is walking independently.
He is taking stairs independently, up and down. However, he is nervous when there is limited light and will brace himself. Sometimes he tumbles a bit. Sometimes he loses his footing. But he is doing it.
Carpets: no problems.
Slippery floors: a few efforts to get up.
combination of carpets and slippery floors: he will pivot until he can grip carpet, and then pull himself up easily that way.
Standing: hindlimbs may slower lower/weaken depending on the surface or how tired he is.

He can walk for up to 30 minutes on-leash without tiring.
He had residual left toe drag, which has improved.
As of July, he had proprioceptive delay in his hind right foot. Sometimes he still knuckles it when he drops it during a pee. ...Which brings me to next point:
He can pee on one leg with other leg lifted. He is tending to choose his left leg to support himself.
He can get up on a low-ish bed or couch.

He is going to the dog park with his walker on his own terms. He went 3 times last week. I've heard he's been running.
He runs (more like a jog) to come inside from the backyard.

He had a seizure about 10 days ago and recovered normally with no movement problems.

Chiropractors noted that his forelimbs seem to be 'stuck' forward. He has a normal range of motion but abnormal positioning; he never comes back as far as normal and always overextends. This explains a lot of his struggles. He probably relied on his back legs because the fronts were wonky. Even a slight weakening in the back then made rising, stairs, etc, very challenging because the front had deficits.

So there we go, folks! My 9.5 year old Rottie boy is doing very well. Not perfect, but very well. His belly is bald from the steroids, but, I'll take it!

Those of you facing the shock of paralysis or paresis: Hang in there!!!!!!!!!

[critters]

Sounds great! for posting an update. It sounds to me like you might consider splint/s, but it doesn't sound like a critical need. Great job!

[Payten]

Thank you for your story, I am in learning process on the pvv paralysation, however, my little girl. Payton has seizures to she has since about 12 weeks of age. They got pretty bad once she reached adult hood was on pretty good dose of phenobarbital. I did not like this because it causes organ failure. So over the past year or two I have done a lot of food research. A lot of people are unaware that most seizures and or allergies have a big connection with food that they eat or don't eat.
This is the case for more the 50 percent of apathetic dogs or cats.. I seem how well you tend to your, he's your baby not so much dog, I get that so is my girl. Unfortunately being lower income, I can not do as much of the testing as you have done and bless your heart for doing this for your buddy..
How ever, my girls been seizure free for 2 years, she goes into a very very mild episode when stressed, but other then that nothing, the front to leg stiffens up yes, I was worried til I seen your post. So thank you again.
Try him on a absolutely no grain doggo diet, high protein, low purine, due to his other problems. Low purine help with kidneys while going through all this.
I mainly use chicken, brocoli, egg, apple in her diet, ulternate the vegtable mix. Just always be sure the meat takes up 50 percent of the diet. If you would like the full receipts and does and don't you can either Google it dog jearnal has good receipts, just remember grain free, and high protein.. that will help your guy recover faster as well. Even the grain free dog food sometimes has some type of grain material in it. The grain really effects our friends more then people realize. I also make her treats with sweet potato or pumpkin, so everything I give her is 100 percent grain free.
I can also email you receipts if you would like, my girl loves it, likes herein the oven timber go off. Before her paralization she would stand right at stove waiting for the first round of cookies to come out.
Broccoli acts as a natural detox for them you just have to be sure it's fully cooked a pureed, along with any other Vegtables you use.
My email is snuggler42@gmail.Com happy to help with it...love all fur babies

[smileydog]

Hi Payten, I agree that diet is so important for our buddies. It may not "cure" epilepsy or paralysis, but they are more than one 'problem' -- and a whole healthy body helps them bounce back, be resilient, etc.

I tried the email you posted but it was bounced back.

I’d love to hear more details of your diet/cooking plan.

One big setback with my guy is he cannot tolerate fat in his diet because of a protein losing enteropathy in his intestines (Just one more thing…) so a ketogenic diet hasn’t been an option for him He has been grain free for years though… but a bit may sneak in his treats. Right now he eats mostly Acana Senior and some Acana Large Breed. We've found the fibre is low enough that he isn't constantly going... also with much higher protein, the gas becomes

[Payten]

So sorry I'm bad using different email for my payten, snuggler41@gmail.Com so sorry for that..
Yes these diets are tricky, expecially if they are still on actual dog food. I've read so many labels on bags I just personally do not trust any of it any more. More girl looses protein to. I also just learned in dogs with bladder problems a low purine diet as well is important, which narrows down the crystals that appear during a UTI OR other stomach and bladder problems, payten also needs low fat high fiber and protein sound like her diets perfect for your buddy too..

[smileydog]

Hello everyone, in case this thread still gets checked in... Here is an update 10-months post seizure-paresis.

Smiley now:

Daily life:
- running (sometimes ZOOMING!!!) (and he's almost 10 and 100lbs)
- enjoying 1-hour long walks with his pack
- getting up on hardwood or tile floors, no problem.
- all carpeted stairs, no problem, even with my 4-year old boisterous female running down next to him.
- up and down from the bed or couch, no problem.
- Generally has the same energy as his 4-y/o sis except he's fine to stay on a long leash walk whereas she's begging to run around in the forest. (I keep him leashed because he doesn't like joggers).
- some hesitation getting into high vehicles. He can't just "hop" up, but thinking back, he never really did hop the way my girl does.
- during a long trail walk the other day we encountered a TON of ice. We walked it like a champ. Slipped once, and then back up again.
- is lifting his legs to pee, no problem. I have noticed he is keeping a wide front gait for balance when he does. (Maybe irrelevant)
- no signs of arthritis in daily life. Sometimes a bit stiffer after a long walk. Nothing a nap doesn't take care of.

Care plan:
- we discontinued chiro as of the last time i posted about it. He now just gets weekly massages. His massage therapist* says she's very happy with his range of motion. Early after the event, he had VERY limited range in his hind legs. It now seems his muscles are quite supple.
- I've noticed he is able to sit up straighter than he actually ever did before the injury. He used to always slide forward, which we then thought perhaps had connection to the C3-4 possible disc issue. He is now much more strong on his front legs. His front "floating gait" seems less, but then again, I never really noticed it acutely.
- He still walks with the hip swagger he had his whole life before the injury. His hips still sway. I guess that's just his way. His hip muscle and skeletal alignment are all fine.

Maybe relevant:
- I took him off a low-fat senior formula and onto a modest fat adult formula a number of months ago, and almost immediately he was looking stronger, sharper, better coat. He'd been prescribed low fat for GI issues but we've had no problems. I think he wasn't getting ideal nutrients for recovery.
- He is hypothyroid and our next step is weaning him off pred and ideally getting him on hypo-T meds, but I'm not rushing with this.

*re massage therapist. Anyone in Toronto want a recommendation, I have two, depending on what you think best suits your dog. Send me a message if you like.

The bottom line:

There is PLENTY of hope for life after an injury that looks like "The End." Don't lose hope when you see your dog friend looking so rough: there is a light for you to keep moving toward.
I respect veterinarians, but there is plenty they don't know. They see your dog when s/he's at his/her worst , and all they can really do is read diagnostics. When tests don't explain what they see, they often shrug in confusion. Remember, you know your dog best. You are your dog's healer. (I spent $7,000 on tests just to be told, "hmm, well, it doesn't really add up but we COULD do surgery on his neck based on the finding of POSSIBLE disc extrusion".......um, NO!!!) Stick by your dog's side, BE PATIENT, and let your dog tell you what they need. Believe me, they will!

big hugs to all!

[Payten]

Our sweet pay ten has been doing great too, we have done it all at home, she is so independent and has come so far, we decided against surgery they said the chances in it helping were not that great and complications it can cause we just decided to see how she did with put, glad we have. Her paralysis happened in august, and she's already learning to walk again, she has trouble on wood floors she has truly come along way. I would not trade her for the world a handicap pet just has more love to give because your giving them the extra special care they all so much love handicap or not.. love my baby girl

[critters]

Hello everyone, in case this thread still gets checked in... Here is an update 10-months post seizure-paresis.

Smiley now:

Daily life:
- running (sometimes ZOOMING!!!) (and he's almost 10 and 100lbs)
- enjoying 1-hour long walks with his pack
- getting up on hardwood or tile floors, no problem.
- all carpeted stairs, no problem, even with my 4-year old boisterous female running down next to him.
- up and down from the bed or couch, no problem.
- Generally has the same energy as his 4-y/o sis except he's fine to stay on a long leash walk whereas she's begging to run around in the forest. (I keep him leashed because he doesn't like joggers).
- some hesitation getting into high vehicles. He can't just "hop" up, but thinking back, he never really did hop the way my girl does.
- during a long trail walk the other day we encountered a TON of ice. We walked it like a champ. Slipped once, and then back up again.
- is lifting his legs to pee, no problem. I have noticed he is keeping a wide front gait for balance when he does. (Maybe irrelevant)
- no signs of arthritis in daily life. Sometimes a bit stiffer after a long walk. Nothing a nap doesn't take care of.

Care plan:
- we discontinued chiro as of the last time i posted about it. He now just gets weekly massages. His massage therapist* says she's very happy with his range of motion. Early after the event, he had VERY limited range in his hind legs. It now seems his muscles are quite supple.
- I've noticed he is able to sit up straighter than he actually ever did before the injury. He used to always slide forward, which we then thought perhaps had connection to the C3-4 possible disc issue. He is now much more strong on his front legs. His front "floating gait" seems less, but then again, I never really noticed it acutely.
- He still walks with the hip swagger he had his whole life before the injury. His hips still sway. I guess that's just his way. His hip muscle and skeletal alignment are all fine.

Maybe relevant:
- I took him off a low-fat senior formula and onto a modest fat adult formula a number of months ago, and almost immediately he was looking stronger, sharper, better coat. He'd been prescribed low fat for GI issues but we've had no problems. I think he wasn't getting ideal nutrients for recovery.
- He is hypothyroid and our next step is weaning him off pred and ideally getting him on hypo-T meds, but I'm not rushing with this.

*re massage therapist. Anyone in Toronto want a recommendation, I have two, depending on what you think best suits your dog. Send me a message if you like.

The bottom line:

There is PLENTY of hope for life after an injury that looks like "The End." Don't lose hope when you see your dog friend looking so rough: there is a light for you to keep moving toward.
I respect veterinarians, but there is plenty they don't know. They see your dog when s/he's at his/her worst , and all they can really do is read diagnostics. When tests don't explain what they see, they often shrug in confusion. Remember, you know your dog best. You are your dog's healer. (I spent $7,000 on tests just to be told, "hmm, well, it doesn't really add up but we COULD do surgery on his neck based on the finding of POSSIBLE disc extrusion".......um, NO!!!) Stick by your dog's side, BE PATIENT, and let your dog tell you what they need. Believe me, they will!

big hugs to all!

Congrats! And for the update and the wise words!!

[Lyn 22]

Hello I was very interested in your story I have a cat who is an Epileptic and has been on Phenobarb for about eight years now . Fit as a fiddle and the fits have been well controlled but for the last two years he has had problems with his back legs. Very simliar to your dog nothing showed up on an x ray and he was prescribed anti inflammatory medicine. He also came good and the past year it has returned he is now a paraplegic but the vet said yesterday he still has feelings in his back legs. I have started doing passive range exercises I read there is an exercise with a towel folded under the belly and making the cat walk which I have also just started doing. I am interested to know if anyone has tried acupuncture and if there is a diet you could recommend for him. He still is active and scoots around on his back legs and still annoys his brother. Thank you for sharing your story and giving me a little bit of hope for the future.

[smileydog]

HI Lyn 22,
It's nice to get email alerts about this thread and be able to pop up and maybe be of some help.

It sounds like your boy has great quality of life and I think it's important to keep that in mind. In your own words, he is happy and enjoying life. So keep that in mind and do your best to avoid going down needless roads -- in your mind, and financially too.

I think the passive ROM is a great idea. It was recommended to me by everyone in Smiley's recovery.
I know there is disagreement here on the forum, but I was very happy with chiro. I can't speak with certainty that the adjustments did the work to "fix" him, but can say that I learned A LOT about his body and deeply valued the perspectives of the chiropractors, who were much more measured, and reassuring, than the specialist vets.
(Who still can't explain his problem or his recovery... yup, that's because it partially falls outside their narrow scope of practice!).

I'll be interested to hear if you feel acupuncture is helpful. I personally wasn't delighted with the acupuncturist vet we saw so I didn't pursue it, but think it could be great. Also, massage is something to consider! Whatever keeps his joints and muscles stimulated/manipulated.

This neurological stuff is stressful, and my most heartfelt advice is to let time be a gentle resolver. Trust that things will get better, or make sense. Know that you will do your best, but sometimes you just need to wait and yield to the animal body and let it keep some of its mysteries! Keep me/us posted!

[smileydog]

one last thing: even if you decide not to go ahead with chiro, find out if his C1/Atlas vertebrae is misaligned. I really do believe the chiropractic wisdom that this is often the cause of seizures that don't otherwise 'make sense'. In my dog's case, it makes sense of that and more.

[Lyn 22]

Hello thank you he is a beautiful baby and still brings us much joy I belong to a Facebook page and nearly all the cats have some type of Paralysis it has been a great help to me. I am amazed at the trouble people have found finding a vet to help them nearly all of them had been told to put their cat to sleep and have had to search out a Vet that would help them. I will never give up and if he walks again it will be a bonus but what will be will be. I also give him an osteo support supplement I am in Australia and will search out an Acupuncturist all the best Take Care Lynette

[Payten]

Hello I was very interested in your story I have a cat who is an Epileptic and has been on Phenobarb for about eight years now . Fit as a fiddle and the fits have been well controlled but for the last two years he has had problems with his back legs. Very simliar to your dog nothing showed up on an x ray and he was prescribed anti inflammatory medicine. He also came good and the past year it has returned he is now a paraplegic but the vet said yesterday he still has feelings in his back legs. I have started doing passive range exercises I read there is an exercise with a towel folded under the belly and making the cat walk which I have also just started doing. I am interested to know if anyone has tried acupuncture and if there is a diet you could recommend for him. He still is active and scoots around on his back legs and still annoys his brother. Thank you for sharing your story and giving me a little bit of hope for the future.

Hi, I changed paytens diet to a homemade grain free diet you can get these receipts on line very easy to prepare and pay ten is now off her seizure medications. They do still have her in very low dosage due to her age and if she goes into one it will be harder to pull out. Broccoli is a very good health food for them boiled and pureed helps inflammation naturaly,, aso well as providing vitamins and nutrients you won't find inew any so called good dog foods. I do daily manages along the spine, just soft rubs, and bath tub therapy put in warm water and manage all the muscles while in the water, it losses those muscles helps move them better in ways they can not do so out side the water, activates more muscle movement. Payton is walking again, slowly but she is doing it.. I use apple as well to fight bacteria.. in her homemade food.. a lot of people might thinknow other wise but a lot of the health problems these dogs get is all in nutrition we can controll.. temeric a seasoning right on spice rack aids in arthritis and bone disease, helps receive inflammation and helps prevent cancer in dogs, they do use this spice in vitamin supplements for dogs too.. I can help you out more if you like to email me at snuggler41@gmail.Com I am not an expert but have been through a lot with this little girl...