Giant breed IVDD, surgeon no hope

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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DieselMom
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Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2017 2:57 am

Giant breed IVDD, surgeon no hope

Post by DieselMom »

My Dane Mastiff blew a disc and had emergency surgey to remove the disc between l1 and l2.

Night 1. He was painful
Day 2. He could not stand.
Day 3. No ambulatory movement, surgery that day

5 days post op he developed a hump.

We were told to start squats as many times possible 3 days post op.

Surgeon was not worried about hump.

3 months post op the surgeon says he'll never walk and has no feeling in his back legs. PT says she normally sees more improvement.

He pulls his leg when I pinch his toes. He kicks his legs when he walks in his chair.

Are the vets cutting him short ?
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critters
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Re: Giant breed IVDD, surgeon no hope

Post by critters »

:slant: Recovery can continue, albeit slowly, for months and even years after such an injury. Being able to pull his legs and twitch them show that the spinal cord isn't severed; some messages are getting through. Personally, I'd keep on keeping on and see what happens. Do you express him?
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CarolC
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Re: Giant breed IVDD, surgeon no hope

Post by CarolC »

If you possibly can, I would continue the PT and keep working with him. Especially if his legs are moving in the cart, that seems like a hopeful sign. I understand he is a large dog and I know PT is expensive, if you are going twice a week it adds up. Just getting him in and out of the car and back and forth to PT is a job. But if you can, that is what I would do, and if you cannot, that is not your fault. Deep pain sensation can return even months after the injury, as we have seen on this board, and deep pain sensation can also be missed sometimes in testing. My dog had a back injury and had no feeling in her toes, but at 149 days after the injury they determined she had a deep pain response. That was one day shy of 5 months.
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