Momo's Story

[MomosMom]

Hello,

I just wanted to share Momo's story in case it helped anyone or gave hope to someone that is going through what we have been going through. I researched for hours while my dog was in the hospital for a week and this forum gave me a lot of helpful information. I know it doesn't replace expert medical advice, but I asked the doctor so many questions and still wanted to know more and hear from others that experienced the same thing or similar.

Momo is almost 8 years old. He is a mini poodle that has bad allergies which cause him to chew on his feet and scratch his face until there's blood. A lot of times, I have to put a cone on him in and allergy medication to calm things down. He has to eat a very strict and special Prescription Z/D Diet. On the day of his accident, Momo was running in the backyard with his cone on and he caught his cone on the grass. The cone tossed him forward and he landed flat and could not move. We rushed him to the emergency hospital an hour away and the doctor gave him a "poor prognosis" and told us we should consider putting him down. Don't listen when they say this! There are so many wonderful miracle stories out there even if it really is a "poor prognosis". He still had feeling in his legs, but absent conscious proprioception in all four legs. He was very rigid with all his legs as well and wasn't able to move his front legs until days later. His back legs started to move about an hour or two after the accident. We told the doctor we wanted to do everything we could to help him. His X-Ray showed disc space narrowing at C2-C3. He stayed stable that night with an IV, steroids, and acupuncture.

The next day we took him to a Specialist about two hours away where he could get an MRI. Initially, the Neurologist suspected he would not need surgery, but we didn't want to take any chances. A lot of times, time is essential in these cases involving the spinal chord. To me, one more day of waiting to see what happened could mean a lower chance of recovery if surgery wasn't performed. Thankfully, Momo did not need surgery and was just ordered medication, physical therapy, and crate rest for 6-8 weeks. His diagnosis was "HIGH VELOCITY DISC EXTRUSION AT C2-3." He had to stay in the hospital for 6 more days because they wanted him to be able to urinate on his own before sending him home. Eventually, I told the doctor I would learn to express his bladder myself and that I wanted him home with his family. Expressing his bladder was awful. It was so hard and I cried with each failed attempt. I stood outside with him until I couldn't bend over any longer to see if he would go on his own. I ended up having to take him to a local vet to express him and the vet wasn't even able to. She ended up putting a catheter in him. She told me it is a medical emergency after 24 hours. I was able to express his bladder once a day for the next two days with the help of my husband. Eventually, I found information regarding urinary sphincter relaxers through research and called the Neurologist to see if that was an option. Long story short, we got him Prazosin HCL 2MG which he takes every 12 hours. He is about 17 pounds. After a day, he was urinating on his own thanks to this pill! He pees only twice a day, and sometimes I have to take him to a nearby park to get him to pee but it works and is so worth it. He still can't stand on his own but his legs are all very less rigid. It's been 20 days since the accident and he actually stood and balanced on his own this morning when I let him go for 10 seconds. He has regained conscious proprioception in three legs and has been improving with his front left. I also do physical therapy with him 3-4 times a day and make sure he is not laying on one side too long to prevent sores.

The purpose of this is to give someone else hope and useful information. I was the type of person to question everything the doctor said and to do my own research because Momo is not just another patient to me and I'm very paranoid. This is what else he is taking (Remember he is 17 pounds):

Gabapentin 100MG Capsule Twice Daily (Doctor ordered this to keep him sedated although it is a nerve pain medication. Otherwise, he would want to try to get up and injure himself more.)
Prazosin 2MG Twice Daily (Was supposed to make it easier to express him, but ended up giving him the ability to urine on his own)

Ostifen (Carprofen) 25MG Once Daily (He was prescribed this anti-inflammatory by the local vet and we are NOT giving it to him. I called the Neurologist and he told us that it was not necessary and not worth the possible side effects and risks including liver and kidney failure)

Anyways, I hope this information is helpful to someone out there. It is a hard time, but it gets better. Also, he does poop on his own. That hasn't been an issue since he's been back home. I just stand outside with him and he will start to move his back legs to show he wants to go forward.

If anyone has a question about Momo's case, let me know.

[CarolC]

Who would have thought such a thing could happen. I'm glad you didn't give up on him. It sounds like he is doing really well if he is able to urinate. And it sounds like you are very tuned in to him, which helps a lot. You may want to also check out Dodger's List. They have tips and information on caring for a disk problem with or without surgery. Glad he is doing so well.

[pmilner]

So glad to hear you did your homework to know what questions need to be asked and when to question things. Kudos to you!

It really sounds like with the care you are giving, that is helping Momo to go in a really good direction of healing!

Here are some extra things you can do at home to help with a neck disc: http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/cervical.htm

Look for the search box on the Dodgerslist pages, a very helpful tool in locating other topics:


I would like to invite you to join us all on Dodgerslist that Carol mentioned to you. We'd love to learn all the details and be able to offer you more specific comments to support Momo's treatment in addition to these general ideas:
- At potty time very, very limited footsteps are in keeping with 100% STRICT rest 24/7 so that the disc can form secure scar tissue. Taking him to a park where there are other dogs may not be the best idea during strict rest. We can offer some other ideas when we learn more about Momo, your yard, etc.
-- Until the dog is off the pain med, gabapentin, there is no proof all the painful swelling in the spinal cord is gone and there is really not a need for the anti-inflammatory carprofen or another anti-inflammatory.
-- Ideas to help a dog be able to relax in his recovery suite: http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/E ... aining.htm

Come join the Dodgerslist IVDD care and support Forum! http://dodgerslist.boards.net You can just lurk, you can post as a guest without registering or best is to register for the fullest support...all is free. I'll be watching for your post about Momo.

[MomosMom]

Thank you for the encouraging words. I will check out Dodgerslist. I didn't realize there was a forum there.

[critters]

We found gabapentin to be absolutely terrific for those "funny feelings" that can pop up as nerves heal, and my Buddy went several rounds of it for his spinal cord injury.