Sudden Four legs paralysis daschund

[darticus]

My seven yr old daschund Bella a few days ago ran up the stairs, laid on her pillow and then couldn't move. Couldn't move her neck or legs. We ran her into the vet er and was told she had cervical ivdd. As we couldn't afford the surgery we went with the steroids, pain management and rest. She has good feeling and reflexes on her left side. Her right has feeling but no reflexes. The next day she can sit herself up and has been the same here in day three. She's only used the bathroom twice since the incident. There are times when I look at her and she seems attentive and others when she seems depressed and like she's given up. I've read so many articles on the issue lately, but it seems as though every issue and experience I've read seems to be with only the rear legs in daschunds. Is there anyone that has experienced A pet losing full mobility? If so I'd like to hear about it and how it turned out. I really appreciate any advice as we're trying to be optimistic as we can.

[CarolC]

Actually, we have two other cervical dogs here right now, so you are in good company. There is a 17-lb poodle and a 70-lb chow mix. Experience here shows some dogs can recover without surgery. Nursing care is easier with the smaller dogs but we have had some large breeds recover from paralysis in all 4 legs, too. Recovery can be slow, and I remember one dog (a Yorkie named Dukie) was on a low dose of steroids for a number of months.

If you are doing conservative treatment (without surgery), you will want to read some tips in these articles:

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

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

http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/E ... aining.htm

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

You may want to check out the Dodger's List website if you have not already done so.

Also, you may enjoy these archived websites (not necessarily for ideas for treatment, but to give you an idea and encouragement on how it went in a couple of real cases). Nyssa's Gift was created in 2000 but they did a nice job on it for the time. It is about a dachshund who lost use of all 4 legs like your dog, and was diagnosed with cervical IVDD.

http://dreamemporium.com/Nyssas_Gift.html

Here is another older website about a little cervical dog and her family, also nicely done at the time.

http://geocities.com/mrsvrs99/boquetsdiscdisease.html

When you say she has only used the bathroom twice, she may need to be expressed. You can express the bladder and the bowel to help her eliminate her waste if needed. The vet should show you how. If you scroll to the end of this article there are many links to video demos at the end.

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=16027

[darticus]

Thank you for the information. We really appreciate it.