Adopting a second wheelie

[fibroflairy]

Yes because clearly I'm insane right now! She's lovely but she is certainly a problem pickle and not because of the wheels, she's not really been in the world for a while so she's loud and yappy and nippy and hyper but that'll all calm down when she gets the idea that this is her life now I'm gonna need a bigger car for all their chairs, and steel toe capped boots!

[CarolC]

It can sometimes take a long time and a lot of googling breeds and mixes before you figure out what a dog really is.

I'm sorry she's nippy. If necessary, you could maybe put an e-collar on her for diaper changes or treating her sores? Yes, I would think she'll get over it if she is just unsettled due to all the changes that came with rehoming. I suppose it is possible she could also be in some kind of undiagnosed pain. When I got my partially paralyzed dog, Dolly, she would sometimes yelp and I didn't know what was going on. I noticed her hip seemed loose and not like my other paralyzed dog so I thought she had hip dysplasia. They x-rayed her and found she actually had a broken hip with bone fragments hurting her, and she'd apparently been like that for months. In a way, you don't really know what you are dealing with because you just got this dog, right? You have my sympathy if she is currently being hard to deal with. Maybe the vet would allow a pain med as a test, to see if it makes any difference in your ability to handle her. He'd probably want to see her, though. I hope she calms down for you soon.

[fibroflairy]

Thank you for your reply, we have had a vet check, and although her legs are in a state from dragging she's in no pain, she's not nippy in a horrible way at all, it's like puppy excitement the same with the crying, 4 days in and she's only now shouting as it were if she needs something, the last example being she made her way into a corner of my room behind a box but there wasn't enough room to turn round o she shouted for help, she's not remotely aggressive about it, and she's an angel and just snuggles in when I change her dressings and apply her cream every morning, understandably she doesn't like the other dogs round when we do that so we go off to my room and have a snuggle and change them then lots of treats and fuss before rejoining the gang I think she's just over stimulated, she's gone from maybe seeing someone for one hour everyday and being alone the other 23 to having people and dogs around 24/7 it's a lot for her to get used to!
Comets new chair arrived today, so I padded out his old one so she could get outside for a bit (it's a little wide for her really but hers should be here in the next 5 days) and she had a great time!
Sorry to keep asking stupid questions but the other twos back legs, although useless to them atm, can be bent and flexed at all joints normally during physio, hers only move slightly at the ankle and hip the rest is solid, the vet never mentioned anything about it but is that normal? It must be harder for her to move about surely as they don't move like the others do, it also means she bounces on one hip always, whereas the others vary which bit is on the ground to move.... She's wearing a kind of sideways nappy construction atm to protect that hip from banging /rubbing on the ground, it's not the best looking thing in the world, it's a work in progress but it does the job whilst I perfect it! We're back at the vets next week to review the gabba situation so I'll ask more then, the fact that she'd basically chewed through half her foot before arriving here was more important to address last time.
Some good news though, I was expressing bella as advised here and we've not had a single uti which is apparently the longest she's been without one also when I express her now it's like I start her going and she finishes it, could that be the start of regaining tone? I do check she's empty when she's done and she is, the vet was happy she was completely empty too

[CarolC]

That is extremely cool about the expressing. It sounds like she has partial control, just needs a little help initiating.

Please do not take my answer on the legs as a dependable answer, only a guess. My guess is if her legs do not bend much, they may stay that way since it's been a year. The best thing to do, if you can, is get her evaluated by a canine rehab therapist and see what they say? I am attaching a video of my partially paralyzed dog, taken before I adopted her. You can see her leg is straight. When I got her, we tried PT to see if we could get any additional mobility in the knee, but for all the PT sessions and PT at home, we did not really improve it any. A specialty surgeon said he could do surgery on her knee so her frozen leg was fused in a more usable configuration (arthrodesis) with more bend in the knee, but I didn't want to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ09GdVuuKE

Ha ha! You are not the only one here to have a pet needing a diaper on sideways!

[critters]

Hmm. I wonder if the stiffness might be a variety of contracture?

[fibroflairy]

We've now been to several vets and the consensus is that both her rear legs need amputation as the position theyre fused in is twisting her spine :/ leaving them in place will only lead to further damage higher in her back :/ Sorry to be an idiot but it's been a long day,what is a contracture critters?
she's settled beautifully, is now playing with the other dogs and has entirely stopped the panicked shrieking she was doing when she first arrived, she always has a smile on her face these days and loves nothing more than snuggling up after a long walk through muddy fields, the muddier the better in her opinion! ive taken out shares in vet wrap and clingfilm so she can enjoy this without aggravating her leg wounds! All my wheelies are such stars and thank you to everyone herre for your support and success stories,youve all shown me that disabled bets are not unable to do anything that a 'normal' pet cant

[critters]

A contracture happens with a severe brain or spinal cord problem where joints usually curl into a weird position. Your baby's fused legs may well be contracted.

[CarolC]

If she's been like this for a year, is it really going to lead to further damage?

[fibroflairy]

I questioned that aswell Carol and by comparing xrays it already has, however as she's not been in her chair often whilst in Serbia it isn't too severe yet.
Unfortunately however whilst I was out today she caught her leg on a stool and it appears she's tried to free herself by chewing through it, this is much higher than anywhere she's chewed before, her foot has also been slowly rejecting on that side and the circulation in minimal to none so there's a permanent sepsis risk to consider as well as gangrene, and now the additional chewing she did today. She is scheduled for surgery Friday and I've had to start a go fund me page to try to afford it, not sure if the link is allowed here. He derided the dead skin on that side again today and there's very little healthy foot left despite us changing dressings and applying creams 4x daily, there isn't enough circulation for skin grafts to take or for it to effectively heal... If anyone has an alternative I'm open to ideas I really am!
On a more positive note the lovely bella has a fluffy bum! She no longer is bald from dragging and comet has been learning agility and sled skills, he's got super good at his left and rights and adores it bless him!

[CarolC]

OK, I don't have any suggestion for the circulation, and I don't recall that issue with other dogs here, so I can't think of any other cases to reference. There have been a lot of people with dogs who chew. I think you indicated she was on gabapentin, isn't it working? All the talk about skin grafts and sepsis and gangrene is pretty sobering. Although a number of dogs have chewed and recovered from it, I'm thinking of Pete and Bailey in particular. Yes, the posting about fundraising is absolutely allowed, and I wonder if the person you got her from could contribute. I had the same situation with one of my dogs, who unexpectedly needed hip surgery shortly after I adopted her from someone connected with Best Friends.

Hooray for a fluffy bottom, makes you feel like a champ, doesn't it!?

[fibroflairy]

The gabba was/is working in that she's completely stopped chewing her paws, however even with all the noninvasive treatment possible she has lost circulation and it's stilted her healing.
Today she caught the leg on something and attempted to free herself by chewing through what was trapping her, unfortunately this was her leg! With no circulation there's no way of it healing and it's all dying back.... Her go fund me is
https://www.gofundme.com/asteroids-amputation-urgent
Although her other leg is fairing much better and has massively improved since her arrival, as her spinal cord is completely severed at the injury site she has no chance of recovery, it will leave her still twisted to leave the leg and also uns the same risk as what has happened with her left one, they are looking to leave enough leg on each side that she can still use her chair to get around once she's healed. Her rescuer is disagreeing that treatment is necessary so I'm forwarding her the vets reports tomorrow and we'll go from there, luckily my vet will accept a payment plan but j dally still need half for the deposit although he has reluctantly agreed to proceed with whatever I can an get together by Friday... My other two have their legs and will remain with them, I'm frantically searching for things I could've done differently to prevent this but genuinely can't come up with anything x

[critters]

If there's no circulation, I don't really see any option besides amputation. Amputation isn't the end of the world, but a wheelchair will probably have to be adapted for that. Good luck!