Paraplegic airlie

[Airlies mum linzi]

Hi there,

Just over 3 weeks ago, our beautiful 3.5y lab x collie airlie had surgery for a herniated dis is his spine. In the hours before the surgery, he had lost all continience and also pain sensation and use of his back legs. He has since not recovered this. The neurologist has said if there is not sign of improvement within that first three weeks, the chance of any recovery is now very low. He is doing really in himself and is happy, other than the lack of use of his back legs, he seems completely normal. He spent 5 days after surgery in the hospital, where the vets and vet nurses struggled to express his bladder. Because of this he was fitted with a long term catheter when he came home which we used to empty his bladder every 4-6 hours. The day before yesterday, we visited the vets to have his catheter removed and to try and move forward with expressing him. Unfortunately we have not been able to do this. No matter which method we have used, we have only managed to get tiny dribbles out. We took him back to the vets yesterday, and again both a vet nurse and vet could not express him either so we have decided today to have a catheter re-fitted. Has anybody got experience of a paralysed incontinent dog who is impossible to express? Or experience of a long term catheter? We are travelling back up to see the neaurologist next week, who is an expert in paraplegic dogs with incontinence and has dedicated his career to this so we are very lucky. He is doing some further research at the moment so I'm hoping he can help us out. He has already done tests on airlies bladder, and has said he still has very good tone to the bladder.

Also does anyone have much experience of life with a fully paraplegic large breed dog? Airlie is 31 kg so he is not easy to move around and lift, and i am 6 months pregnant which obviously makes any lifting impossible.

Thank you

[CarolC]

There are medications that will relax the bladder sphincters and improve contractions in the bladder. You might ask the vet to prescribe something for him. I think that would be the place to start. If he has too much tone, it will make it easier.

Yes, some members here have catheterized long term. One of the moderators did it for a year and a half if I remember correctly. It was not a permanent indwelling catheter, it was a catheter she inserted each time. The catheters must be kept sterile, so the vet would need to teach you how to use sterile procedure. Continued catheterization creates more of a risk of infection than proper expressing, but if you can't get him empty by expressing it is your next option. When Beth was catheterizing Waffles, he was on a long term low dose antibiotic as a preventive.

You said you tried various methods of expressing. Please check the videos at the end of this article (click link, scroll to bottom). There are many techniques, some especially suitable for a large dog. There may be one you have not tried.

http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/view ... =5&t=16027

I was unable to lift my golden retriever when he went down. I created a lift out of an engine hoist. Here is a description with pictures.

http://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Engine_hoist_for_a_heavy_dog

One thing that is helpful (though maybe not as helpful when you are 6 months pregnant) is to think about how much lifting is actually involved with your dog. An average dog carries 60% of his weight on his front legs and 40% on his hind legs. If he can use his front legs, then you only have to assist with the back legs. So that would mean you are lifting about (31 kg x .4) 12.4 kg? However, if the dog lunges or takes off running as soon as you have him on his feet, then the pulling does add some resistance to your lift, but the basic lift is still about 12 kg.

I always say, you want the best harness possible if you are going to be doing a lot of assisting a large dog to walk. You want a harness that will give you a good grip, and let you walk in a fairly natural position to save your back. I feel like anything you spend on a harness is just money you're not going to have to spend on the chiropractor. They sell all kinds of harnesses at handicappedpets.com and other places. It is really an investment worth the money. There is no way I could lift my dog with a towel, my grip is not strong enough. You want something with a comfortable "suitcase" type of handle for easy lifting.

Hope this helps a little.

[critters]

Another possibility is a urinary catheter implanted in the bladder, which exits the belly wall. Obviously, I'd try meds and other things first.