Deep Pain Sensation is coming back after bath?

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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Archie's Mom
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Deep Pain Sensation is coming back after bath?

Post by Archie's Mom »

Hi Everyone,

So a quick background before I get to my question. My little baby Archie (3.5 Years old) suffered an acute ruptured disk on 6/1/2018 and has been paralyzed since. His tail wags all the time and he has nearly all bladder control (He just dribbles a bit). He currently uses a cart or drag bag which has been a Godsend for his quality of life. According to the Physician and Physical Therapist, he does not have deep pain sensation in his back legs and feet, however, I think they are wrong. My reasoning is this...I have been religiously soaking him in the tub and letting him float a bit before I give him a good scrub. He has been "bobbing" in the water more and everytime we take him out, he obsessively goes after his back feet. It had gotten so bad, that he chewed his nails off on the left foot (he now wears a cone when we are not around). I gave him his nightly bath last night and then put him in his cart when he was dry. He started to have a panic attack and try to get to his feet. It was worse than I had ever seen before, this was an "I need to chew them NOW!!" kind of panic. It took a good deal of treats and hugs to get him to calm down.

So my question is, has this happened to anyone else? should I slightly get my hopes up that deep pain sensation is coming back? He starts Hydrotherapy next Saturday and I'm hoping (as sad as it is to say) that he has another freak out when he is with the therapist so she can see what we see. Currently, the physician and therapist make me feel crazy because they don't see the things I do.

Best of luck to all you handicapable pet parents out there,
Archie's Mom.
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CarolC
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Re: Deep Pain Sensation is coming back after bath?

Post by CarolC »

Yes, it sounds like sensation is coming back in his toes. It's good you put the cone collar on him right away. Chewing is not uncommon during recovery. The theory is that as the feeling begins to return to the affected area (for example feet, or the male area) there is an unusual sensation, such as the pins and needles feeling we humans get when we sleep on our arm funny and it goes dead, then feeling begins to come back. Whatever the sensation is, dogs will try to lick and chew and gnaw at it to soothe it or make it go away. Unfortunately they often do not know when to stop, and continue chewing even when they draw blood. Some dogs have been known to chew off toes or their pen*s. I know of at least 2 dogs that had to be put down because they self mutilated too badly during the night or while the owner wasn't home, and could not be saved. The treatment for this is a medication called gabapentin (Neurontin). If it was my dog, I would get him started on it right away. Dogs can sometimes get out of cone collars. Before gabapentin we used to recommend anti-chew treatments like bitter apple or Yuk-2-E along with the collar, but they are not 100% either. I would call the vet and ask for gabapentin. The chewing is a temporary phase, but there is no way to know how long he will be feeling it. I would consider it a positive sign.

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critters
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Re: Deep Pain Sensation is coming back after bath?

Post by critters »

Gabapentin, or even the newer stuff, can be absolutely terrific for cases of "funny feelings." Gabapentin is older and probably cheaper than Lyrica and the newer stuff; humans use them for the same reason, by the way. It's quite accepted at this point.
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