recent dog paralysis

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Autumnjones1996
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Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2018 8:41 pm

recent dog paralysis

Post by Autumnjones1996 »

I am looking for any advice or similar stories to mine.

I have a 5 year old dachshund named Oakie. 3 weeks ago we woke up to him hunched up in pain then by the next morning he couldn’t walk. I took him to the vet and they told me he only has a 50 % chance of ever walking again.

At the start of this on week one he has no feeling at all in his hind legs. You could pinch his toes and he had no feeling at all.. on week two he wagged the tip of his tail a little and when given a bath he would shake his whole body to get dry. He also started licking and biting his hind legs and can stand if you help with his balance. Now week 3 when I pinched his foot he jerks away and bends his leg!

I don’t want to be getting my feelings up but I want to know if these are good improvements or am I just hoping to much?
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CarolC
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Re: recent dog paralysis

Post by CarolC »

The licking and biting is a temporary phase some dogs go through during recovery from paralysis. We assume it means the feeling is returning. The assumption is they are feeling an odd sensation, perhaps like the pins and needles sensation we get if we sleep on our arm funny and it goes numb, then starts to wake up. Dogs will lick or bite it trying to soothe it, and unfortunately some of them will keep licking and biting even if they draw blood, they don't seem to know to stop. There have been dogs who chewed off toes, or chewed the male area, etc. I know of a couple of dogs who chewed so badly (during the night or while the owner was gone) that they had to be put down. Fortunately, now there is a medication that will prevent this. It is called gabapentin (Neurontin). I would recommend talking to the vet about this ASAP. You can put the dog in a cone collar if you have one (or make a homemade one, just look online) for right now. But dogs can get out of cone collars, so I wouldn't trust that for anything but a temporary short-term solution.

I am not a vet but the signs you describe sound like good improvements to me. Pinching the foot could mean he is feeling it, however there is also something called the "draw away reflex" so it's hard to say on that one. But the licking and biting sounds positive, and standing is good, although right now rest would be recommended, nothing active.

If you are doing conservative treatment (no surgery, just rest and medication) then crate rest would be for 8 weeks, and should be very strict. If he's 3 weeks now, then he'd be resting till...5 more weeks...around November 5? In the crate 24/7, only out to potty (or bathing or changing the bed). Have you looked at the information on http://www.Dodgerslist.com?

http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/I ... tment.html
http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/healingpage.htm

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critters
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Re: recent dog paralysis

Post by critters »

:whale: I second the gabapentin information. The damage they can do with their teeth can be substantial, and I've heard that vets are also using Lyrica for that purpose, just like humans. I'd expect gabapentin to be cheaper, since it's older.
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