Paralyzed dog with diarrhea

[Autumnjones1996]

I have a 5 year old male dachshund who recently became paralyzed (September 10th of this year) he was on strict crate rest for 8 weeks and I have been limiting his activity since. He has feeling back in the hind legs and can stand for minutes on end by himself and has took up to 12 steps on his own. However about 6 weeks ago he got really sick and had to be hospitalized with what he believe was an infection along with his steriods doing damage to his little body. He is now off those steriods and on a different type of pain med that he get once every other day. I’m still relieving his bladder but never had to help with his bowl movements he has one on his own daily. However this morning he had a little bit of diarrhea, light brown in color but was only about the size of two quarters. I was wondering if this happens with ivdd dogs ? I’m from a very rural area and due to the money and travel I can’t take him to a ivdd specialized vet and would appreciate any kind of feedback! Thank you

[CarolC]

Hi Autumnjones1996,



There isn't really anything about being paralyzed that makes a dog more likely to get diarrhea than usual. They're pretty much like other dogs in that. They would usually get it for the same reasons unparalyzed dogs do, such as something they ate. Do you have any kids in the house giving him Christmas treats or anything?

Some medications might cause it, such as the steroids you mentioned. With steroids, they recommend giving the dog a stomach protectant, for example Pepcid ac (the vet would know the dosage), but you said he is off the steroids. Did you try looking up the medication he is on now every other day, to see if it can cause tummy problems? Or maybe calling the clinic and asking them if it might be the cause?

There are other things that can cause diarrhea, and one that comes to mind is pancreatitis. That can be brought on by stress (or sometimes for unknown reasons) and it is treatable. I think if it was my dog, I would call the vet and report the little bit of diarrhea you noticed, and see if they want to change the medication or add a stomach protectant or maybe bring him in for a quick office exam and take his temp and feel his belly, etc. I think I'd call them today, because it's no fun to have a paralyzed dog with diarrhea.

[Autumnjones1996]

Thank you so much for th reply! I called the vet and they said to keep an eye and bring him in if he has anymore diarrhea which he hasn’t had thank goodness!

I was also wondering if anyone could tell me if the progress he has made is good & if he has a chance of ever walking again. My vet gave me a 0% chance that my dog will ever walk again and that I need to put him to sleep however that is NOT an option for me. But he can take multiple steps but has trouble getting grip and I don’t know how to help improve this for him

[robsp2000]

We had a paralyzed girl that had this issue often mostly from antibiotics when she had UTIs. In our experience we found adding some canned pumpkin to her food really helped to get the diarrhea under control.

I think it sounds hopeful if your guy has regained feeling in his back legs. We did acupuncture and physical therapy with our girl. I think it is always worth giving them every opportunity you can. I'm sorry your vet recommended putting him to sleep. We have a parlayed cat who we found as a kitten down in her back,, she is 14 years old now and is very happy. We adopted a 7 year old Frenchie who was in the same condition and she lived a very full life being parlayed as well. We just adopted a 3 year old who ruptured a disc and the outlook doesn't look favorable for him to walk but I know what matters most is that they are pain free and happy.

[CarolC]

I agree with robsp2000, it sounds hopeful. If he has feeling in his legs, can stand, has even taken 12 steps, that's really really good. When you say he has trouble getting a grip, do you mean his feet are slipping on the floor? It may help to put down some floor mats or runners to give him traction so his feet don't slip. Some people have also used booties. They are a good idea if you can find good ones to fit. Another option is Dr. Buzby's Toe Grips. (This blog post is by one of my dog's physical therapists.)

https://muttnut.blogspot.com/2012/10/re ... -dogs.html