Newbie

[Pixigirl123]

Hello people . Have just joined you all on this awful journey . Floki, our four year old dog , collapsed on Wednesday. Rear end . Rushed to vets, then to hospital . TAC scan and other tests proved that he has a compressed disc . No feeling in rear end , incontinent both ways. At home and we are dong our best to care for him , any advice will be very very welcome . They have no idea if he will walk again or not . He’s only been home for two days , seems like forever , what a nightmare . Both finding it hard to cope at the moment, am sure it will all fall into place eventually.

[CarolC]

What kind of dog is he? How much does he weigh? When you say no feeling in the rear end, did they test for what is called "deep pain sensation"? What did they recommend as far as surgery or no surgery? Is he on any medication?

The single most important advice about caring for him at home is to keep him from moving around. He should be confined to a crate or playpen or small exercise pen. In the crate 24/7, only out to potty. What you choose depends on what size of dog he is. He needs to be kept completely quiet for 6-8 weeks if the disk is going to have any chance to heal.

Is he leaking urine? Did they say anything to you about expressing his bladder? Please tell me more about him.

[Pixigirl123]

He a small dog a mongral , weighs 8 kilo . Yes they did those tests . Ho feeling in back legs , no waggy tail . Can’t pee or poo on his own . Yes been shown how to express both . Finding it hard to completely empty the bladder . They told us cage rest for one week , we go back on Friday ( that will be one week ) for checkups. He is on prednisone twice a day and a stomach tablet once a day . Drinking plenty , eating a little, but he’s a fussy dog food wise , always has been

[Pixigirl123]

Oh and yes leaks urine bless him , not poo tho , so managing to keep him clean

[Pixigirl123]

Sorry forgot to say , no surgery , not an option, will ask on Friday why this is . Wasn’t thinking straight when all this happened

[Pixigirl123]

Today, if I pinch between his toes the leg moves , is this a good sign, or just a muscle reaction ?

[CarolC]

Thanks for the answers. I am glad you have him on cage rest. And I am glad he is on prednisone and a stomach tablet. I hope they mean cage rest for one week and then a followup at one week for further instructions. It takes a full 6-8 weeks for a disk to heal, and if the dog is allowed activity when it is only partly healed, it can reverse all the progress, or make the dog worse than he was at the beginning, and you do not know if he will be able to recover from the additional injury. If the dog is improving during the cage rest period, it is tempting to permit him more freedom, but that is when you have to use "tough love" and continue the *strict* cage rest for the *full* time. Here is a link about the importance of 6-8 weeks of cage rest for a dog with a disk problem.

http://www.dodgerslist.com/literature/healingpage.htm

You will get better at expressing the bladder, it is something we all get better at with practice. If you are getting some urine out, you will soon be getting it all, so that sounds good.

Since he is a male dog, you can put a male doggy diaper on him. (It is also called a belly band or a malewrap.) It is a wide belt that fastens around his waist with velcro. You put an absorbent bladder control pad in it (like Poise) and it keeps him and his bedding dry. You can buy malewraps or make one at home. If you want to make one let me know, there are posts here on the forum with instructions, I will find the links for you.


It is hard to know if the reaction to pinching the toes is a reflex or feeling. It is clearer that it is not a reflex if you touch him when he is unaware of it, and he turns his head and looks back at the place you touched. Here is an explanation from the colovma website.

A withdrawal reflex is a reflex arc that triggers the dog to pull its limb back when its toes are pinched. A deep pain response is the animal responding to a pain stimulus, which is different than the withdrawal reflex.

Even if he does not have deep pain sensation right now (or if you do not know for certain if he does or doesn't) it can return during recovery, after days, weeks, or even months. My dog had a back injury and had no feeling in her toes, but at 149 days after the injury they determined she had a deep pain response. That was one day shy of 5 months.

[critters]

If he leaks pee, you might consider diapers (with male dogs they wrap around the belly and are called male wraps).

[Pixigirl123]

Thank you for all the advice . I am a bit calmer today so am coping better . Early days , long journey ahead