New to this
Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 4:05 pm
Hi all. Exactly five weeks ago my best buddy, Dexter, jumped off the tail-gate of our pickup truck and immediately showed hind-end weakness. Dexter is a 65 lb., 9 year old pitbull mix. I was out of town, but my boyfriend rushed him to our vet where, over the next 3 hours, he became totally paralyzed. The vet put him on a high dose of Prednisone and Tramadol, and sent him home.
Two days later my boyfriend took him back in to the vet because Dexter had not improved. During the second visit the vet called me, I was still out of the state dealing with a family emergency, to inform me that she had called the nearest hospital offering MRI and surgical intervention, and that my boyfriend should immediately take Dexter there. The vet also told me the hospital, two states away btw, told her I could expect to pay $12,000+. I was devastated. Unfortunately for Dexter, I don't have that kind of money.
I was able to fly back home a few days early and immediately drove with Dexter 6 hours away for a second opinion at Bridger Veterinary Specialists in Bozeman, MT. He received a CT scan and physical exam. The physical exam showed very little if any deep pain response. The two specialists there told me his CT scan revealed no compression or evidence of swelling, but they expected it could be a high velocity, low volume disc injury (ANNPE). They said surgery would not help or would have less than 5% chance of helping. They also ordered a spinal tap which subsequently showed no evidence of meningitis, but did show elevate protein levels which is indicative of trauma. The vets told me to get Dexter in rehab asap - no cage rest required.
Two days later I found a local rehab facility and have been taking Dexter there 3 days a week for acupuncture, laser therapy, oxygen therapy, physical therapy ... you name it, we are doing it. We have also been doing hydrotherapy, physical therapy, and NMES machine treatment at home.
The improvements are so slight that sometimes I think I am imagining things. He (slightly) jerks his back feet away when I touch them, his very atrophied leg muscles tremble when we do physical therapy, and we got a tail wag four days ago that lasted about 3 seconds. He hasn't wagged his tail again so I wonder if it was some type of reflex.
He is generally a happy guy and definitely enjoys his wheelchair time, fetching, getting loved on, and especially eating! I am better than I was the first two weeks. I can't even remember the number of times I broke down crying then, thinking how unfair life was and wondering if I made the right decision not doing the surgery because a 5% chance is a 5% chance, right? Getting him off the pred has helped with bathroom issues tremendously so my sanity has been preserved.
I am wondering if anyone has gone through something similar and if five weeks is too early to assume Dexter is as good as he is going to get. We will give him all the time he needs and if he doesn't get any better I guess I'll be expressing his bladder and shoving Q-tips up his butt for the next five years or so. For his sake and the sake of my pocket book, though, I'd like to know if continuing the very expensive physical therapy is worth it. If we cut back, what has worked for other pups - acupuncture, laser, etc? Is hydrotherapy worth it even if he can't move his back legs yet?
Any advice, wise words, or encouragement is appreciated! This is hard.
Two days later my boyfriend took him back in to the vet because Dexter had not improved. During the second visit the vet called me, I was still out of the state dealing with a family emergency, to inform me that she had called the nearest hospital offering MRI and surgical intervention, and that my boyfriend should immediately take Dexter there. The vet also told me the hospital, two states away btw, told her I could expect to pay $12,000+. I was devastated. Unfortunately for Dexter, I don't have that kind of money.
I was able to fly back home a few days early and immediately drove with Dexter 6 hours away for a second opinion at Bridger Veterinary Specialists in Bozeman, MT. He received a CT scan and physical exam. The physical exam showed very little if any deep pain response. The two specialists there told me his CT scan revealed no compression or evidence of swelling, but they expected it could be a high velocity, low volume disc injury (ANNPE). They said surgery would not help or would have less than 5% chance of helping. They also ordered a spinal tap which subsequently showed no evidence of meningitis, but did show elevate protein levels which is indicative of trauma. The vets told me to get Dexter in rehab asap - no cage rest required.
Two days later I found a local rehab facility and have been taking Dexter there 3 days a week for acupuncture, laser therapy, oxygen therapy, physical therapy ... you name it, we are doing it. We have also been doing hydrotherapy, physical therapy, and NMES machine treatment at home.
The improvements are so slight that sometimes I think I am imagining things. He (slightly) jerks his back feet away when I touch them, his very atrophied leg muscles tremble when we do physical therapy, and we got a tail wag four days ago that lasted about 3 seconds. He hasn't wagged his tail again so I wonder if it was some type of reflex.
He is generally a happy guy and definitely enjoys his wheelchair time, fetching, getting loved on, and especially eating! I am better than I was the first two weeks. I can't even remember the number of times I broke down crying then, thinking how unfair life was and wondering if I made the right decision not doing the surgery because a 5% chance is a 5% chance, right? Getting him off the pred has helped with bathroom issues tremendously so my sanity has been preserved.
I am wondering if anyone has gone through something similar and if five weeks is too early to assume Dexter is as good as he is going to get. We will give him all the time he needs and if he doesn't get any better I guess I'll be expressing his bladder and shoving Q-tips up his butt for the next five years or so. For his sake and the sake of my pocket book, though, I'd like to know if continuing the very expensive physical therapy is worth it. If we cut back, what has worked for other pups - acupuncture, laser, etc? Is hydrotherapy worth it even if he can't move his back legs yet?
Any advice, wise words, or encouragement is appreciated! This is hard.