11 year old 109 lb lab with FCE/ spinal stroke

[Sallie]

My lab Barley went down Superbowel Sunday. His back end just collasped. We called our vet who came to our house within 30 mins. She thought that he had had an FCE/stroke and gave him a steroid shot. We moved him to a critical care vet the next day and he was seen by a neroligist. We were told that he had no response to pain in his left leg and that his brain was not "talking" to his bowel or his bladder. He chance of recovery we were told was poor.

We took him home that night and asked our vet to come the next day to put him down. My husband, and two young children spent the night saying goodbye to Barley. I noticed as I was petting him that he moved his right leg when we touched his paw and that every so often he would move his left a bit. He also moved his tail when he had a BM.

When our vet arrived the next morning we told he what we saw and we talked about it and decided that maybe the specialist had missed something. So we decided to give him a chance. He went back to the crital care center where he had a mylogram and a catscan which basiclly showed some swelling of the spin and nothing more.

We took him home and have been caring for him since. He has recovered control of his bladder and his bowel and his right leg has decent strength. His left leg can move but is pretty useless. He has been treated with steroids and has had one acupuncture session and is on the herb "double P" We have been using the bottoms up harness I bought on this site but my back is killing me.

Does anyone have any advice or hints for us? My vet has very little experience with a dog the size of mine as most people put them down because of the work involved.
Thanks in advance

[captainswife]

I have a large boxer who they thought had the same problem. they told me that depending where the FCE occured the dog will get function back but only to a point. If the left leg is not working I would suggest getting a wheele chair for support of the leg allow the dog to use the other good leg. If the dog is in good spirits then do everything you can to let him live a good life.

[sunspirit]

Welcome - glad you found the site! I'm not much help with the size issue since I have a pug but I found this article that talks about a woman working with her german shepherd.

http://www.handicappedpets.com/Articles/bergins/

There are lots of pictures of large dogs in carts. Maybe someone else has more information to share.

[heather]

Hello,

I have a St. Bernard who has been recovering from complete paralysis of both rear legs. For a couple of weeks following her paralysis she could really only use her right leg. Her left leg has gotten better but is noticably weaker.

As time has gone on, she has gotten stronger and does most of the lifting with her front end. However, her weight has dropped from 150 to about 112, which helps both of us a lot.

We walk Sammy at least three times a day and I take her swimming once a week. The more she can lift and move, the less I have to I have a vet tech from our vets office come over at noon and get her up and change her bedding. She is not continent with bowel or bladder yet.

Is he overweight? Our vet says Sammy's weight is OK but she looks skinny to me. I guess I like my dogs a little plump

I would try to give him as much exercise as you can and try to drop his weight, if that is possible. I'm glad he has bladder/bowel control. Just yesterday, Sammy starting peeing on her own outside. I am so happy to see signs of improvement.

-Heather

[CarolC]

It sounds like you are doing everything right. The fact that bowel and bladder control returned already is super! My dog's physical therapist says that 85% of dogs with FCE will recover. Of those that do not, either the owner gave up or the the dog gave up. Sometimes owners will give up due to being told negative things by the vet, or because they simply cannot handle the nursing care required during recovery. Sometimes dogs will give up due to stress from vet visits, a worried atmosphere at home, etc. The advice on recovery from FCE is intensive physical therapy. Walking the dog several times a day and swimming can be helpful. You can also help the brain remap the pathway to the toes by stimulating his foot. Tickle it, massage it, dig your fingers between the pads and let him kick. Do this often during the day.

Since you are going to want to exercise the dog, if you feel the Bottom's Up Leash is not easy enough for his size, you might want to consider a rear harness. There are harnesses that come with more comfortable handles to hang on to. They sell a lot of harnesses on this site and they can overnight one to you if they have the size in stock.

http://www.handicappedpets.com/prodwalk.htm

Recovery is exciting, and every little improvement is cause for celebration. Hope you will update on progress as he continues to improve. Glad you are here!

[puremutt]

Sally we had the same thing happen to our 13 yr old 50 lbs mutt.
He got steroids and this is what we did:
we kept him in a confined area in our living room, I blocked it with ottomans, kept the waterbowl and toys next to him.
we made a ramp to our front door.
We had to put him in the yard ( it strained our backs as well) and then we used a sling.
Urinating was difficault at first, th eleft leg was lame as well.
It took 2 months and slowly we saw improvement.
Now he walks, slow though, and scrapes his one paw, we use a shoe on it.
So please you need patience and give him a lot of rest , lay next to him, play a little with a toy, let him be involved in your daily routine while he's resting. keep us up to date!

[Soph_ie]

Hi there. My cat had an FCE about 16 months ago. She never lost bowel or bladder control but was totally paralysed in her back half. The first two months are the hardest, I remember my heart just breaking whilst watching her try to get around. But trust me-it all goes so much better after that. My cat could walk, run, jump and go up stairs about four months after her FCE. Prior to that she could walk around but quite slowly. After four months she could do all those things but she still had a sort of waggle/limp. I know vets say you don't see an improvement after a certain time period-but I am totally serious when I say even in the last two months she has improved ten fold again-she will always have a waggle/limp but she is moving around even better!!

My suggestions are:
1. Stay positive. Animals can feel your emotions, and although it's hard, I truely believe that if you stay strong and positive, they will know it and feel it, and it will make the recovery much easier and better for them.

2. Help your dog walk. On our excellent vet doctors reccommendations we started holding our cat up and letting her paws tough the ground. When she could control herself a bit more we helped her get into the habit of walking properlly by holding up her back legs (the ones that were paralysed) and letting her move the front ones. Then she would stand or walk with us holding her back ones.

3. Stimulate your dog's legs. Tickle them, rub them, gently stretch them, massage them.

4. Try looking into some supplements. My cat now takes glucosamine powder mixed into her food every day. Although an FCE doesn't actually affect the joints-we were told that having some nutritional support would be helpful.

5. Try a magnetic collar or magnetic bedding. I know-it sounds absolutely crazy. I have never used magnets before-I thought they were for crazy people. Recently however a friend suggesting getting our cat a magnetic collar. because of her FCE and because she has some mild arthritis. She had had big improvements in her arthritic dog. I ignored her suggestion, but a little while later I saw some magnetic collars in a shop and thought-well they can't hurt. So I got one for my cat and we have all really seen the difference!!

6. Let your pet rest. With an FCE they get your pet up and walking as soon as possible and they encourage you to push your pets a bit. This is important-but so is rest. We let our cat rest whenever she wanted. She was so determined to walk well again we didn't really need to push her anyway.

7. Be patient. Recovery takes time-you will see improvements all the time-sometimes they may be fast and sometimes it will take a bit longer. The important thing to remember is that they will come, just be patient.

[Libby]

I have a large standard poodle (70 pounds) who can't walk by himself anymore. He has an Eddie's Cart wheelchair which is fantastic. We use the bottom's up leash for quick bathroom trips but for longer outings, the wheels are great. It takes less than a minute to get him in or out. A towel or sling under the belly will help to lift the legs up and into the chair. I find it hard on the back to go for walks using the sling or leash, but the wheelchair is a joy. It's not cheap, but really worth the investment in my opinion. Good luck!

[Toni]

http://www.handicappedpets.com/gallery/ivan11/index.htm

Our Gshep/Lab had partial paralysis issues (he weighted 160lbs) His wasn't FCE..but a big guy who needs help getting around has many of the same issues for his caregivers, no matter what the cause.
Check out Ivan's page for some of the things we did for helping him get around. He had a wheelchair, we used harnesses as slings and more.

[Sal]

I read your letter and my lab experienced an fce on Dec. 6, 2006. His hindquarters were paralyzed. We rushed him to the vet and they administered steroids. By morning he was able to stand on his back left leg. He was still able to control his bladder but did have a few fecal accidents for a few days. We made a harness for him that wrapped around his legs and hips so we could carry him outside and stand him up to urinate. We cut it out of a polar fleece blanket and it has worked very well as it is very soft and non chaffing. Invest in a good pair of booties for the injured foot or feet. He dragged his right foot behind him and it can get injured very easily. Each day we could see just a little improvement in him. After a week his tail started to move again. Each week the wag of his tail got fuller. His right foot still dragged behind him although one night when he was sleeping we noticed that he was dreaming and we thought we saw his right foot move ever so slightly. When we would take him outside we noticed that he wasn't dragging his foot so far behind him. His thigh was starting to be more in line with his other thigh. Little by little he started to improve. I called a rehabilitation center here and started taking him there for therapy. At that point he was standing on the leg but knuckling his foot instead of walking on the pad. After 5 weeks going once a week to therapy he is walking on the leg quite well. He seldom knuckles his foot and his leg is getting stronger as today he actually put all his weight on the right leg and lifted his good leg to urinate. It is a long road to recovery but as the therapist said in a neurological injury you just don't know how much will come back. We are so glad we were patient and took him to therapy. They will give you exercises to teach your dog to learn to use the injured leg properly. He was able to go into an underwater treadmill and also have electric stimuli on his sciatic nerve to jump start some feeling in the bad leg. It was very important to take him outside on a leash at all times. The problem is the bad leg is weak and if you let them run they will most likely injure their knee or get some other orthopedic problem. We have alot of snow and walking through drifts is very good for the bad leg as they have to pull the bad leg through the snow simulating the underwater treadmill where they have to pull their leg through the water. Every week was exciting to see the progress. At first we and the dog were very depressed as they don't understand why things can't work. Keep massaging the legs and feet to stimulate them. Do range of motion many times daily with the legs to keep the muscles from atrophy. While they are laying down push the leg up and then stretch it out. Tickle the feet to try to get responses. Our dogs hindquarters were so weak he could stand and lay but he could hardly sit. One of the best exercises the therapist said is to make him sit and then stand. It was very difficult for him but now it seems so easy. Also when sitting if the injured leg is sticking straight out (like a Barbie doll leg) tuck it back to a normal postion. The injured leg has to actually be taught how to move properly again. Give treats while doing these for motivation. After 3 months now our dog going on short walks down the block and back. He also does short jogs inside the house when he hears the doorbell. He is really back to his normal demeanor and can really tell his confidence is coming back. It is a long recovery and he will always have some deficit in that leg as the stroke does kill the spinal cord cells in that area. However he is able now after 3 months to live a very normal life and hopefully his leg will continue to get stronger. Don't give up and try to get some help through a rehab center as vets see so few of these injuries and a licensed therapist is so very knowledgable on how to teach them to properly use their limbs again. Sal