My lab mixed 9 year old 65 pound dog has been rear handicapped for 2 days. The vet said that something like a disc slipping and somehow paralyzed her without her having any feeling whatsoever to her bladder or hind legs. This breaks my heart and I can't stop worrying about her.
Harlie is basically my baby and I'd do everything possible to make her recover even just a little. My vet said that there's a $3,000 surgery that I could have done for her, but she thinks it won't help either way. Harlie is still Harlie just without walking and her tail that would constantly wag. If she was in pain I would not make her live in pain and torture. But she's fine aside from not urinating on her own and walking.
My problem lays within expressing her bladder. The vet told me to grab her bladder push up and squeeze. It's not that simple for me because I can't recognize her bladder. So my husband and I googled other ways and one was taking a harness or towel under her where her bladder wold lie. Lift her up so she is standing and put pressure on the bladder. This works a little but I can't relieve her much. When my dad came to help me around lunch to lay her into her bed, she peed the whole time he carried her. I'm assuming the pressure was the right amount and so was the placement. I can't lift Harlie to do that, of curse my husband can but she's my dog and I need to be able to do this on my own.
Does anyone know of the best and easiest way to relieve a large female dog without straining my back?
Also I'm in need of a doggie wheelchair. I haven't been able to measure her height, but her weight is 65 pounds.
Please do help with expressing her!!
Paralyzed Dog
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Re: Paralyzed Dog
Hi lizann,
If you scroll to the bottom of this link, there are lots of videos showing different ways to express a dog's bladder, including lying down.
http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/view ... =5&t=16027
I am not a vet, this is just my two cents. Sudden catastrophic disk problems are less common in large breed older dogs, unless maybe she had some kind of accident like jumping out of a pickup or something. Do you know if she did anything like that, slipped on the ice or anything? Older large breeds tend to have degenerative disk disease which is more likely to show symptoms gradually, not complete paralysis all of a sudden. It's possible she blew a disk, I just would not assume that is definitely what is going on, because you can't get a firm diagnosis without advanced imaging (CT, MRI, myelogram). It is true disk surgery is not as likely to be successful for a large breed older dog if it is a disk injury.
However there is another possibility, FCE (fibrocartilaginous embolism), also called a spinal stroke. That comes on suddenly and can cause the symptoms you see, but dogs often recover from it. (In the meantime you still need to be able to express her bladder, as you said.) FCE is diagnosed by ruling out other causes, which again requires advanced imaging. If you can afford it, I think I would ask your vet to refer your dog to a specialist immediately for evaluation. If they decide it is a spinal stroke, then they can tell you how to treat it (exercise, rehab). If it is a disk injury, there is a chance she might improve with rest and medication. It's really better when you are sure what you're dealing with.
You'll probably need someone to help you measure her for the wheelchair, one person holding her in a standing position and the other person measuring, that's the way I had to do it.
If you scroll to the bottom of this link, there are lots of videos showing different ways to express a dog's bladder, including lying down.
http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/view ... =5&t=16027
I am not a vet, this is just my two cents. Sudden catastrophic disk problems are less common in large breed older dogs, unless maybe she had some kind of accident like jumping out of a pickup or something. Do you know if she did anything like that, slipped on the ice or anything? Older large breeds tend to have degenerative disk disease which is more likely to show symptoms gradually, not complete paralysis all of a sudden. It's possible she blew a disk, I just would not assume that is definitely what is going on, because you can't get a firm diagnosis without advanced imaging (CT, MRI, myelogram). It is true disk surgery is not as likely to be successful for a large breed older dog if it is a disk injury.
However there is another possibility, FCE (fibrocartilaginous embolism), also called a spinal stroke. That comes on suddenly and can cause the symptoms you see, but dogs often recover from it. (In the meantime you still need to be able to express her bladder, as you said.) FCE is diagnosed by ruling out other causes, which again requires advanced imaging. If you can afford it, I think I would ask your vet to refer your dog to a specialist immediately for evaluation. If they decide it is a spinal stroke, then they can tell you how to treat it (exercise, rehab). If it is a disk injury, there is a chance she might improve with rest and medication. It's really better when you are sure what you're dealing with.
You'll probably need someone to help you measure her for the wheelchair, one person holding her in a standing position and the other person measuring, that's the way I had to do it.
Re: Paralyzed Dog
The vet just said it happens and that she wouldn't ever walk again. But like you said I thought that would show over time not just all of a sudden. She hasn't been anywhere and she doesn't jump up or down from anything. There's truly no way I can think of that could just cause it without more medical attention. I feel like an x Ray should've been done but it wasn't. She is a vet true, but all she did was rub once along her spine and told me that the disk wasn't right. I feel like a second opinion is needed because she is such a large dog this seems impossible to happen without an incident to cause it.
When she is picked up she urinates a lot. Of course she usually doesn't have that much to come out of her so I'm hoping this is keeping her bladder under control.
The vet said that she doesn't have any feeling as to where her feet are or reflex for them. I just don't understand. She didn't give me any medicine to try to help she just said to come back if I couldn't deal with her being more helpless.
Its just hard for me to live my life when I'm constantly worried about her dragging herself around or dragging herself in her own mess.
When she is picked up she urinates a lot. Of course she usually doesn't have that much to come out of her so I'm hoping this is keeping her bladder under control.
The vet said that she doesn't have any feeling as to where her feet are or reflex for them. I just don't understand. She didn't give me any medicine to try to help she just said to come back if I couldn't deal with her being more helpless.
Its just hard for me to live my life when I'm constantly worried about her dragging herself around or dragging herself in her own mess.
Re: Paralyzed Dog
If she thought it was a disk problem, she could at least have tried an anti-inflammatory for her, prednisone or something. Normally they recommend confining a dog with a disk problem for several weeks and not letting them drag. If the vet did not offer medication or discuss resting her properly to see if the (supposed) disk problem will improve, I think a second opinion would be a very good idea.lizann wrote:She didn't give me any medicine to try to help she just said to come back if I couldn't deal with her being more helpless.
Its just hard for me to live my life when I'm constantly worried about her dragging herself around or dragging herself in her own mess.
You could try expressing her bowel to reduce the chance of messiness.
http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/view ... =5&t=18586
Re: Paralyzed Dog
Personally, I'd insist on meds. They may not help for FCE, but I've seen them do a world of good for other spinal cord problems.Learning to feel the bladder is the hardest part of expressing. It feels just like a water balloon when it's full, and it can move around the belly to a certain extent.