paralysed 11 year old dog

[brigettva]

Thursday afternoon I came home to find my 11 year old collie mix unable to move her hind end. Her legs and tail are completely paralyzed. We took her immediately to the vet who said she may have damage to her spine. He kept her over night and administered shots to illiminate any swelling. She has been on meds for swelling and pain since then about 5 days now. There has been no signs of improvement. She seems fine other than that. She is eatting, drinking and generally herself. She growls at the other dogs when they get near the food...something she always did. She simply can not get up or move. My question is whether or not any one has heard of anything similar to this situation? And if so how was the dog treated? Is there any hope for my baby?

[luckypenny]

So sorry to hear about your dog. Did the vet do an x-ray? Did he discuss the possibilities of a stroke with you?

she gets the use of her legs back real soon.

[bendyfoot]

unfortunatly, I've heard of this happening lots. LP's suggestion of a stroke is one possibility, and damage to the nerves in spine is another strong likelihood. Sometimes, with STRICT cage rest (no moving at all expect to be carried out to potty) and antiinflamatories, the situation can improve. Surgery may also be an option depending on the diagnosis, but often that has to happen quite soon after the dog goes down. Has your vet discussed the possibility of seeing a neuro specialist? This might be a good option for you so you can find out what you're dealing with. That said, I know many dogs who have lived quite happily after paralysis as long as their human companions are able and willing to give them a bit of extra help.

One question I have for you is, is your pup peeing/pooping on her own? And by that, I specifically mean, does she have full control over when she goes (like if you take her outside will she go then) or is she just dribbling/leaking without controlling the flow?

a site you may wish to check out for advice from people with lots of experience is www.handicappedpets.net, and check out the paralysis forum.

[Chris21711]

This happened to one of our Bassets' Buddy some years ago....I let the guys out in the yard, called them in a while after....no Buddy, went down to look for him in the yard and he was dragging his hind end unable to move :sad:...took him to the emergency Vet, where he determined that he had damaged the discs in his spine.

The Vet gave us various options - 1. take to a specialist, he said that an operation might be successful.....2. wait it out and see if it repairs itself, along with medications.....3. pts......we decided on option 2 and after four months Buddy started to wiggle his toes and jerk his hind legs....in the following few weeks Buddy was back to normal

It took a lot of patience by both Buddy and ourselves, we would loop a towel under him so that he could do his business (now harnesses developed for this purpose are available)......I think the worse thing for him is he had to be seperated from the rest of the crew, otherwise he would drag himself around trying to keep up