Dorthy's Luigi 2/21 surgery

Welcome to Dodgerslist. My name is Paula what is yours and your doxie's?

The improvement you are looking for is to have the post-op pain fully under control with meds and that should happen already. It would not be realistic to look for full self healed nerve repair to happen in a matter of days to bring back ambulation functions, it could but more often we need to think in terms of months rather than days/weeks. Nerves are the slowest part of the body to heal.

So do let us know that the surgeon does have pain fully controlled at the hospital. No shaking, no trembling, yelping. The pain meds are likely to be a bit sedating so he may appear not himself.

Dr. Isaacs answered the kind of questions so many of us had about surgery... read these over plus start your list of questions for the surgeon.
Before discussing pain meds, these articles can give you good background information:
www.dodgerslist.com/literature/surgery.htm
www.dodgerslist.com/literature/dischargequestions.htm

 If there is pain or neuro diminishment, dogs can benefit greatly with acupuncture or laser light therapy. These therapies can be be started right away to help relieve pain and to also to kick start energy production in nerve cells to sprout. So if this therapy is in your budget, seek out a holistic vet.
ahvma.org/Widgets/FindVet.html
www.serenityvetacupuncture.com/index.php/faq_/ [one vet's overview/prices] Chiropractic is not recommended for IVDD dogs.

-- What is your dog's weight?

-- Currently can your dog move the legs at all? or wag the tail when you do some happy talk?  

-- Do you have his recovery suite prepared? Great tried and true tips from members www.dodgerslist.com/literature/cratesupplies.htm

In the early days of learning our dogs have IVDD, everyone needs a shoulder to lean on while getting things figured out, dealing with emotions, getting up to speed on meds, what disc disease is, how to care for them etc. Your job in the coming days is to zero in on the details of IVDD to be a leader of the health care team.... to discuss confidently various issues from medications to recognizing if suggestions of activity would be harmful to the healing disc. Have you been on our main website… this is a very good start place "Overview: the essentials" yellow button it will give you the degree of understanding you need right away…. as time permits continue to read all the orange buttons and the blue button "Disc Disease 101 core readings" to complete your education. Here is the link www.dodgerslist.com/healingindex.htm

Thank you for all the information. This is so helpful.  Luigi is out of the woods as far as the myelomalacia...this is precisely what they were worried about (making for a horrific weekend for my family).  He is showing no signs of deep nerve sensation in his back end still.  We are picking him up tomorrow and he is going directly to rehab clinic where he will be for a few weeks.  Very tough to have him far away and not with us but feel it is the best decision for him in the long run.  There he can have laser/acupuncture and lots of PT.
What an emotional week for us all.  Are they attempting to breed Dachshunds with shorter, stronger backs?  Our boy just kept getting longer and longer...we were always worried this would happen. Thanks again...D.

Hi Dorothy,

I have just gone through surgery for our dachshund.  I've been talking to her breeder, who had a dog that everyone gave up on.  The surgeon told her to get a cart but she didn't.  She went through professional PT and PT at home.  He had no deep pain sensation after surgery and it took a year, but he walked again.  Don't give up!

Suzanne

Hi Dorthy!

Since the rehab clinic is so far away, perhaps you can call them periodically to find out how he is doing or maybe they can occasionally send you pictures of him by email..

It's so hard to be apart from our much loved pets but hopefully Luigi will be home with you soon.

Sending comforting thoughts and prayers across the miles..

Dorothy, it takes 2-4 weeks for the swelling to resolve after surgery. Improvements often happen after that time frame. Don't be discouraged, it's still very, very early in Luigi's recovery. It's sometimes difficult even for experts to detect deep pain sensation. The first thing you'll want to look for is that tail wag! My Jeremy's deep pain sensation did return a couple of days following his surgery but he had absolutely no movement in his hind legs or tail for months, yet he was walking again 6 months following surgery and continued to improve for over a year after surgery. Yes, IVDD is a disease requiring a lot of patience. Nerves are very slow to heal - think more in terms of months, even a year or more.

Try not to look ahead too much and take it one day at a time. I was convinced Jeremy would need a cart for the rest of his life but he ended up leaving that cart behind. Even if Luigi doesn't improve and does need a cart, he can have a very happy life. Not knowing what's ahead is tough but we never know what the future may hold.
www.dodgerslist.com/index/SDUNCANquality.htm

Any idea when Luigi will be able to come home? I firmly believe that dogs heal much better in their own homes surrounded by their loved ones. He can be taken for laser treatments and PT or you can do PT at home. Here's our page on exercises that you can run by the surgeon for their approval: www.dodgerslist.com/literature/massagepassiveexercises.htm

Even water therapy can be done in the bathtub - again with the approval of the surgeon and after staples/stitches have been removed:
www.dodgerslist.com/literature/watertherapy.htm

Please keep us updated and I hope your boy will be home with you soon!

So glad to hear that Luigi's back home and has deep pain sensation! Excellent news.

Is Luigi drinking and eating well, Dorothy? What medication is he still on (exact dosage in mgs and frequency given)? Has he been tested for a urinary tract infection? How often are you expressing?

What instructions were you given for crate rest and physical therapy? Usually we see 6 weeks of crate rest prescribed after surgery. He should be confined to a crate resting and only out to do potty and physical therapy. He shouldn't be dragging himself around yet, just re-positioning himself in the crate. Once he's off of crate rest, there are garments that protect when dragging:
Pam's easy cape for Ollie - www.dodgerslist.com/literature/incontinentdown/Olliecape.pdf
www.dogleggs.com/files/rear.cfm
www.dodgerslist.com/literature/aftercraterest/Buttprotect.htm

As for urine burn, make up a pot of green tea, let it cool down and wash his belly and legs with it. Green tea neutralizes the acidity in urine and helps prevent urine burn and smells nice, too.

While Luigi's on Prednisone, he needs a stomach protector. Please get your vet's permission to give 5 mg of Pepcid AC (generic is famotidine) 30 minutes before the dose of the anti-inflammatory and thereafter every 12 hours. Phrase the question to your vet in this particular way: "Is there any medical reason my dog may not take Pepcid AC?" If your vet says your dog has no health issues such as liver, heart, etc to keep him from taking Pepcid AC, then do get it on board.

Prednisone causes increased thirst and urination so Luigi will need to be expressed every 2-3 hours while on that. Then every 3-4 hours until you become more proficient. Expressing does take practice. Sometimes expressing inside can be easier than outside - dogs have too many distractions outside and tense up their muscles. You might want to try expressing inside on a pee pad or on a rubber mat in the tub. After expressing, your fingers should almost meet as the bladder will be flat. Here's our page on expressing with more tips if you haven't seen it yet: www.dodgerslist.com/literature/Expressing.htm

The only way we can tell when bladder control is returning is to take the dog outside, let him sniff at an old pee spot and see if he can release urine on his own. If he can, then bladder control is returning though he may still need some help in emptying the bladder completely. You can try a sniff and pee test once in awhile to see how he's doing.

Please keep us updated.

Dorthy, graduation day will be April 4. Until that time, Luigi should do the PT directed by the surgeon.

PT, however, is a supervised thing. It is done slowly and deliberately with Luigi under your full control. Control might be having a life vest with handle on when he is in your tub doing water therapy. It might be a leash/harness/and sling while you let him walk in the house on a traction area such as rug runners. Dragging around, scooting about is definitely not PT. Once the 3x a day PT is over, the he is back in his recovery suite so he does not harm his skin from scooting, or harm his still healing post op surgical sites.

So this is why we asked what did the surgeon direct for PT, there are different appropriate PTs. Can you tell us the specific PT activities prescribed such as range of motion, massage as shown in this video:

How often are you expressing Luigi. Overflowing urine means you likely need to express sooner (every 2-3 hours) while on Pred. This is an important health issue to protect the bladder from loosing tone and to keep urinary tract infection away. Glad to hear you will have a urinalysis to rule out a UTI.

Have you seen Luigi wag his tail due specifically to your doing some happy talk to him?

hi, we are struggling with luigi who is still, at 5 weeks, post surgery showing no signs of getting movement back in legs etc. We are resting him and he is going to pt. But the issue that is very severe and problematic is his hocks. this has gone from bad to worse. Both hocks are large half dollar size open wounds. We have been to the vet, had him professionally wrapped there (many times) and now are wrapping him ourselves twice a day. (yes, he's on antibiotics). We are keeping wounds very clean and doing as the vet says with ointments etc. Also trying to give them air for 20 minutes each time before we rewrap. Bringing him back tomorrow as they just are not healing and in fact look worse. We are drained, stressed and losing heart over everything! My feeling is the hocks are not able to heal because he is on them pretty much 24/7? The PT said in 30 years she has never seen anything like this. Has anyone had a similar problem? I am desperate for a solution to help hocks heal. I measured him for hock socks but when I called they said they would not work on dachshund shaped legs, especially if he drags at all. So there went that idea. Thanks so much. D.

He is being kept quiet in a small room. Very little dragging but yes it is on wood floor (but now with heavy wrapping on legs). He is in Cart several times a day for short periods to get him upright. He is being lasered at PT and has been in water treadmill twice but now not because of hocks. He goes to pt twice a week. He is not on a pad but on his dog bed 80 percent of the time but I will go out and buy him the memory foam and hope it helps. I will also try the first aid gel. Maybe I will try wrapping extra layer of sheep skin to legs in addition to vet wrapping and see if this makes a difference.

The PT is highly experienced and has been working with Dachshunds post surgery for 25 years.

mudroom is in our kitchen. he's at the very center of everything.