Sarah's Bailey RIP 6/25 Conservative. Beagle

Hi Sarah!

The tapering off of a steroid is a health necessity that also allows a peek into the status of swelling. If pain returns, your vet needs to know and likely more time on the steroid would be prescribed. No signs of pain means the steroid has done the job and then no more medications at all would be necessary.

Bailey is peeing alot because of the Prednisone. She would need to go potty at least every 2 to 3 hours.. Once the taper is finished and she is off the Prednisone she would be able to hold it longer like she used to before and as she continues to heal her bladder control should return all the way.. Does her urine smell stronger or any sign of blood at all?  

Normally we say diapers aren't a good idea but in your situation with your high risk pregnancy you have to have things easier for you.. Just make sure she isn't getting urine scald under the diaper and don't use any diaper ointment that has Zinc in it because it is toxic to dogs..  

I am wondering what signs I should be looking for to tell me if Bailey is in pain from tapering down the prednisone, and how to know if the dose should be increased again? She doesnt seem to be in pain since tapering down the pred further, but she seems to have a harder time getting comfortable in her crate...much more restless and sometimes lets out a groan. also she has been panting a little more than usual.

Also, when I take her to potty, I often notice a little bit of slimy discharge (sorry! Its gross I know coming from her urethra I think...but I'm not totall sure if its from her urethra or her female area....it just happens almost every time she goes potty, right after she pees. Just not sure if I should be concerned.

On a positive note, she is quite consistently holding her urine, and often starts to potty on her own without expressing. I just hope shes getting it all out, because when I try to express her after she pees to make sure shes empty, I almost never have any luck getting anything more out. She wags her tail a tiny bit at potty, but this is probably just reflex with going potty, Im not sure.

No leg movement at all so far....trying not to be really discouraged about that. And she has no strength in her legs to be able to support herself in a standing position. Should I use a walkabout harness when i take her out to potty? Just wondering if that would be helpful since she cannot stand or support herself in a standing position.

Almost 3 weeks into crate rest.

Hi!

I am trying to decide if I should have a urinalysis done on Bailey tomorrow morning... with things being very tight financially, I don't want to do a costly test / checkup unnecessarily, but if she does have an infection, I don't want to let it go and take any chance of it damaging her kidneys..

She went into the vet on June 29 for a UTI and was given Cephalexin (antibiotic) to take for 10 days, so her last dose was last Tuesday. But for the last 4 days, whenever she goes potty, she tends to have a tiny bit of yellowish slimy discharge come out of her urethra just after she pees (just a little bit, but enough to worry me...I've never seen this before, but then I've never watched her go pee carefully like I am now.

Also, her pee is a very strong (darkish?) yellow color when she pees, even though she drinks quite a bit of water still. Today I checked her temp, and she was running just a little bit of a fever (102.5 rectally--the vet said dogs normally run 101. so not too much of a fever.

Just wondering what your opinion is, and if I should take her in for the urinalysis?? She doesn't seem to be in pain when she urinates...and she is emptying quite a bit on her own ((I express her to get the rest out).

Thank you so much in advance for your help!

PS-- about using a sling when taking her to potty, how do you use the sling and express her at the same time? Or is the sling used just to see if she can urinate on her own? Thanks!

Hi Sarah!

You can take a urine sample into the Vet without taking Bailey. They will test in and then prescribe the antibiotic based on the results. It could be that Cephalexin didn't completely clear up the infection..She might need a different antibiotic..

You use the sling around her back end  along with the leash and harness. The sling helps to balance her..After she goes potty outside then you express her afterwards to make sure she is empty..

Hope this helps.. 

Hang in there, if you read the UTI article linked to www.marvistavet.com/html/urinary_tract_infection.html, you know that the anti-biotics are broad spectrum, meaning they attack a certain bacteria. So now your vet is trying another to see if a different anti-biotic shotgun approach will be a match for the bacteria that Bailey has.

A UTI can make you feel pretty crummy, so hopfully, this antibiotic will start giving some relief that you can observe quite soon.

Hang in there Sarah. Things will get better. Positive thoughts and healing prayers sent your way!

Diarrhea is a common problem caused by antibiotics which usually ends when the antibiotic is discontinued as you may have read after Googling Bailey's meds. Is he now off of Pred, which can also cause diarrhea? Let the vet know of your loose stool observations. Do make sure he is getting sufficient fluids so as not to dehydrate with the diarrhea.

If acupuncture puts a hardshipo on the family budget, I would wait on it. The most important care you can give right now is the 100% STRICT crate rest 24/7 for 8 weeks.

You are doing a good job in caring for Bailey, nerves will heal as the body self-repairs.

Hi Sarah,

Paula was saying that since Acupuncture would cause you and family a financial hardship right now to wait on it and not continue with it.. The most important thing is the crate rest right now for his body and  nerves to self repair.. That happens with time..

You could continue with Acupuncture later when finances are better  and by then Bailey will have some more time in crate rest and she could still benefit from it..

Hope this helps..

If you would not be putting your family's budget in financial jeopardy should some other emergency arise, then I would do the acupuncture. Otherwise wait…nerves can heal on their own without acupuncture. Acupuncture does provides stimulation to kick start nerve cells to sprout nerve endings. Nerve healing will continue even after crate rest is over…so at the end of crate rest you can assess Bailey and see if she even needs acupuncture…she might have healed quite a bit on her own. In the best of best worlds we would all have more than enough money to give everything a try. Reality for most of us is we have to carefully weigh expenditures. So you will be doing a very good thing by 100% STRICT rest for 8 weeks and should not feel any quilt for not pursuing other therapies.

Thank you so much for your thoughts and expertise regarding doing the acupuncture-- I so very much appreciate getting your helpful guidance.

I did have one quick question regarding canned pumpkin today.
Since Bailey has started the Sulfatrimeth (on Tuesday morning) she had a little bit of diahrea initially, but then after that just very soft stools. The problem is that the soft stools are making it impossible for her to hold her poo. I asked the vet about it today, and she said that with Bailey having limited neuro function, it is difficult (if not impossible) for her to have any bowel control if the stool is too soft because she cannot feel it, and is not aware she needs to go-- some just comes out.

For me it has been a nightmare since Tuesday afternoon, because poor Bailey is having a BM accident every 2 hours or less-- the clean up is awful because the stool is so soft, and it's hard to keep my very active 18 month old busy while I'm cleaning her up. When I try expressing her to BM at potty time, she doesn't really go at all, whereas prior to the Sulfatrimeth, she went BM almost every time I would express her. So it's been a very loooooong few days.

I thought I had read on here somewhere that canned pumpkin could firm up the stool-- is that true? If so, how much should I give her? (she is close to 40 lbs)

Otherwise the vet said she'd prescribe Bailey a medication to help firm up her stool, but I hate to put Bailey on yet another prescription medication...she is on so many already!!

I would love to try the pumpkin route, and wondered how much to give, or if there is something else I could do to effectively firm up her stool. (in the hopes that she will have less accidents-- or at least that they will be a little easier to clean up!!!

Also, she has been on the Sulfatrimeth antibiotic for 2 full days now, and her urine is still just as concentrated, dark yellow, and very stinky. and she cannot urinate at all on her own-- she is still holding her urine between potty breaks, but I have to express her each time. Should I be concerned that maybe the Sulfatrimeth isn't working, or does it need more time? ( I know she has a pretty bad infection, so I'm just hoping that's why it's taking longer than it should to make a difference...)

Thank you!

Hi,

I know I haven't been on here in a while...it has truly been a few of the longest weeks of my life..Bailey is finishing the 2 week course of Sulfatrimeth for her bladder infection as of tomorrow, and I'm not convinced that the infection is gone. Her urine is still quite dark--less stinky, but still dark and pretty concentrated even though she drinks quite a bit.

I am posting on Dodgerslist today to try to get your completely honest thoughts / opinions regarding her progress and the outlook for her future. It has been 5 1/2 weeks since her injury / beginning crate rest, and she has not made any gains neurologically in her back end area. We even tried 3 acupuncture sessions with absolutely no noticeable change or improvement at all. So the acupuncturist said it would be best not to continue.

Bailey has not once in all this time been able to wag her tail out of happiness-- in the very beginning she moved her tail just slightly with expression (out of reflex), but even that has not been the case for several weeks.

She has not been ever able to move either of her back legs, even just the slightest bit. And she cannot support herself in a standing position (when placed into a standing position) at all.

Bladder / bowel: she has no bladder or bowel control at all. It has gotten better with less potty accidents (accept she has had a LOT of poo accidents these last 2 weeks due to the Sulfatrimeth). I think the only reason why she is not having potty accidents anymore is because I have gotten much more successful at manually expressing her bladder, and I do that every 3 hours. I also manually express her bowel throughout the day to try to minimize poo accidents.

She is absolutely completely miserable not being able to get around-- I honestly think it is driving her crazy (she has always been such a very active dog). She cries almost all the time, even when I am right by her petting her. And I don't get hardly any sleep at night-- I sleep right by her because otherwise she would howl nonstop and wake up my toddler. With me by her, she whines several times throughout the night, waking me up constantly.

So...given all of this information / update, I would so much appreciate your completely honest opinion regarding her prognosis. Please don't sugar coat it for me at all-- I don't want any false hope, just a realistic view of what to expect. We only have a couple more weeks of crate rest, and are trying to know if we should start saving up right away for a cart for her to use to get around. We are also trying to plan financially if she will be permanently paralyzed, as that will add expense. (meds, clean up supplies, frequent bladder urinalysis or culture to check for infection).

So if you are able, please share your opinion as far as what we should expect and plan for given her current condition after 5 1/2 wks of crate rest.

Thank you so much for your time and help! We so very much appreciate it!!!

Nerves can take a long time to heal. Many times it takes months, not weeks. The 8 weeks of crate rest is to heal the disc, not to heal the nerves. Nerves do not need crate rest to heal.

She's miserable because she's being confined to a crate. Once she gets out of the crate in 2-1/2 weeks, I'm sure she'll be feeling much happier. If worse comes to worse and she doesn't regain any movement, then she can lead a very happy life with paralyzed hind legs. They can learn to walk and run and go everywhere they could before in a cart. There is no reason to think that her life will be diminished.

But there's also no reason to give up hope yet that she'll regain movement. My Jeremy had no deep pain sensation, his hind legs were completely paralyzed and he was incontinent. He did have surgery but they only gave him a 50/50 chance of walking again. Weeks after his surgery, there was still no movement at all. But as the months progressed, he gradually regained movement and he began to walk again, first with a sling and then with a cart. Then he gradually didn't need the cart at all any longer and was able to walk and run on his own. A year and a half after his disc episode, I still saw signs of improvement.

Yes, you can start to save up for a cart. Once she's off of crate rest, which is still 2-1/2 weeks away, I would try to walk her with a sling. Just take it very slowly. Here's some information on how to do that (in 2-1/2 weeks): www.dodgerslist.com/literature/AfterCrateRest.htm. You can do the exercises shown on this page, too, to help get those legs moving again. A cart can also be beneficial in getting the dog to walk again. Also acupuncture and hydrotherapy help. You might want to wait a month or two to get a cart until you see how she does once crate rest is over and she starts to move around.

Just take it one day at a time and tell her every day that she will get better.

Hi Sarah,

You have been so brave through all this.. My Tyler isn't in a cart, he is able to walk.  He is undergoing conservative treatment for an episode right now though.. He had surgery January of 2013 and had a relapse two weeks ago... One of our moderators Natureluva (Lisa) has a dog that was paralyzed and using a cart but one day 11 months later.. his cart fell off and he took several steps much to her amazement..  Here is Goosie and Lisa's story.  www.dodgerslist.com/monthstory/goosieSullivan.htm

Sarah I'm sorry to hear that Bailey isn't showing signs of improvment yet. What warrior you have become for Bailey!! I was reading your post and can't help but think how lucky your Bailey is to have you. While you may not realize it you are showing people no matter how difficult it can become you don't give up!! I'm praying for you guys. GET BETTER BAILEY!!!