|
|
Post by roseenglish on May 30, 2013 2:48:21 GMT -7
I used to post here but just tried to log in and it said my email was not registered so I created a new account.
Harvey 7.5 yr old male daxie lost 90% of mobility in rear legs in Sept 2012
Crate rest albeit delayed by lack of knowledge on the subject.
No pain just loss of feeling mainly in right leg but generally in both rear legs.
Never lost ability to poop or pee or wag his tail.
Currently 80% recovered.
He is still weak in his back legs, his gate can be off when he stands still as the back leg might be slightly twisted but he is able to walk around the house and he can bunny hop when he wants to run on short walks and his legs seem still weak. He can't jump up on anything doesn't try. Well, now and again he will surprise and horrify me when he jumps down off a step when I am assuming he can't and won't
He doesn't even try the house stairs or sofas etc.
He has been on prednisone for 6 months+ and has lost most of his fur, gained tons of weight which I have managed to reduce by putting him on low fat food. He is a healthy weight now.
I have weaned him down to 2.5mg of prednisone (1/2 a tablet) a day.
I want him OFF vets seem to think he could be on them for life!!
These drugs never did seem to help him...there was no obvious improvement when he went on them or if they increased this dose, its all been a slow recovery and he was never in pain at all. No obvious signs of distress other than not being able to walk, obviously.
I think at 6+ months they have done all they're going to do anyway.
I want to try 1/2 tablet every other day now.
Thoughts?
|
|
PaulaM
Moderator. 
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,549
|
Post by PaulaM on May 30, 2013 8:31:45 GMT -7
Prednisone for a disc episode is ONLY used until the swelling is down. You would know the swelling/inflammation in the spinal cord is gone when on the taper there is no sign of pain. It can take 1-2 weeks or maybe for some dogs more like ONE (1) month to achieve reduction of all swelling. If your vet is using prednisone for a disc episode for 6 months, then he is not comfortable in its use. Prednisone does not cure nerve damage nor prevent a disc episode. So it is clear that your job is is to become a reader so you become the confident leader of Harvey's health care team.... to discuss various issues from medications to recognizing if suggestions of activity would be harmful to the healing disc. You may also need your knowledge to hire a new vet who does know disc disease. Start on our main website with "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.htmSteroids are one med you just can not give on your own…they do need the oversight and supervision of a vet to prescribe. Steroid hormones are what regulate the critical functions of the body. Tapering them off properly under the supervision of a vet is necessary for health reasons. www.dodgerslist.com/literature/VetchkList.htm [hiring an IVDD vet] Do you have ramps and furniture blockers to help make your home more back friendly? www.dodgerslist.com/literature/protectback.htmWhat about water therapy to help strengthen his legs: www.dodgerslist.com/literature/watertherapy.htm |
|
|
|
Post by roseenglish on May 30, 2013 8:40:46 GMT -7
It sickens me that I am worrying that he needs steroids to walk all this time.
He has AGED so much and I really do think its because of the long term use of these steroids.
I have read to alternate them to every other day to allow the body to learn to make its own anti inflammatory chemicals again so that's what I will do.
I want him off them.
I live in the UK and sadly finding a vet locally that is experienced in IVDD is not likely to happen. I trust my own research and thank Goodness I asked here about this continued over prescribing of steroids. I hate putting chemicals in dogs period.
Yes we bought a ramp for the back door where he goes to potty and we bricked off the steps down into the garden too. I carry him to these places.
Thanks for the links... now I have the confidence to taper him off this junk and let his body heal from the damage the drugs may have done to his organs.
|
|
|
|
Post by roseenglish on Jul 3, 2013 4:29:49 GMT -7
It's been 10 months since Harvey started dragging his back paw. That soon developed into 85% weakness in both rear legs.
He never lost bowel or bladder control and his tail always wagged. He never showed signs of pain either but that't not to say he wasn't in any.
(I accidentally cut his nail too short and it bled and he made no noise or reaction at all so that made me wonder whether he had been in pain all these months)
He is still on 1/2 a tablet of steroid every other day. I tried to wean him off but after 5 days of no steroids he displayed increased weakness again.
Vet says he will be on them for life. I don't agree and want him off them. He has lost most of his fur and his eyes are red and old looking because of those drugs.
The thing is, he has these episodes all the time. A few days when he seems much weaker on his back legs and then he is back to "normal"
Normal for Harvey is NOT as he was. He cannot run he bunny hops. He has little strength in his back legs so he can't jump on things and doesn't try.
He can't go on long rough terrain walks as much as we would like although he can handle 30 minutes in rough terrain and doesn't seem to mind nor does it effect his condition.
Here's the issue. I kind of hoped and assumed Harvey would be OK by now and so in March we purchased a puppy Daxie.
She is now 8 months old and getting stronger when they play fight. She steals his toys from out of his mouth were once he was the stronger and alpha.
We walk her everywhere but can't bring Harvey as he couldn't handle the duration.
He is neither disabled or walking he is in this constant state of limbo which puts so much stress and worry on me as I am constantly watching him and worrying like the slightest thing will put him backwards.
It may sound harsh but I prefer one or the other. Living in this stressful limbo is terrible.
We purchased him some wheels measured for him but I don't want to put him in wheels as they hinder his actual walking ability because he CAN walk but not very well.
I still hope he will recover. He got to where he is now 4 months ago and is just stuck there.
|
|
StevieLuv
Helpful Member 
Conservative Treatment 3x. It really does work!
Posts: 1,335 
|
Post by StevieLuv on Jul 12, 2013 16:35:55 GMT -7
We used a wheelchair for Stevie as land based rehab. The ability to walk around and not be skewing off to one side or the other, or falling over really allows her to build up her trunk muscles and strengthen her legs and balance. She can take it anywhere, over any terrain too, including snow. Nerves take a long time to heal - our Vet said 9 months to a year to see final results and there is one little guy on this site that started moving his legs 14 months after being paralysed. Never give up hope.I hope that this helps  |
|
PaulaM
Moderator.
Member since 2007: surgery, conservative . Montana, USA
Posts: 19,549
|
Post by PaulaM on Jul 12, 2013 19:02:10 GMT -7
The last dose of the taper ends in every other day for several days-a week and the pred it stopped. You might try to stop. You are looking for signs of pain to tell you if a disc is causing a problem.
Weak legs are a sign of nerve damage and possibly muscles that need to be strengthened. Can you be specific in what you observe as "weak" Does he knuckle his paw, does he cross or wobbly walk? Or does he just sit down when tired/weak and does not want to walk anymore?
I agree with Stevieluv, you might try increasing the length of walks. When you see his back legs get tired, try the wheelchair. Can the chair be used with his legs down so he can walk but is just support by the chair. Or you could put up his legs so he can just continue the walks and aerobic exercise. It is just something you will have to try out and see what works best for Harvey as you continue to work incrementally and slowly to increase his stamina. What is the brand name of the wheelchair?
|
|
|
|
Post by roseenglish on Nov 7, 2013 17:51:32 GMT -7
It would be so easy to not bother updating and it's very typical for people to stop contacting forums when things are good again but I know I had many months of stress and worry when my Daxie, Harvey went down in Sept 2012.
Harvey is eight years old.
He lost 85% use of both of his rear legs and we did not crate him straight away as the vet said just to "Keep him quiet"
He was put on a steroid and after 2 weeks were he got steadily worse, we eventually crated him for 6 weeks.
He never lost the use of his bladder or bowels and he wagged his tail. He may have been in pain but he never displayed it if he was.
I would carry him to and from the crate to the toilet and watch him in tears in the pouring rain as he dragged his legs behind him to pee or poo half of the time covering himself in his own urine.
After the 8 weeks , he was wobbly and weak and dragged one of his back legs a lot, His back was arched in the middle too.
After 6 months he made some progress but then his recovery stopped. It was like he got so far and just got stuck and so we resigned ourselves to the fact he would never be 100% again and would never be able to run without bunny hopping and long uneven terrain walks were out of the question as he got tired easy so we would carry him.
Then we got a puppy and it was a major worry for me as I was concerned her rough housing and play fighting would hurt him or put him back but the strangest thing happened.
In my bid to train Coco our puppy, I took her on long walks and at first I kept Harvey at home but felt so much guilt as he did not like us leaving him behind, naturally.
So, we started to take him with us and on hills or rough terrain we would pick him up and carry him.
I will never forget the time he walked over a wooden, slatted bridge and his back legs fell down one of the gaps and he sat there unable to move or pull himself out...heart breaking.
Over the last 5 months since we got Coco, Harvey started to make progress again.. instead of wrapping him up in cotton wool and keeping him house bound, we took him with us on long hilly walks with Coco and she gave him a new lease of life as he tried to keep up with her.
The play fighting was actually good for him..and her ability to get to places he couldn't seem to give him a new determination to try..
1 month ago, we found Harvey at the top of our stairs...shocked but pleased as punch we carried him back down.
He has not even tried those stairs since he went down just over a year ago.
We have found him upstairs (following Coco) four times now! So we're getting the baby gate back out. (She is trained not to come upstairs and doesn't even try but when Daddy comes home from work, sometimes the need to follow him up there is too much and she forgets herself...and it seems Harvey doesn't like to be left behind!
when we walk him now he doesn't bonny hop much at all and trots just like his used to. Now and again he goes back into the bunny hop if he really wants to pick up speed but we think that's more habit than anything now.
Just tonight..like 20 minutes ago, I came downstairs to put them both to bed. Normally Coco is asleep on the sofa and Harvey is in his bed.
Tonight, I found them BOTH on the sofa!
Unlike Coco who has longer legs, Harvey could never jump up on the sofa even before his accident..
He had a work around, a trick that I had forgotten all about until tonight.
He would pull a cushion off with his teeth and that gave him another inch or two in height to jump up from...and sure enough, a cushion was on the floor in front of the sofa!
So.. it's been 14 months and there has been times when I was so upset and down as I was sure he would never be "as was" so this was a beautiful unexpected surprise.
Of course, now we need to go about preventing him from jumping on sofas and using the stairs as it was because of these very bad habits that probably caused his paralysis in the first place.
We can see his muscles in his bottom and back legs are becoming more defined after wasting away from months of now using them.
NEVER give up hope...don't wrap them up in cotton wool or keep them bed bound or house bound... walking and pushing them is a form of physio therapy just as if a human broke his back.. they need to work on rebuilding the nerve and muscles and they cant do that lead on a bed all day!
Wishing you all the best of luck and recovery for your babies.
|
|
alindstrom
New Member
Still working toward our Goal of walking on all fours again:)
Posts: 17 
|
Post by alindstrom on Nov 7, 2013 20:21:43 GMT -7
Great to hear a wonderful update
I hope I can do the same update - some day with Dieter
Arnold (the human) Dieter (the dog)
|
|
StevieLuv
Helpful Member
Conservative Treatment 3x. It really does work!
Posts: 1,335
|
Post by StevieLuv on Nov 7, 2013 21:20:39 GMT -7
Thank you for sharing such an inspiring success story. It is amazing the things that we learn by accident - Harvey's story will be such an inspiration to members that are struggling through an IVDD episode. :0
|
|
Marjorie
Moderator~ 
Member since 2011. Surgery & Conservative
Posts: 5,724
|
Post by Marjorie on Nov 8, 2013 6:00:45 GMT -7
Thank you so much for sharing Harvey's story. We and our dogs can and do learn to find happiness and joy in our lives again as we adjust to our dog's "new normal". Harvey's story is very encouraging to others.
Blessings to you both.
|
|
