Taylar's Wyatt 2/23 surgery6-8wks JRT/doxie mix

Taylor, on discharge day, did the surgeon say if Wyatt had deep pain sensation (DPS)?

Did he have DPS within 12 to 24 hrs of going into surgery?

Taylor, the surgical swelling itself will cause a temporary set back. It often takes about 14 days for all of that swelling to go away where you will have a better idea about nerve healing.

When nerve healing begins, often it follows the reverse order of the nerve damage.  Surgery can still be successful in the window of 12-24 hours after loss of deep pain sensation. Even after that window of time, there can still be good neuro outcome.  With nerve healing no one would be able to give you a data and a time.  But there is a typical step by step return of nerve function:

1. Deep pain sensation, is the first neuro function to return. It is critical indicator for nerves to be able to self heal after surgery or with conservative treatment. Only take the word of a neuro (ACVIM) or ortho (ACVS) for this very tricky to identify neuro function.
2. Joyful tail wags after specifically seeing you return, some happy talk or getting a treat is something anyone can correctly observe!
3. Bladder control begins to return verified with the "sniff and pee" test.
4. Small leg movements. Such as trying to use them to reposition when lying down. Trying to scratch and itch
5. Attempting to move up into a stand.
6. Wobbly weak walking
7. Paws knuckle under less and less
8. Stronger more steading walking
9 Ability to walk unassisted and perhaps even run
More info: www.dodgerslist.com/literature/healingnerves.htm

We'll be looking forward to hearing more about Wyatt on Monday when he is discharged... keep us posted!

Taylar, glad to hear Wyatt is back home!

What meds if any is Wyatt on now (name, mgs frequency)?  All pain fully in control?

What did the surgeon direct for number of weeks for post op crate rest which includes PT?

What at home PT did the surgeon want for Wyatt?

Let us know which of these exercises in the video below the surgeon wants.

Taylor, realistically after only 17 days after a surgery, there really is no way to tell how much his body needs to approach the nerve healing mark of getting back deep pain sensation. When it is known that nerve healing is the slowest department of the body to heal, that we ought to think more in terms of months rather than days/week, there is no reason to be down. No matter what, it IS in the cards for Wyatt to return to an active, happy pain free life. So what if he needs the assist of a wheelchair until more nerve healing happens.

Most surgeons do not follow up on their patients much past weeks  of the surgery. 

Dodgerslist we have members coming back in months, and years to give up dates.  

Please do learn to feel it in your heart there is, indeed, good hope for every dog. Browse the variety of ways, get a sense about time for nerve healing. Know your pup will also have his own success story to tell! Just a small sample of success stories written about since Dodgerslist was founded back in 2002. See the pattern for yourself and set in your mind that you be stepping in to play an important and instrumental roll in your dog's care: www.dodgerslist.com/monthstory.htm


Laser light therapy can help to kick start energy needed by nerve cells to self repair. So that might be a good option if it fits your pocket book.

Water therapy at home and those post op massage and exercises. Read more about that here:  
www.dodgerslist.com/literature/massagepassiveexercises.htm

As the end of crate rest approaches, you will best see the direction of nerve healing to know where money is better spent:   
-- on a wheelchair so Wyatt can get back into fun family activity while waiting on nerve repair
-- or looking into underwater treadmill, as you detect the first evidence of a happy tail wag due to your happy talk to him.  Remeber only take the word of a specialist about tricky to identify deep pain sensation (DPS).  Anyone, however can do some happy talk and then correctly identify a wagging tail!

Taylar, when learning a new skill such as expressing, a UTI can happen. Being able to recognize when the bladder has been voided, helps to keep UTI's away.

Wyatt may be getting some bladder control back. It can be difficult to express a dog with bladder control. The only way to tell is to do a sniff and pee test.

Take Wyatt out to a spot where he or another dog has peed before, support his hind end by his hips/thighs, not under his belly, and see if he can release urine on his own. If so, then he has some bladder control. You can try to do a quick express after he goes on his own to be sure he has completely emptied his bladder.

Three months after my Jeremy's surgery, his surgeon told me that he would never walk again. Three months later, he was walking. It's very early days in Wyatt's healing so there is no way of knowing yet how much healing he will have.

Please continue to keep us updated. Healing prayers for Wyatt.

It is excellent to hear that Wyatt is getting back to his own self and you are seeing improvements. Dogs adapt quickly. Six weeks post-surgery is still quite early in the recovery process. There is still plenty of healing that can take place. Six weeks after Frankie's surgery there had been no improvement in neuro function. Frankie did eventually regain the ability to walk and bowel and bladder control.

Tail movement, no matter how small, in response to seeing you, hearing you speak to him, getting a treat etc. is brain directed. Tail movement around bladder or bowl elimination is reflex. What type of tail movement have you been seeing?

Many dogs get harder to express as they begin to regain bladder control. Keep doing sniff ad pee testing. Carry him to an old potty spot, support his legs, let him sniff and see what happens. Do this regularly. If he does start to urinate on his own, in the beginning try expressing afterwards to make sure his bladder is empty.

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He wags his tail on his own sometimes when he's just laying down and other times it's when he's excited. Sometimes when I talk to him or when he sees something outside that excites him causes him to move his tail.

When I take him outside and hold him up by a towel, he sniffs an area that he use to frequently urinate on and then is able to let out a few dribbles of urine. I then express his bladder in the area that he was sniffing.