Hi everyone!
I just joined over on the old Yahoo boards, but didn't get a chance to do an intro before the move, so here we go. This is long, sorry
My name is Jen, and Chassis (pronounced "Chassy") is our 3 year old blue & tan
doxie. We started noticing that something was wrong on Feb. 14th. The first thing we noticed was that she did not want to jump up on the couch when we sat down, which is odd for her. She also did not seem interested in playing at all. I was concerned that she may have hurt her back or neck, and I took her to the vet that afternoon. Now, just to preface, at that point, I knew absolutely NOTHING about IVDD or disc herniation. I really wish I had!
Our vet checked her out, did flexion tests, x rays, etc and everything came back normal. We had been dog sitting my in-laws doxie for a few weeks, and her and Chassis had been playing pretty hard together, so we thought maybe she just strained something. I was told to keep her quiet, no jumping or playing, and we'd see how she did.
The next day, she seemed about the same- kept her quiet all day and kept the dogs separated. Then on the morning of the 16th, she seemed worse- walking really slow, seemed in pain, so I took her back to the vet. She was prescribed pain meds, steroids and muscle relaxers, and I was again told to keep her as quiet as possible. So for the rest of the day, I carried her everywhere I could and she seemed to be doing ok. That night, after I put our son to bed, I just sat with her on the couch and she seemed very comfy and content. Carried her outside to potty at bedtime, and she seemed fine. We got into bed and she tucked in under the covers like normal. Then about 20 mins later, she came up from under the covers and seemed like she needed to go outside, so I carried her out, and when I set her down, her hind end just collapsed. She immediately started to panic and tried to walk, but her hind end was just dragging and she started to cry. I picked her up and she snapped at me, so I knew she was in a lot of pain
We took her to the urgent care, and after an exam the vet told us that she was almost positive that a ruptured disc was the cause of the paralysis, and that Chassis was deep pain negative. We went over all the options, and decided to go with the surgery. They gave us a 50/50 chance of her walking again, and we really wanted to give her the best shot possible.
The MRI confirmed the ruptured disc, and also IVDD. She went into surgery first thing in the AM on 2/17. The surgery went well, and she was in the hospital for 4 days. When we brought her home, she was still deep pain negative. She was on Tramadol and Gabapentin, as well as Pepcid, for 10 days. The first few days on crate rest, she did really well- a LOT better then I expected. She has always had pretty severe separation anxiety and she is used to sleeping in the bed with us, so I expected her to be really upset. But she seemed ok! Then, on about day 7, she suddenly decided she had had enough of the crate, and wanted out. She started howling whenever we'd leave the room, and scratching and digging in the corner of the crate (wire crate) We had to leave one day to run errands for a few hours, and when we came home, there was blood everywhere in the crate. She had apparently been trying to chew her way out, and
cut her lip and ripped out two teeth We took her back to the vet, and they suggested that we try either a soft-sided crate or an ex-pen instead of the wire crate.
We went and bought a soft sided crate with zippered doors. She seemed to be doing ok with that, but then the second day, I went out to the grocery store, and when I came home, she was out of the crate and in her bed NEXT to the crate!! She had scratched her way through the zipper. Grrr! At least she seemed ok, and was actually resting comfortably in her bed, and looked quite proud of herself!
So, next we went and
got an ex-pen, and gated off a small area in the kitchen, and so far, that seems to be working, thank goodness! At this point, we just don't really have any other options. She still whines a lot of the day, and if we are out of her eyesight for even a minute or two, she starts to scream and howl
As of yesterday, we were 1 month post-op. At her last check-up, she was still deep pain negative, and had
no bladder control. We are doing her PT stretches several times a day, and she does have good strength and muscle tone in her legs still, so the vet said that's a good sign. She does wag her tail, but it seems more like a reflex than anything else. If we squeeze her hind toes, she will retract her foot, and on the left hind, she will sometimes turn her head as well. Also, if we stand her up and plant her hind feet on the ground, she can stand up on her own, for maybe 10 seconds or so. She definitely knows when she has to poop, because she will start to whine, and she will also sometimes whine in the middle of the night, and if we take her out and express her bladder, she will then calm down and go back to sleep.
Have not had any issues with leaking urine, except in the past week or so, she has started to piddle if she gets too excited (like when we come home), but she has always done that. Her appetite and water consumption seem normal.
Sorry this is so long....I am very interested to see if anyone has any advice on alternative treatments at this point? I know acupuncture is an option...? We are struggling, money-wise to do too much more-- the surgery pretty much drained our savings. But, if it's something that we think could really help, we would consider it.
I am also trying to learn more about getting her fitted for a wheelchair, and what all that entails?
This whole situation has been so incredibly difficult for my husband and I - we love this little dog so much, and it hurts to see her so miserable. We really thought we were doing the right thing by doing the surgery, but there are days that I wonder if we made the wrong decision. Going forward, if her condition doesn't improve, I just don't know how it's all going to work. My husband and I both work, and we have a 15 month old son, so life is hectic enough as it is! We have been able to shuffle our schedules around for a few weeks so that someone can be home with her most of the time, but the time has come that we both have to get back to our normal schedules.
If her paralysis is permanent, I am also worried about what that means for her everyday life, living in a house with a toddler. Before her injury, they loved to play together, and although she was very quick and smart about moving away from him before he could grab her, we always worried about her getting hurt playing with him. But now, I really don't think we could have her and him out in the same area, because all he wants to do is play with her, and if she can't get away from him, the odds of her getting hurt are very high. Keeping an eye on him is already hard enough, without adding this into it! So, is her life now going to be having to be contained in the kitchen, or outside, and away from us, so that she doesn't get hurt? What kind of life is that for a dog?? I just don't know what to do....this whole thing is really taking a toll on all of us.
Again, sorry this is so long, but I'm just lost....any advice or words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!
Oh, I also forgot to include, that our vet keeps telling us that 2-4
weeks post-op is the most critical time frame, and that if there are NO
signs of recovery by 6 weeks (deep pain, etc) that the odds of her ever
being able to regain function again are slim. However, I have read
stories online about it taking months before a dog regains any kind of
function, movement, etc. We are trying to keep the faith that she will
get better, but at the same time, don't want to get our hopes up if we
really shouldn't, at this point....
Our vet checked her out, did flexion tests, x rays, etc and everything came back normal. We had been dog sitting my in-laws doxie for a few weeks, and her and Chassis had been playing pretty hard together, so we thought maybe she just strained something. I was told to keep her quiet, no jumping or playing, and we'd see how she did. 
