My 9 y.o. Mini Dachshund has back issues. (common in dachshunds) and last week her back legs became partially paralyzed. She is on cage rest, steroids, pain medicines and muscle relaxers.
She can still go to the bathroom but can’t run and play.
If she doesn’t show a marked improvement soon we will probably take her to a vet school for evaluation for possible back surgery.
I was just wondering if anyone had any experience or comments with something like this? We could skip the surgery but she would have to be toted around. I certainly don’t want her in pain all the time.
Any insights?
Have you considered one of those carts? The back half of a Doxie is on a cart with wheels. I think they’re about $200.
Do they know the cause of the paralyzation? My Doxie was fine after a few days of caging (or being carried by mommy and sitting by her 
).
Of course with doxies, you have to prevent them from jumping off beds and couches. If your doggie recovers, consider getting doggy ramps.
And scroll down for the “drag bag” for when they’re not in their carts.
We have ramps -she won’t use them. If she recovers we will definitely try harder to make her quit jumping. It has been a few days and she is still weak in the back end.
The cart seems like sort of a half life to me. I am not worried about the costs -I am just wondering if it is a good solution. They can’t wear the cart 24/7.
Your dog may get some relief from animal chiropractic care. You can search for a AVCA certified doctor here. http://animalchiropractic.org/avca-doctor-search.htm I would make the appointment for the vet school.
Most dogs also adapt well to the carts for their rear legs.
Thanks. I didn’t know about the “drag bags”
Lots to think about.
I also recommend Eddie’s Wheels and Doggon Wheels.
A neighbor’s dog was saved by an animal chiropractor - back to being able to do everything from almost immobile - I second that suggestion
We were out walking our dogs a few weeks ago and stopped to chat with a women whose dog had on one of those wheel thingys. Turned out dog has ALS. Never knew dogs could get that. Dog seemed very happy to be out and about.
IVDD requires PROMPT spinal surgery. The longer you wait, the lower the chances of your dog’s complete recovery. It is not a cheap operation… $5-10k or so. It needs to be evaluated by a neurosurgeon. Do not delay the consult.
Time to call a specialist.
Our 17 year old Westie was still getting around pretty well until she tore here ACL. When that happened I thought we were going to have an invalid dog, but she quickly recovered to the point where she can limp around pretty well. However, our dogwalks got very short. My wife bought a doggie stroller which we use to walk around the neighborhood. We take her out of the stroller a few times, and she walks a bit, then we put her back in the stroller and we walk some more. Our neighbors get a kick out of it. Many think it’s a baby, then do a double take when they see its a dog in the stroller.
@BunsenBurner she still can wag her tail and still has pain sensation. I understood that conservative management(strict crate rest) then surgery maybe was recommended
^^ exactly. Many times the crate time fixes everything, and many people can’t/won’t spend $5k-10k on a 9yo dog
We did. For a 10 yr old GSD. Money well spent.
Since you began wondering what happens when dogs lose their ability to use their hind legs etc. I made my recommendation - do not wait until this happens. The little wheelchairs etc. are not making the dogs’ lives better - they are oftentimes the fig leaves that make humans feel good about doing something for their pet. Most pets who lose their hind legs due to nerve damage also lose the ability to urinate. Are you ready to catheterize your dog several times a day? That last part is pretty important - the dog needs to go as often as a normal non-invalid dog has to go. Just something to think about.
So you had a good experience with the surgery? How long did recovery take? I am not ruling out anything just trying to work it all out in my head. I don’t want her to suffer through a painful surgery and not improve.
Your veterinary neurosurgeon should be able to give you some advice whether surgery is something to consider. Our ten yr old, 110 lb GSD pulled through! It was actually close to a miracle, because he lost his legs while Mr. was out, and I could not get the dog into the car to drive him to the vet… the next morning we went to our regular vet who got us steroids, taught us how to catheterize, and sent us to the vet ER. So a whole day was lost. We could not say goodbye to our sweet pup, so we went ahead with the surgery. His chances of recovering were about 20% at that point (advanced age and time lost), but he used them all! He spent 5 days in the hospital, then he needed rehab - towel walking. We noticed that the pup regained sensation in his feet and began to wag the tip of his tail - it was upwards from there. It took about 2 weeks until we could let him loose in the backyard. He lived for almost 3 years after that surgery, walked on his own, chased the ball he loved so much, peed on neighbors’ bushes, angering Mr… Just doing his doggie thing until IVDD returned 3 yrs later. There was no way another surgery would have helped at that point, because GSDs live 13 years on average.
Keeping my fingers crossed that your dog will be OK!
Me too
Thanks
One of my dogs became paralyzed in her hind end while I was at work almost 20 years ago. She was 5 years old. Took her to a veterinary school’s ER that night. The vet neurosurgeon did the surgery a few hours later (in the middle of the night). She had a complete recovery and was walking unaided 9 days later. The cost at that time was about $2500, which we didn’t have, but was well worth it.