Irish terrier with no use of back legs after surgery

[Fabforester]

Our dear terrier had surgery at Penmellyn in Cornwall last Wednesday under the excellent Phil Witte. In a course of 3 days she had gone from totally able and tearing around at a spritely 9yrs old, to totally collapsed back legs to the point of knuckling. She had spinal surgery (Hemilaminectomy) which was deemed a success. She can still wag her tail and go to the toilet but all mobility is via a hoist and there is absolutely no sign of anything being any different to before the op. She remains on Gavapentin and loxicom.
Obviously we have been advised that it may take months for her to return to good mobility if ever, but should there not be some sign of feeling, use, attempt to move? We are doing physio three times a day.
Thank you in advance.

 

[AmyMay]

It’s a really good sign that she can wag her tail and toilet. I would hope that the legs will start functioning again over a period of 10 days or so.

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

The nerves probably got stretched and bruised so need some time to heal. With regular physio I'm sure she'll start recovering soon.

 

[Jenko109]

Please keep us updated. It must be such a worrying time for you x

 

[Bellasophia]

Don’t give up hope.
The op was said to be successful,so you need to have hope,patience and follow the post op procedure attenatively.
Nerve damage needs time to regenerate.Muscles will need to recover and be retrained to get back in working order.
Keep the dog comfortable..a deep ,supportive ,portable mattress to lie close to you,wherever you are in the house,.will keep her in the family loop.
We used to take our recuperating girl out in the car alongside her side kick,on walks,so she wasn’t left home and felt she’d also been out.Morale is also important in a dog ,as is rest.
Massage the limbs,gentle movement as advised by the physio..even gentle grooming will keep the circulation going..the dog will thrive with your contact.
Dont give up hope this can take months.
Keep updating,you are never alone here.

 

[Ratface]

Don’t give up hope.
The op was said to be successful,so you need to have hope,patience and follow the post op procedure attenatively.
Nerve damage needs time to regenerate.Muscles will need to recover and be retrained to get back in working order.
Keep the dog comfortable..a deep ,supportive ,portable mattress to lie close to you,wherever you are in the house,.will keep her in the family loop.
We used to take our recuperating girl out in the car alongside her side kick,on walks,so she wasn’t left home and felt she’d also been out.Morale is also important in a dog ,as is rest.
Massage the limbs,gentle movement as advised by the physio..even gentle grooming will keep the circulation going..the dog will thrive with your contact.
Dont give up hope this can take months.
Keep updating,you are never alone here.

I'm so sorry to read about your dog's current difficulties. The advice and guidance from Bellasophia sounds good to me. What postoperative advice did your veterinarian give? Perhaps have a telephone consultation with them to discuss your concerns?

 

[Clodagh]

It may take months before she’s up and about again. Friends dog who had the same thing is now back to normal, bar when he’s tired he drags his hinds a bit. I think it was nearly 6 months before he didn’t need the hoist at all.

 

[Fabforester]

Oh my word, what lovely, kind and supportive words from you all.
I can’t stop crying,and want to wave a wand and make this all go away.
The physio and massage I am doing religiously, and she is having the greatest of care, we are all committed to this. What I’m panicking about is that there is something else, that the paralysis was not due to the problem that was operated on. Surely, if it was a success there should be some sensation. I think I’m being pessimistic and also googling which isn’t always good, and surely the CT scan that she had before the op would have revealed anything else.
Thank you all for the comments. Much appreciated.

 

[quizzie]

Oh my word, what lovely, kind and supportive words from you all.
I can’t stop crying,and want to wave a wand and make this all go away.
The physio and massage I am doing religiously, and she is having the greatest of care, we are all committed to this. What I’m panicking about is that there is something else, that the paralysis was not due to the problem that was operated on. Surely, if it was a success there should be some sensation. I think I’m being pessimistic and also googling which isn’t always good, and surely the CT scan that she had before the op would have revealed anything else.
Thank you all for the comments. Much appreciated.

Definitely Do Not Panic !!!

The nerves and adjacent tissues will be significantly bruised both from the pressure of the herniated discs, and from the surgery to remove them...until the swelling and bruising has gone down, there will be no nerve conduction through the area, and hence no sensation/movement.
In terms of nerve damage...this is VERY early days, and progress is slow.

The CT scan showed the displaced discs, and the symptoms were exactly what would be expected .....As the saying goes : if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck !

 

[gallopingby]

It’s less than a week and as others have said it’s really good news that she can wag her tail and toilet ok. It can take a long time to recover, but if the guys who operated are happy it’s probably just going to be a long process with a few steps forwards and then some back before going forwards again. Quite often dogs who have a paralysis recover over a period of time from being totally unable to move. You may have heard of ‘dead tail’ common in some gun dog breeds when the tail goes completely limp. People often panic if they haven’t seen the condition before but frequently the tail recovers over time. Any muscles can become stretched, for all sorts of reasons, but equally in the majority of cases with a suitable rehab programme huge progress can be made. Please try not to worry too much, it’s early days.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

Give it t, she’s bruised and swollen from the surgery. I know it’s easy to panic, but if the vet is happy with the surgery, take a deep breath and try to be patient.

 

[Clodagh]

I asked Nicky and she said…

Weeks and weeks, just got to keep doing the exercises, tickle the hairs between the toes very gently- I had a physio come round with a vibration pad, that really made an immediate impact. He couldn’t hold his own weight for about 2 months, and wasn’t without the harness for at least 4 takes a long time for nerves to heal. Hopefully this dog has the same outcome but patience is required! Xx

 

[Clodagh]

Oh my word, what lovely, kind and supportive words from you all.
I can’t stop crying,and want to wave a wand and make this all go away.
The physio and massage I am doing religiously, and she is having the greatest of care, we are all committed to this. What I’m panicking about is that there is something else, that the paralysis was not due to the problem that was operated on. Surely, if it was a success there should be some sensation. I think I’m being pessimistic and also googling which isn’t always good, and surely the CT scan that she had before the op would have revealed anything else.
Thank you all for the comments. Much appreciated.

I have a video of friends dog 6 days post op. I can email it if you would like. Pm me. I admit I found helping her with him distressing, and thought she was nuts for having done it but with hindsight it was totally worth it. Good luck.

 

[Clodagh]

Actually scrap email, messenger would be easier. Up to you.

 

[Fabforester]

Actually scrap email, messenger would be easier. Up to you.

Thanks that would be great if you could message on here. Much appreciated x

 

[Fabforester]

 

[Fabforester]

View attachment 110047

My dog of a lifetime. She’s been a PAT dog at our city hospital and my shadow for 9 years x

 

[Muddy unicorn]

This is about a cat post surgery not a dog but similar enough I hope to be reassuring. A few days after surgery to repair the damage done by a traffic accident our cat was still not making any effort to use his back legs and was just pulling himself along by his front legs. At his first vet check I wanted to cry, however the vet was confident it was temporary damage caused by the nerves being so stretched and bruised and that gradually the sensation would come back. And it did - it took a while but eventually he was running jumping and climbing just as well as before.

 

[palo1]

My dog of a lifetime. She’s been a PAT dog at our city hospital and my shadow for 9 years x

Irish Terriers are really wonderful dogs; I adore mine. They are also tough so keep positive and try not to google! I really hope that physio and following vet's instructions will soon have her back on her legs. Very upsetting for you but she will know that she is loved and you have the pain under control. I hope you and her feel better soon.

 

[meggymoo]

What a gorgeous girl. I have absolutely nothing useful to add but I know I too would panic. I think that is quite natural because our pets mean so much to us, we make big decisions about putting them through surgery or not and if everything isn't magically fixed we then presume the worst, despite our vets (who we must trust to allow them loose on our pets) assurances that yes this that and the other will happen before full recovery. Just follow your vets instructions to the letter and reading others' experiences on here, it sounds was though the prognosis is good.

Oh and try not to Google! When our horse had eye problems, the specialist she was referred to said "Now don't go home and Google. And if you do, it's not the first condition which will pop up, so dont panic!"

Sending lots of hugs and good wishes for a full and speedy recovery for her.

 

[gunnergundog]

Get ready for a long, long haul. It will be very labour intensive carrying out all the required physio, but eminently do-able. Not the same, but a traumatic spinal injury was suffered by Lauren Langman's collie. Google 'Being Brave, Lauren Langman'. There are a number of youtube videos on the rehab process and journey of this agility dog back to leading a normal life. It may give you an idea of what to expect. Here's a link to one of her videos: Lauren Langman Shares Life Lessons Rehabbing Her Dog Brave After a Paralyzing Spinal Cord Injury. - YouTube Very best of luck.

 

[misst]

My neighbours terrier suddenly lost use of back legs and was operated on at Fitzpatricks. He had been unable to move for at least a day (she had dementia and had not noticed anything amiss until I checked in). Charlie was unable to toilet for 4 or 5 days post op and took 2 weeks to use his legs. He then had rehab for another week there and went home for cage rest/garden on lead walking. I looked out of my window 2 days later to see him running (oddly) off lead on our common! He went on to make a full recovery! Definitely too early to give up hope.

 

[Fabforester]

My neighbours terrier suddenly lost use of back legs and was operated on at Fitzpatricks. He had been unable to move for at least a day (she had dementia and had not noticed anything amiss until I checked in). Charlie was unable to toilet for 4 or 5 days post op and took 2 weeks to use his legs. He then had rehab for another week there and went home for cage rest/garden on lead walking. I looked out of my window 2 days later to see him running (oddly) off lead on our common! He went on to make a full recovery! Definitely too early to give up hope.

That is a great story . Thank you. Well done Charlie! I think I’m just worrying that the cause has not been found, that the op for the mineralisation was indeed there but not the cause of the paralysis. Time will tell and we are doing the physio and keeping her calm and with me all the time. I will be patient and ultimately keep her content, well as much as she can be. I did call the specialist yesterday and he was lovely but basically said come back in 4 weeks, it’s no time yet. So, we wait, and massage, and see what happens.

 

[Boulty]

It really can take months and she may never regain the same level of mobility as before the op. Physio is a huge, massive part of the recovery process and IMO equally as important (maybe in some ways morseso) than the surgery

Are you having appointments with a physio or just doing exercises given by the vets? If it’s the latter I would strongly recommend getting some in person physio appointments ideally weekly or every few weeks to start with as they can give you much better, more targeted exercises tailored to her.

Has laser therapy been mentioned? If not again would strongly recommend looking into if any does it in your area as it can help with bringing that swelling and bruising down & can help move things along a bit faster sometimes.

Have you been given any information about hydrotherapy? It can be massively useful (especially on a water treadmill) for helping them re-learn how to walk. Generally I think they have to be a few weeks post op but please check as might be shorter than that for a treadmill as you can obviously alter the water level.

Due to why you’re wanting it I think you’d need a vet referral for all of these but would highly recommend looking into & implementing all 3 together if budget allows to give best possible chance of recovery

 

[Fabforester]

It really can take months and she may never regain the same level of mobility as before the op. Physio is a huge, massive part of the recovery process and IMO equally as important (maybe in some ways morseso) than the surgery

Are you having appointments with a physio or just doing exercises given by the vets? If it’s the latter I would strongly recommend getting some in person physio appointments ideally weekly or every few weeks to start with as they can give you much better, more targeted exercises tailored to her.

Has laser therapy been mentioned? If not again would strongly recommend looking into if any does it in your area as it can help with bringing that swelling and bruising down & can help move things along a bit faster sometimes.

Have you been given any information about hydrotherapy? It can be massively useful (especially on a water treadmill) for helping them re-learn how to walk. Generally I think they have to be a few weeks post op but please check as might be shorter than that for a treadmill as you can obviously alter the water level.

Due to why you’re wanting it I think you’d need a vet referral for all of these but would highly recommend looking into & implementing all 3 together if budget allows to give best possible chance of recovery

Thank you - and completely understood. What scares me is the total inability to even weight bare or feel her back legs or paws, they just splay, or she twists over, and loses balance. Absolutely further down the line we will look at hydrotherapy and we are following the vet's recommended exercises to a tee. They were tailored for her and are being reviewed constantly. I have stopped googling, and am trying not to tell myself that something has been missed. The knuckling is so sad to see, I just want her to be able to place a paw to the ground. She is used to the exercise schedule now and the piece of salmon she gets at the end!

 

[AmyMay]

Does she have pain reaction to her feet?

 

[Fabforester]

Does she have pain reaction to her feet?

Not a thing.

 

[Clodagh]

Time, time and more time. You are thinking months here. She seems happy and settled from what you say so try to relax. Easier said than done I know.

 

[Fabforester]

Hi all
Sorry for the silence. A little note to those who have sent me such kind and considered replies -
We have progress!
Slow and steady is absolutely going to win this race, and after the gamekeeper at work told me on Tuesday to put her out of her misery and that she'd never move again, I knew we would do everything we could for as long as it takes and defy everyone who has told me how cruel we have been to keep her alive. And yesterday, she tried, she tried so hard and the physio is really making her want to move. One leg is stronger than the other but thanks to a pheasant at the bottom of the garden, we had definite weight bearing and a few steps - albeit still in the hoist and probably never off the lead again, but I think she gets it. The tail wags furiously when the fridge or letterbox goes, and she can now push up from having a wee-squat. She is being the best patient ever and I just wanted to let you all know really, that things are beginning to show signs of strength. The main point too is that she is off all pain relief and anti inflammatories too, and ravenous as ever x I will add a video and pictures soon.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Great news so happy for you fingers crossed for more improvement x