My 12 year old beagle ,Quincy, took off after a squirrel yesterday. He took a sharp turn rolled over and let out a couple screams. He can not power either of his back legs now. He has to drag himself around. The vet gave us steroids and muscle relaxers but I sensed doubt that she thinks it will work. I have had to carry him everywhere and he weighs 5o lbs and hates to be picked up. He does not seem to be in too much pain, his appetite is good ,
The vet suggested he could have pinched his nerves, hurt his back, but broke no bones.It could be spine damage. So we wait and see if the steroids work. I am pretty sure they will not. He has not gone to the bathroom since.
I’m so sorry to hear about Quincy. I had a Rottie mix that essentially the same type of thing happened to a few years ago. In his case he fractured his spine chasing a cat when he turned a corner and his back end kept going the other direction from inertia. We had to put Jake down that day. I hope Quincy gets better.
I also have a dachshund that had a slipped disc a few years ago and is doing fine now. It took about 6 months of crate rest, medication, and lots of love, but rehabilitation is possible in some cases. You can look into a wheelie-cart for Quincy if the vet thinks his condition won’t improve. We used one with Tasha during her rehab. It helps a lot with the mobility.
Aw geez, how horrible. I don’t really know what to say, but I hope Quincy recovers soon.
Is it possible to run a towel under his tummy and support his back legs like a sling while he walks on his front legs? We did that for Sadie while she was recovering from having her hip bone ball joint cut off. You need to make sure the towel stays wide under the belly and does not roll up into something that would hurt.
I second the idea of a mobility cart. I’d start looking right now, as it may take some time to find one or for one to be delivered.
These seem pricey but can be customized: http://www.dogkarts.com/
Here’s a sling-thingie like the towel I was describing; might work better: http://www.seniorpetcareproducts.com/Bottom_s_Up_Leash_p/pro-w001.htm
These are cheaper carts with a return-within-14-days policy (presumably if your dog recovers or the cart proves unhelpful/unneeded, you are not out a ton of money):
http://www.seniorpetcareproducts.com/Dog_Wheelchair_s/1.htm
This is apparently a different design, supporting the dog using his skeleton, which claims to have won praise from vets: http://www.eddieswheels.com/
There’s a ton more if you Google “dog mobility carts” or “dog wheelchair.”
In the meantime, best of luck to Quincy. And you might want to contact NADS.
My dog must have had a fall or something - about six months ago he suddenly shook a lot and couldn’t get up and down the stairs and didn’t want to get out of bed. I was afraid his arthritis (which was just slowing him down a little) had gone crazy. The vet said it looked like he’d probably fallen on the steps or something and gave him some anti-inflammatory pills - two days later he was romping up the steps like a champ.
Unfortunately, when we followed up by doing kidney tests to see if he could be on some sort of long-term painkillers for the arthritis, we learned his kidneys were failing, and he had to be put to sleep about a month ago. But that was incidental to what happened to his back.
No fun! A friend of mine woke up almost a year ago to find that his dog couldn’t move his back legs. The steroids helped him, so there is hope!
Good luck.
Have you had x-rays done? It is somewhat necessary to determine the extent of the injury; if there is a slipped disc, fracture or spondylosis. If we’re talking a badly slipped disc or fracture he may need surgery for any chance of recovery. I understand he’s 12 years old and you may feel that would be too much for him to go through but if it will save him from spending his remaining years paralyzed it may be worth getting an opinion, at the very least it will let you know where you stand with his potential recovery. The fact that he has no movement in his hindquarters is concerning and the loss of sphincter control to urinate and defecate is even more so. Are you manually expressing his bladder?
We usually refer any back injury with this much paralysis and loss of function to a specialist. Time is of the essence in these cases. I would really encourage you to at least have x-rays done and then depending on the results of those see a veterinary surgeon for a consult.
I’ll try to add some hope here as well: I have two great danes, and when one of them was still a puppy, we tried to make them “outside dogs.” Well, long story short, while my wife and I were at work, she got stuck between our house and one of our fence posts. We got home, and went out to check on her, and she was yelping but exhausted. When we got her out, she couldn’t move either of her back legs. It didn’t seem like she was in pain either, but she just drug her legs around.
We took her to the vet, and he gave the steriod shot. Two days later she was fine, and she’s still with us today, still bearing the scars of where she was stuck in the fence.
A couple of years ago she started limping when she’d get up from laying down. It’s last a few minutes or so. We started giving her daily glucosamine pills, and she hasn’t limped since.
And no, neither of my dogs are “outside dogs” now.
That’s awful to hear, gonzo. Hope everything turns out okay.
The corgi folks loan carts to corgis with mobility problems; you might check to see if the beagle people do the same while you see if the situation resolves itself. Then if you don’t need the cart any more, it can go on to another dog; if you do need one permanently, you can buy one.
Best dog my family ever had was a beagle. Hate hearing this sort of thing. Hope Quincy gets better.
Poor baby! I can’t imagine how worried you must be. Keep us posted; I hope he improves soon.
:: virtual skritchies for Quincy ::
The same thing happened to my border collie/lab mix when he was around 10. We don’t know how it happened, all we knew was he came in from our fenced yard unable to use his back legs.
X-rays showed no damage to anything visible in x-rays, so the vet suspected nerve damage. IIRC, he as given steroids, too.
He did heal after a few months, but he had to stay crated most of the time, and we had to do the towel under the back legs thing for him to go potty. We put wheels on a big plastic dog crate and built a ramp so we could wheel him in and out of the house.
He is miserable. He does not like people doing things to him because we rescued him from abuse. He hates being picked up because he was probably thrown around. It has been years since the abuse but he has long memories. His spirit is breaking. He is so sad I feel horrible for him. The vet says it would require an MRI for proper diagnosis. She suggests we give steroids a week and see what that does. If nothing happens that would suggest a serious back injury.
Poor Quincy!! Hope the little, er, big guy heals up all right.
I should have stopped work and went to the vet.
I hope my pup gets better soon. Like…now.
His tail moves. He can wag it, so it’s not like it’s paralysis. Also, let the record show that Quincy is a giant baby. He yelps like he’s dying if there’s some ice stuck in his paw after walking around in the snow.
I hope he’s just being a giant brat, like usual.
After some searching, I see that gonzomax is LOUNE’s dad. OK, so I’m not confused anymore.
And still pulling for Quincy, big baby or not!
Quincy was a poop artist. We were walking down the street and he stuck his butt in the air and dropped a poop on the flange of a fire hydrant. He would go to the park ,stand on his front paws and stick his butt in the air and leave a turd 2 feet high in a bush. We were walking next a river drop off. He stuck his butt over the edge and dropped a poop 20 feet down. He could be embarrassing if someone came by and I had to explain what he was doing. People walked away shaking their heads.
**Gonzomax **and LOUNE, all I can offer is my sympathy. I hope the steroids work and Quincy is back to flinging poop far and wide within a week. If not, I really hope a doggy-cart will be of some help in letting himself get around. Like a human, it must really depress a dog to have to have people do things for him. I hope he’s in better spirits, at least.