2008

Here is a more recent journal on a downed dog and some of the newer neds we used and the dosages and how long it took for him to walk again.  Please see page above for more details on back injury resources and how we get them to walk WITHOUT back surgery if they are an injury. 

Dogs that have slipped disks or crumbling spines we can not help as those will need the surgery, but the rest we can surely help.  Read the jourhal below on how long we had to crate rest (a long time people!) and his progress.  This journal tells you stuff the vets will not tell you.  Not ALL wieners have to have back surgery, but they do need an xray not an MRI or Cat Scan to see if their spine is damaged or the nerves, etc.

Plus those who come out of surgery sometimes still can't feel their hinmd end which means they can not tell when they are pooping and peeing.  Same goes for downed dogs so less mess if they are contained in a crate.  I change bedding three or four times a day.  But once you see their tail wagging then light at the end of tunnel.

Please be aware that a downed dog can not scratch themselves so I often take them out of crates for all over body scratchings and attention.  They love that when they can't do it themselves.

Water therapy is what we use towards the end of their recovery.  I put them in the tub abd hold under the chest and let them swim.  Also helps when I hold some treats they adore in front of their mouths if they hate water.  The trick is to strengthen their back end without redamaging the spine.  Some people try accupuncture but I have not seen this working.  Water therapy works great as they are forced to use the back legs seperately and relearn how to use them again. 

Non-water therapy means turning them over and pushing down on back legs so they have to push back.  I also windmill the back legs.  And I take the leg bad behind them and stretch those muscles and hold. 

As with any therapy start small and work your way up when they gain strength.

June 28, 2008 - Burrito is a past dog that we adopted out and we happen to give him to my niece.  JC called and emails me all upset last week because her "only child" Burrito was down last week.  Went to work he was fine.  Came home and he was not fine.  There is not other dogs or children so not sure if he injured himself.  My guess is not an injury after you read below.

I asked JC to tell me exactly what happened and exactly what the vet said and they had diagnosed a "slipped disk."  Sounds right to you?  They did not do an Xray on his yet that was what they had diagnosed.  That sounded utterly wrong to me when they started talking surgery immediately. 

I then told Jessica get a second opinion and the second vet in the town she lives in, a small town in Washington state, also refused to do an Xray on him too.  I told her, "I could nurse him here and bring B to my vet as they obviously have a ton more experience.  Plus I can't help her if they do not give her an Xray.  And that this will be the fifth one that I have nursed and helped here." 

My vet over here knows their thing about wiener back injuries.  They are the Medical Lake Vet Clinic in Medical Lake, WA at 509-299-3675.  In case you want to ask questions of have your vet ask questions too. 

So Burrito is here and we went to the vet this morning.  Here is what the vet did:

The exam was done with two fingers along the spine on each side pushing gently to see where there is pain.  There is another test also where the back feet and put face down on the table.  If a dog can feel them they will immediately pull them back into correct position.  His behind left side is staying put and his behind right side he is trying to get back to normal so he has some feeling in his back end. 

Normally when I nurse a Dachshund with a damaged spine they have no feeling at all and are completely dragging their hind ends around hence the term "downed dog."  But light at the end of Burrito's tunnel as he is not completely down.

Below is what we have done for today with specifics on meds and the amounts.  There will be a follow up visit.  The bill was only $267 to my vet and thousands less then surgery so we are starting with meds and bed rest first to see  any improvement.  I will keep this journal so others can benefit from Burrito's journey back to zooming and chasing cats for fun.

We could see on the Xrays in between disks was too close in two different back bone areas which means congential from what we could see on the Xrays.  The upper one he reacted in pain.  Probably not caused by an injury if the best guess. She saw one other location without pain with the same close verterbrea that he did not react, but she shaved him lower so the DMSO could be applied.  This come in liquid form in a dauber with clear liquid.  They put something else in there too, but not on the label.  You can call the vet clinic and ask them exactly what it is, if needed.

The amount of steriods or prednisone was correct at 5 mg for his body weight of 11 pounds.  She gave me for two weeks worth plus what he was on already prescribed at 5 mg for one week from a previous vet.  Because this can cause stomach ulcers I am to give him 200 I.U of Vitamin E for the whole time he is on the steriods plus one week.  Of course when I bought the Vitamin E today and it only comes in 400 I.U. each capsule, but that will not hurt him to give him extra for a nice soft coat.  That will also help with bowel movements too.

They also gave me some muscle relaxers which also makes him sleepy slightly called Methocarbamol in 500 mb so give 1/8 to 1/4 tab of that three times a day.  The pills are too small to get a 1/8 tab dose.  Sleepy in a dog crate is not a bad thing.  I use peanut butter so they eat the meds willingly.  I get like 1/4 teaspoon and wrap it around the pill.  Butter works well for this as well if they have a nut allergy.  If they have a milk allergy then use steak and mush in the pill.  Most dogs grab and swallow without chewing as we know.

The vet and I were both surprised they gave nothing for the pain or back spasms which is usually one of the first things the dogs and I was prescribed when there were previous injured backs.  I myself am battling a back injury from a car wreck vfor the last two years and they prescribed a person with a back injury muscle relaxers as I did have back spasms.  I was on those for a couple of months.  Made me sleepy too which was also not a bad thing while healing. 

We have the liquid DMSO, from the vet too in pure liquid form but can be bought in gel form from a animal or horse feed store, to apply to cleaned area with water three times a day.  No soap needed as the DMSO will pull whatever is on his skin into his body and not good having soap sucked into their body.

Then she gave me an herbal supplement from them as well that has been clinically shown to "support the natural release of adult stem cells" which is the new meds since I took my last one into the vet.  I have 60 tabs at 1/2 tab a day until gone.  Couldn't hurt and natural so not bad for him.  That is called StemPets and made in the USA.  I have a label over their contact info but you can search online for that and order it I am sure.

I also asked about joint health supplements and she said it could not hurt.  The brand name is Dasuquin and what she recommended.  You can check out their web site here: www.dasuquin.com.  The vet ones are better then just the over the counter ones, but we could try people supplements first and then switch later if the cost is too much.

Burrito was full of poo so I am to start him on a people fiber tab to help his bowel movements if I do not see him pooping regulary.  We could of also added a 1/3 teaspoon of mineral oil too from an pharmacy but thought the fiber pills might work quicker.  Plus feeding him the Vitamin E we did not want to clean him out completely.  But he left a nice load last night (I always pay attention to bowel movements in any sick or injured animals).  He never left anything today yet so I will watch that and find him some of those people fiber tabs if needed.  The full load of poo showed up plainly on the Xray!

Normally when a dog goes down they can not feel either their bladder or their bowels and they have to be expressed to get them to defacate and urinate.  This one is doing that on his own so no problems there, but be aware if it looks like they have a full tummy it might be a bladder or bowel backup which they might need some help getting that out of their system. 

Ask your vet how to express bladders and bowels please and make them show you with your dog.  I can't explain via the web site.  You have to see it to do it correctly.

Most dogs do get that feeling back and can start making their usual messes without you even after injuries.  It might take a couple months, but do not give up on them.  If they can't feel their tails and one day the tail starts wagging then you know they are healing.  Always makes my day when a downed dog is happy and I see that tail going a million miles an hour.  Always a great sign.

Xrays do not show soft tissue damage and folks have have to pay for a doggie MRI for that.  MRIs are extremely expensive so I never opt for those myself.  But at least with an Xray common sense tells me we can eliminate bone structure problems like a vet saying he has a slipped disk when if fact B did not.

So surgery would not of helped and those idiot vets on her town diagnosed a slipped disk and there was not any disks out of place just too close together.  If there is anything else going on we can't see if but nice to have some Xrays for comparison down the road in his recovery too it if takes longer then the two months complete crate rest that we were prescribed today. 

I have had dogs on crate rest upwards of six months or more here too and got them to walk again.  So two months is a minimum but play it by ear to see how they are progressing as each dog heals at different rates just like people.

Glad Burrito is here and we will do a follow up visit in a week or so.  Then we shall see if what the vet has me doing is working and if yes then he can go home after that with complete crate rest for two months.  I will post what we find out here so we can help others in the same boat and do not have thousands to spend on back surgery when most vets never tell patients they still have to do months of physical therapy too after the surgery.  But an Xray will tell if the spine itself is damaged from a massive injury, in our case NO!, and if surgery can help.

We also discussed that some back injuries could take up to two years to heal and I am a testament to that here for me personally recoverign from a nasty car wreck.  So B can never be allowed to jump off anything high, etc., once he is moving around better.

Follow Up Visit - He was progessing nicely so I was able to send him home after five weeks of bed rest with me.  B missed his mommy so she said she would continue making him stay in a dog crate even with the yelling.  I always figured bored in a dog crate with a chance to walk is better then crippled for a lifetime without being allowed to heal!  It is up to their cartakers to want to clean laundry and take them outside to make messes about four times a day and listen to them yell even when bored.  I know it is a long slow process but well worth it if the dog walks again. 

She gave him his vet supplied meds until he ran out and continued his herbal supplements and people joint meds like condriotin and gluecosimine daily.  Coundn't hurt hinm to take those she could get from any pharmacy.

August 2008 - With complete bed rest and his meds Burrito is walking again and will be running soon.  We have found crate rest even for slipped disks seems to help unless you speak to a vet with a LOT of knowledge about spinal injuries.  Ask for second opinions and third if needed. 

This dog has a wrong diagnosis and only had an injury and not  a slipped disk.  You will need Xrays to see how far the damage is done. 

If you are not willing to crate rest your dog upwards of three months and then do several months of physical therapy after they injure themselves then count on a lifetime of back problems or just go ahead and put them down if you do not have time to nurse your own dog please.  It would be less cruel them passing them off to a rescuer who has no hope of finding them a home. 

It is less stressful ofor your dog to stay with YOU as most rescuers like me are overflowing with unwanted seniors and cripped dogs or ones with mental issues already.  If you have no loyalty to your own crippled dog then who else will? It would be less cruel to just put them down as I had to stop taking in any more unadoptable dogs in this economy.  I am feeding way too many right now.  I still do take in the downed ones if I get them with a very recent injury so they have a hope of walking again but the rest I have to say no now.

October 2008 - Burrito is running drunk behind and zooming.  He might never be 100% but he is getting around all without back surgery.  He was on complete bed rest and came through nicely without having to use a doggy wheel chair.  So all's well that ends well as his mom did the water therapy in the tub and the meds and is working on getting his strength built back up in the back end slowly.

January 2009: This boy is running and is a tad bit drunk behind still.  But his mom does not let him overdo nor jump off furniture or beds.  He made the recovery and is not in a wheel chair nor did he have surgery.

Why crate rest is needed for injured spines?

I was severaly injured in a major car wreck in June 2006 and I am writing this as of December 2008.  I am well aware it is taking over two years for my injured spine to heal so please be patient and allow your dogs to heal in their crates at least three months if not more. 

I also have two personal dachshunds that both went down and both had to be crate rested for six months and then therapy for another three months.  Patsy came back completely and Britches is about 90% but she gets around drunk nicely now and it has been over a year.  My first rescue was also run over, Hunter, and I got him to walk again after 8 months and some broken vertrbrea.

So please take your time for the crate rest even if they are screaming and do the therapy needed as described in both these pages.  And even if they never walk again they do make doggy wheel chairs too.  That is always an option if you put ramps in your home.

Thanks,

Margo

Director of Dachshund Rescue NW and Dachshund Club of Spokane