My dachshund is dragging his back legs :( **UPDATE in OP

[teeah22]

I'm mostly just a lurker but I need to get this out somewhere that's not FB (my mom will call me immediately and she'll probably just get me more upset).  My 8 year old dachshund starting acting weird last night, like he was in pain. Today he's unable to walk. Google is telling me this could mean a very expensive surgery which may or may not work, or that he could need to be put down. DH just took him to the vet, we did not want to drag 3 year old DS there so I'm staying home. We had only been dating for five months when we got him, he's our baby and I'm scared that we might lose him. 


UPDATE:

He has at least one bulging disc.  He still has a deep pain sensation which is good because that means he's not paralyzed.  The vet does not think he's a great surgery candidate because of his size and where the problem disc is located, 70% chance of recovery, 5-7k.

Option 2 is steroids and muscle relaxers for a couple months, and rest. 50% chance of recovery.

She mentioned laser therapy but said they'd not tried it in a situation like this yet, only on bigger dogs with neck pain.  It's around $200.  I'm not sure how many sessions he'd need. She wants to see him back on Monday so we're going to see how the weekend goes and possibly go ahead with the laser thing.  We are to bring him in immediately if he's unable to pee or starts vomiting.

She said he's very healthy and not overweight so his chances of recovering are much better because of that.

Thank you all for your support, I'll update over the weekend if we see any changes.  I feel a little better now anyway.  He's a tough little guy and I think he can get through this.

[Deleted]

I'm sorry. Maybe it's a pinched nerve and can be fixed with pain meds and rest? Hugs.

[speckledfrog]

Google always tells you the worst possible outcome for anything. Try not to freak out until YH comes back.

[Deleted]

I'm sorry. That's scary. I hope the little guy will be ok!

[Deleted]

Oh no! I hope he's ok! Keep us updated!

[BlackCanary]

I'm so sorry, I hope everything is ok. 

[tacokick]

This happened to ours recently. She had to have emergency surgery. If your dog cannot use her back legs it is an emergency. Do you have a dog neurologist nearby?

[lpcats]

I've experienced this with 2 different dachshunds.  One required the expensive surgery and one just needed a steroid shot and some rest.  You're more likely to have a good outcome since you're getting it looked at quickly.  Hoping for the best.

[tacokick]

Also, she is doing much better now. She is getting around great!

[Deleted]

There are a lot of things it could be. I would ask your vet for a referral to a neurologist asap.  Our dog has serious upper neck pain and started dragging his hind legs. It turned out that he has an auto immune disorder, we treat it with $15 worth of steroids a month.

But he was in pain for weeks while our regular vet treated him for a strained neck with NSAIDs and muscle relaxers. If you are able to do so financially, see a neurologist.

[teeah22]

Jul 5, 2013 13:50:44 GMT -5 tacokick said:

This happened to ours recently. She had to have emergency surgery. If your dog cannot use her back legs it is an emergency. Do you have a dog neurologist nearby?

I have no idea but we're in a suburb of ATL so I'd imagine we'd have access to specialists.  We can afford it but we've had all kinds of random large expenses lately so it's going to be tough.  We're also going out of town in a week and a half, to further complicate things.

DH said he went from walking ok but slowly, to dragging in the course of about an hour this morning.  He's definitely in pain.

[iamgrace]

I'm sorry. Hopefully you get some answers soon

[snorky]

Oh no! My frenchie had something similar, it turns out that he had sprained his back. The vet prescribed some some doggie Vicodin and he was good to go- ht meds worked magic and he was feeling like himself (or, at least acting like it) within the week. Has yours done any out of the ordinary activity in the past day or so?

Also, yay OTP! We just moved down here a few months ago and love it.

[Deleted]

It could just be a pulled muscle or pinched nerve... my grandfather always had Doxies and this was common when they got older and tried to jump up on furniture/climb up stairs.

[teeah22]

Jul 5, 2013 14:03:28 GMT -5 @pennypie said:

Thinking of you, from a fellow doxie mom.

Also, the folks at DREAM in Atlanta might be able to give you a vet referral www.dreamrescue.org/. UGA is also a resource.

 I actually fostered for them a few times before we had DS, thanks for the reminder!

[mirandahobbes]

Poor thing I hope whatever it is can be healed quickly and inexpensively.

[tripleshot]

Jul 5, 2013 14:06:13 GMT -5 @fucksticklegit said:

It could just be a pulled muscle or pinched nerve... my grandfather always had Doxies and this was common when they got older and tried to jump up on furniture/climb up stairs.

This happened to my Yorkie a few years ago when he was 8-9. They gave him steroid shots and pain meds. He's ok now, but we do have to take him for steroid/cortisone shots a couple times a year and he gets pain meds when he's having a bad day.

[teeah22]

Jul 5, 2013 14:04:19 GMT -5 snorky said:

Oh no! My frenchie had something similar, it turns out that he had sprained his back. The vet prescribed some some doggie Vicodin and he was good to go- ht meds worked magic and he was feeling like himself (or, at least acting like it) within the week. Has yours done any out of the ordinary activity in the past day or so?

Also, yay OTP! We just moved down here a few months ago and love it.

Where OTP are you?  We're in West Cobb.  There's a couple of us GBCNers in the area that do GNOs if you're ever interested.

I'm really hoping it's something like this but google always gives you the worst case scenario (head hurts?  Must be a tumor!).  But he's having a number of symptoms pointing to a disc issue so I'm not all that optimistic right now.  

See when this started last night, the dog was laying on the floor next to the couch and my son was near him bending over to pick up a ball.  Eros (the dog) yelped and I thought DS had maybe stepped on his foot or something.  When I went to pick Eros up he would yelp like he was in pain.  So to add to everything else, it's possible that my son stepped on him and started all this.  It's also possible that he was already hurt, since he usually doesn't lay on the floor.  But yeah, let's add a dose of mommy guilt on top of everything.

[thebamker]

I'm really sorry. this happened to my Cocker Spaniel a year and a half ago. I wish I had a happy ending story about it, but I don't. I'm hoping you will though. (hugs)

[tacokick]

Jul 5, 2013 13:59:33 GMT -5 teeah22 said:

Jul 5, 2013 13:50:44 GMT -5 tacokick said:

This happened to ours recently. She had to have emergency surgery. If your dog cannot use her back legs it is an emergency. Do you have a dog neurologist nearby?

I have no idea but we're in a suburb of ATL so I'd imagine we'd have access to specialists.  We can afford it but we've had all kinds of random large expenses lately so it's going to be tough.  We're also going out of town in a week and a half, to further complicate things.

DH said he went from walking ok but slowly, to dragging in the course of about an hour this morning.  He's definitely in pain.

That is what happened with our girl. She went from walking sort of wiggly to dragging her back legs in hours. The fact that it happened quickly really worried the doctors. They called in the neurologist and he operated right away. He said she couldn't feel her toes at the surgery and now she is pretty much back to normal.

[poppyseed]

I'm sorry Didn't this happen to @breebirdy's dachshund as well? And he's still around! I hope he's ok.

[tacokick]

Oh, it was a disc issue. Good luck!! She is doing physical therapy here at home and it is miraculous how well she is doing.

[teeah22]

Jul 5, 2013 14:23:23 GMT -5 tacokick said:

Oh, it was a disc issue. Good luck!! She is doing physical therapy here at home and it is miraculous how well she is doing.

May I ask how much everything ended up costing?  You can PM me if you'd rather not say on here.  I'm worried that DH and I may not see eye to eye on what to do if surgery is our option.

[tacokick]

Jul 5, 2013 14:26:42 GMT -5 teeah22 said:

Jul 5, 2013 14:23:23 GMT -5 tacokick said:

Oh, it was a disc issue. Good luck!! She is doing physical therapy here at home and it is miraculous how well she is doing.

May I ask how much everything ended up costing?  You can PM me if you'd rather not say on here.  I'm worried that DH and I may not see eye to eye on what to do if surgery is our option.

Well, ours happened on a weekend, it was an emergency at night and they had to call in the neurologist so it was like $6000. But! If it happened on a regular day like a Friday, it would be cheaper. My friends doxie had it done in more the $3000 and under range.

We were limited because there are only 2 dog neurologists in our half of the state so we had to go to the one that they could reach (like an hour away) to bring in. You could call around and get estimates once you know what needs to happen.

[teeah22]

Jul 5, 2013 14:41:39 GMT -5 @breebirdy said:

Jul 5, 2013 13:41:09 GMT -5 teeah22 said:

I'm mostly just a lurker but I need to get this out somewhere that's not FB (my mom will call me immediately and she'll probably just get me more upset).  My 8 year old dachshund starting acting weird last night, like he was in pain. Today he's unable to walk. Google is telling me this could mean a very expensive surgery which may or may not work, or that he could need to be put down. DH just took him to the vet, we did not want to drag 3 year old DS there so I'm staying home. We had only been dating for five months when we got him, he's our baby and I'm scared that we might lose him. 

I have a mini dachshund, Gus, and we have been through this three times.

It is SO scary... We've prepared ourselves for surgery and wheelie chairs each time, but he has come back to make a full recovery every time.

The first time this happened it was from an injury/overextension from being boarded.  The vet suggest either putting him down or surgery.  I wasn't convinced that I wanted surgery because the success rate really isn't that fantastic for the money you'd put down.

I did my research and found a vet that does a laser therapy and didn't suggest putting him down.  I wanted someone who would do what we could for him without surgery and she was golden.   Switching to her was the best thing I've done for Gussy.


The laser therapy ran about $30/visit and we went about 6-7 visits each injury.  Between laser therapy sessions, we crated exclusively; this was hard for me, but SO needed for him.  We let him out to go to the bathroom and back in his crate he went.  We also put him on an anti-inflammatory and one other med that escapes me right now.  

Each time, he was at the point where he could not use his back legs, urinate without bladder pressure (we had to squeeze his bladder), nor did he have any sensation in his hind legs/tail.  It was so sad.  We have a routine with him when he starts begin ginger with his movements -- crate, crate, crate.  

Don't think that surgery is the only way to go - or putting him down.  If you have the time and the resources, look into crating and laser therapy.  It saved Gussy's legs.

Also... this is time sensitive.  The longer you wait, the better chance the injury has to stay.  (This is what my vet told me.)

Please write if you have questions... I know this is scary!

I still haven't heard from DH, but according to our vet's website they offer laser therapy.  Eros did have something sort of similar happen a few years ago where he was in pain if you picked him up and wouldn't go up the stairs, but it wasn't to the point of dragging (medicine and rest did the trick). So maybe he's more prone to this kind of stuff.  I just wish I knew what was going on.

[tacokick]

Also, just a tip, don't let your doxie go up and downstairs by himself or hop on furniture. We never let ours and she still had problems. Our doctor says it is the best way to avoid injury in dachshunds. We trained her to wait at the bottom (or top) of the steps for us to pick her up.


Lasers can do wonders for certain issues, I hope it works out for you! What concerns me is how quickly the decline is, you don't want that trend to continue over the weekend.

[jenhappy]

I am so so sorry you are going through this. We had a dog with a slipped disc and paresis, not full paralysis. He was just shy of 10 and very stubborn. We ruled out surgery and wheelie carts because, for us and our dog, they did not make sense, so we tried the steroid route. Making those types of decisions is always hard. I hope you and H end up on the same page, and better yet that you don't have to think about it at all because pup improves on his own.

[jenhappy]

I'm so glad you were given a good prognosis!! I'm sure they told you this, but rest is *so key* right now. Obnoxious amounts of rest and as little movement as possible. I know you still have choices to make that are difficult without knowing the future, but it sounds like he has a real chance at recovery. I'll be thinking of you guys!

[Jalapeñomel]

(((hugs))) I´m so sorry.

[tacokick]

Good luck!! I'm glad you have options. Our girl really hasn't been minding the crate rest.