This NOT the post I wanted to make on Christmas Eve....
My 4 year old Dachshund mini, somehow developed a spinal cord injury. His rear legs are going limp. We took him to the ER on Sunday and his regular vet Monday. We were told this is really common in his breed. He suffered NO injury that we are aware of. This came out of left field.
They put him on Steroids, Muscle relaxers and pain killers in pill form, and gave him 2 steroid injections. Told us to keep him in the crate for 10 to 21 days (ER said 2-3 weeks, vet said 10-14 days). We've done just that, he's either in the crate, out for eating, bathroom breaks and that's it.
Day #2 (monday) after the injections at the er, he was a little better - which seemed great.. even a slow recovery would be a blessing. Now 4 days later he's significantly worse. He's lost almost all control of his back legs. He can not walk without assistance. I had to hold his a$$ end up with a robe belt so he could pee... kind of like a back end sling.
The ER doc told us we may have to put him to sleep because his quality of life after this type of injury is low and would be cruel for us to keep him around. My wife has been in tears for days, me too....
The Vet said we had options, but lets see what 10 days of medical therapy (pills listed above + bed rest) does.
This is one of the hardest things I've ever seen, and been thru. It's nothing short of heart wrenching and heart breaking to watch this poor 9 lb dog drag his legs behind him - and for no good reason! he Played fine on Wednesday, and was significantly hurt on Sunday! We don't know why this happened, but here we are....
WHAT ARE OUR OPTIONS HERE? Any and all advice, help and guidance would be greatly appreciated.
My 4 year old Dachshund mini, somehow developed a spinal cord injury. His rear legs are going limp. We took him to the ER on Sunday and his regular vet Monday. We were told this is really common in his breed. He suffered NO injury that we are aware of. This came out of left field.
They put him on Steroids, Muscle relaxers and pain killers in pill form, and gave him 2 steroid injections. Told us to keep him in the crate for 10 to 21 days (ER said 2-3 weeks, vet said 10-14 days). We've done just that, he's either in the crate, out for eating, bathroom breaks and that's it.
Day #2 (monday) after the injections at the er, he was a little better - which seemed great.. even a slow recovery would be a blessing. Now 4 days later he's significantly worse. He's lost almost all control of his back legs. He can not walk without assistance. I had to hold his a$$ end up with a robe belt so he could pee... kind of like a back end sling.
The ER doc told us we may have to put him to sleep because his quality of life after this type of injury is low and would be cruel for us to keep him around. My wife has been in tears for days, me too....
The Vet said we had options, but lets see what 10 days of medical therapy (pills listed above + bed rest) does.
This is one of the hardest things I've ever seen, and been thru. It's nothing short of heart wrenching and heart breaking to watch this poor 9 lb dog drag his legs behind him - and for no good reason! he Played fine on Wednesday, and was significantly hurt on Sunday! We don't know why this happened, but here we are....
WHAT ARE OUR OPTIONS HERE? Any and all advice, help and guidance would be greatly appreciated.
