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slipped disc-sudden onset?

pippa

Well-known member
My sister-in-law has a cavalier just coming up to a year old.

This morning when my sister-in-law woke up and went down to the dog, she found she had soiled herself and was unable to move her back legs. She took her to the vet straight away and he diagnosed a slipped disc. They are monitoring her overnight and will see if (when the swelling subsides) they can fix it back in place. If they can't it may require an operation,which the vet said may not work and would just be too much for her to go through and my sister-in-law may have to prepare herself to make a decision on having her little girl (Ruby) pts.

The little dog was fine yesterday and I am confused as to how she could go to sleep and wake up with this as she has never shown any symptoms at all of any discomfort:confused:

Please keep her in your thoughts:(
 
I'm so sorry to hear this. :eek:

I'd probably want to get a specialist opinion via UCD vet school before considering putting a dog to sleep. Did they do an xray? You might talk to Tara (TKC) -- she has experience of dogs going through back surgery for disk problems and knows who is good in this area.
 
I'm so sorry to hear this, I have never heard of such a thing before, has anyone else? It is indeed strange that it could happen so suddenly. Could the pup have had a fall or some kind of other trauma the previous day? It would be very interesting to research this on line. Does she have access to an acupuncturist? I think they may be able to provide some help.
 
Thanks for the thoughts. Karlin they did do x-rays and the vet said there is no change this morning, but he is going to keep her for a few days and do all he can and is going to get in touch with UCD also.

I go to the same vet and he is very good with all dogs but also very knowledgable about cavaliers, so hopefully he can sort this.

He said anything could have caused it so it is hard to know what.

She is in no pain just walking on her front legs and dragging the back ones behind her, also she has no bowel or bladder control.

My sister-in-law siad yesterday when they were waiting to take her to the vets she went to get food for her lab and she came running with her back legs dragging, looking for a biscuit :)

They miss her terribily and so does her other dog, a wonderful lab who loves her to bits and is ever so gentle with her, in fact she was the boss over him although they have him years, she took over when she came as cavs do and is larger than life and full of fun.

Please keep hoping for her, I will update when I know more.
 
Positive thoughts for your sister-in-laws cavalier, really hoping the vet team can get it sorted:flwr:
 
Is there any way they can transfer her to the vet college?
With humans if there's loss of bowel or bladder control,you're looking at nerve damage.This could be caused by spondylosis,slipped disc,syrinx or tumour.
If it were my dog I wouldn't be happy with watching or waiting.The longer it continues the greater the likelihood of permanent damage.A young fit dog should be a candidate for surgery once they determine the root cause of the paralysis.
Sins
 
Hi sins, they have diagnosed a slipped disc and the vets are in touch with the vet college in UCD
 
Also: it can take quite a while for the bladder/bowel control to return. For such a bright active dog I'd be considering a cart to support her hind legs, and maybe incontinence panties -- unless she is non-functional in some essential way that means she truly cannot survive. She sounds like a little fighter.

I can pass along some links for makers of these little carts -- and one company in particular might be good as it has adjustable support so can encourage the dog to start rebuilding function in the hind legs. They can lead a pretty normal lifestyle using those carts!
 
With nerve damage it is critical to get energy flowing again to the site affected, so I can't say enough as to how benifical acupuncture would be for this little pup.
 
Thanks everyone for your suggestions:)

I will pass them on and hope the advice is taken.

I hope my SIL takes the advice and follows this up to the last.

Unfortunately she never got her insured...
 
Ruby is still in the vets, she is now showing some signs of pain, which the vet said is a good thing as it means she is getting back feeling.

They are going to keep her a few more days and monitor her, vet said she is not out of the woods yet but there is hope :)
 
That's good Pippa.
Fingers crossed that there's more improvement over the coming days.Must be agony on your SIL waiting.
Sins
 
:updte:



The little one is home, she came home today:)



She is on meds (not sure what) and my SIL has to keep her quiet and not allow any walking etc. She is to be kept confined until she is able to walk again and not be allow to drag the legs behind her.


As far as I know they managed to get the discs back in place and she will be able to walk again when she gets more strength back in the hind legs, but she must be allowed to heal.

My SIL was just on to me looking for something to keep her confined but I don't have anything as I don't use crates for my three.


I only have a puppy pen which I have broken and use as a divider for mine when feeding and for bed time.

If anyone in north dublin knows where I can get a cheap 2nd hand crate please let me know and I can tell her.
 
That's great news! -- I can loan her a crate if she'd like. Creating a small pen would be a good idea though.
 
My SIL got sorted with a pen... and Ruby is doing well so far, although she said it's a nightmare keeping her still!
 
:updte:


Ruby is doing very well :)


She had a courseof 4 weekly (as in every 4 weeks) injections for the past while and gets her last this week.

She is back to her normal self and has almost full use of her legs.
 
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