Sudden Rear End Paralysis

[MadWoofter]

Last week I had a terrible fright with Tess. She sleeps on my bed, but usually needs to get up during the night to toilet. She will 'talk' to me to let me know she wants to go out.

Thursday night was no different, except when I got up she couldn't move off the bed. She eventually kind of hopped / fell off the bed onto the floor, and I realised that her back end wasn't working at all. She couldn't stand up or wag her tail, and she was very obviously distressed. This was about midnight.

I lay on the floor with her, kept her warm, and rubbed her legs and comforted her. Over the course of a few hours she seemed a bit better, and eventually she shifted her back legs so she was lying down. By 4am she was much happier, lying and sleeping, and by 6am she managed to stand up and walk about, although she was a bit tentative on her legs.

By the time I got her up to the vets she was walking fine, just a bit tired and slow (but she is anyway due to her age). The vet was stumped. He said that to have paralysis like she did could really only be spinal cord, but to recover like she did was just..... impossible !

She had no obvious pain in her legs or back (and believe me, he gave her a good going over), some slight tension in her stomach (but she has a dodgy tum at the best of times), and a bit of a temperature. She's on anti-inflammatories and antibiotics, and I'm keeping a close eye on her, although now it's like it never happened, and she's bouncing around the house like a puppy (not bad for a 10yr old large breed).

The vet has ruled out anything food related being the cause, and a pinched nerve wouldn't have paralysed her to the extent she was. It could be a tumour on her spine and a CAT-scan might show up something, but at $1500 even he said it's no point doing it for what might be a one-off, but I'd need to think about it if it happened again.

Just wondering if anyone had anything similar happen with a dog? Did you work out the cause?

[julesluvscavs]

We did experience a similar thing mid last year with Renae. It was bizarre and frightening to watch! I was panicking and we rang the vets (it was the weekend) as we thought maybe she had been bitten by a snake or spider ! They didn't seem overly concerned grrrr after asking us a few questions about it. Said to bring her in in about a hours time if she still couldn't move properly..

I have a friend who does osteolign on people and she said she would come out and take a look.. She did and worked on Renae, said her spine/hip felt bit out of wack and within 10 mins she released Renae and it was like nothing had happened to her !! I had previously put a warm wheat bag on her while waiting for my friend to come around.

Its never happened since thank god !! It was like she had a really bad pinch nerve.. her back end just went all floppy and she kept collapsing ! It was like she was having a mini stroke..

It has never happened again since *touch wood* and hopefully she wont have it happen again. Very very scary stuff!

Hope its nothing too serious with your Tess !! x

Edited February 5, 2013 by Jules❤3Cavs

[Rosetta]

I have had the exact same trouble with my poodle on a few occasions. He is only 3. Same situation - vets did not really have any idea why he lost use of his back end. It lasts for about 15 minutes and then he comes good. I have opted not to investigate unless it worsens as the vets don't know where to start any way.

[Salukifan]

Poodles can suffer from Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD). Pressure on a disc can do this. X-rays would probably be a starting point but I'd not be doing nothing.

I'd be getting each and every one of this dogs to a decent QUALIFIED chiropractor for regular adjustment. This can actually prevent recurrence of some spinal issues IMO.

If any of the affected dogs are overweight, I'd be put them on a strict weightloss routine and getting them fit. Lack of weight can help keep the pressure off the spine and muscle tone helps hold things in the right place.

I'd also be eliminating high stress activities like ball chasing.

I have been through IVDD with one of my poodles and 4 years on he's had very few issues. Active management of any health issue can mean a better and longer life for your dog.

Edited February 5, 2013 by Haredown Whippets

[Dogsfevr]

I have had 2 dogs with similar issue both pulled a small muscle under the tail .

Off to our Bowen lady ,fixed & quiet for a few days a never an issue after .

[Nic oh lah]

Had the same thing with my GSD Sophie - sore and miserable and then her legs were giving out - we were terrified and took her to the emergency vet (at 11pm on a Sunday Night) and agreed to having her shaved head to toe because we suspected a tick and good luck finding one in a gold double coat! No tick but it was worth the money and the stupid-looking dog because gave us peace of mind. In the end it turned out she had played too hard and managed to hurt her back between her torso and rump. Took her from the animal hospital the next morning to spend the day at the Vets on observation and after rest and anti-inflammatories for a week she was right as rain.

[ellz]

I had similar to this happen to my Stafford boy late last year. He was shown on the Saturday with no worries. Put him in the car and drove back to the show venue on the second day and he couldn't get up. After a short period of time, he was able to walk but was very twisted up and obviously not happy or comfortable.

Managed to get him an appointment with the Greyhound man and he was just fine and hasn't shown any other signs of a problem since.

Was scary though....I felt like crying when I saw my boy so obviously suffering.

[SwaY]

Spinal stroke, or fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE) ??

[Everythings Shiny]

Definitely sounds like FCE, we've had one here with my mothers dog. Some last seconds, others last months (as in our case)

In our case, our dog had a long recovery in a specialist hospital, a mylogram was the only way to actually prove the FCE but in your case your girl has recovered. I would just keep an eye on her and see what happens

Edited February 5, 2013 by Everythings Shiny

[poppop]

I had this on one of my dogs. And a friend had it on one of hers. They both had the same sudden onset as yours, and the same very quick (8-10 hours) recovery. The common element was that we had both used dog products containing tea tree oil. The other dog had it used on their back as an anti-flea thing, and had rear leg temporary paralysis, while our dog had it on her rear feet, and had rear leg paralysis. I would never use tea tree in even a tiny concentration (even though it's present in may dog shampoos) again. So if you have used TT oil then that may well account for what happened. If not then I have no idea, but am very glad your dog is now ok.

[bingo]

Vets must make a killing out of pinched nerves last time I was at one I overheard the receptionist advising a owner on how much and how often to give the meds for a back problem owner must have forgot or something, also overheard the owner being consulted by the vet before me on how often to give some med for a back problem and guess why I was there with my pooch........... and it's not the first time either. Must be something to do with the obesity epidemic or something. I'm lucky know because though well not lucky that my other dogs got a luxating patella but it does make it a hell of a lot easier to get NSAID's W/O a consultation. Aspirins another alternative though it needs to be buffered there are pet manufacturers buffering is also ideal for NSAID's too if at all possible.

[sheena]

I thought Asprin was a definate no, no with dogs

[Tassie]

AFAIK buffered aspirin is OK for dogs, but I'm pretty sure is a no no for cats.

Paracetamol (Panadol or Tylenol) is a definite no no for dogs ( liver toxicity).

But should always check with vet.

[bingo]

Yeah you'd have to get buffered or else they get highly concentrated stomach acid. I've never tried buffered aspirin before on my dogs but apparently it's as effective and when you consider the potential side effects NSAID's have it's really a no brainier.