Question:
I have a male black lab that is 2 years old and a few months ago my husband took him running and swimming. He unfortunatly ran straight into a heavy cable that was hanging across a field driveway and has not been the same ever since. After the accident he got very weak, incontinent, and we almost lost him but he came back around, the vet thought he contracted menengitus or some type of virus since he had a cut from the grasses. He has a permanent paralasys in his back left leg and no longer has control of his bowels. We control it by having him eat Science Diet Lamb & Rice but most recently he has lost 20 pounds and so the vet thinks his pancreas isn't working properly, he also has a major gas problem. The vet put him on Pana Kare Plus pills ( one pill at each meal) I feed him once in the morning and once at night ( only a cup 1/2) but now the bowels are loose again, he has no feeling to know it is leaking. The vet said to cut him back to 1 pill a day. I need to know if this doesn't work what if any thing else I can do. He used to sleep with my daughter and now with all this going on he isn't able to be in the house.

Answer:
You mean the poor fellow lives outside? I understand your problem, it must be a bit of a nightmare, but he deserves a warm place to sleep.
I don't have any suggestions for you, but have you thought about consulting another vet? Maybe there are options your current vet hasn't thought of.
How did he decide the dog's pancreas wasn't working? Did he do any tests?

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Yeah I agree, maybe a second opinion would be best. I also agree with Badger in that he really does deserve a warm place to sleep So sad when things like this happen to our pets

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If you have a Vet college near you, I would try and make an appointment with a specialist - most likely a neuro. First though, you have to allow your dog back inside. I know what you are dealing with - I have had 2 paralyzed dogs. You should perhaps look into diapers for your pup - and possibly "wheels" to help support his back end - many Dachshunds do very well with them. There is also a leash that you can by that is attached to dog's back end to provide support - much like a sling, but with considerably more control. Many people use such leashes with Bassetts. If you Google "Bottoms Up Leash" you should find it - along with several other home aids for aging and disabled pets. I hope that you can find help for your dog - but first, bring him inside. Iowa must be getting cold.

Answer:
First of all bring him inside! The poor fellow has been through so much and now to be banished outside . He is probably depressed which I am sure is greatly adding to his problems. Try the doggie diapers until you can get a handle of this issue. I would also recommend feeding a better food that has less fillers as that should help his gas situation. Check out the dog food forum here for some great suggestions. I also agree to get another vet's opinion but I would highly recommend you see if there is a dog chiropractor in your area. He probably did some damage to his neck or spine in the accident and a chiro could really help that situation. It greatly helped a friend of mine who's dog could hardly walk. For the same reason try doing massage and possible some heat packs for him. It is important to keep the muscles in his damaged leg viable and massage and gentle stretching would help with that.

Answer:
I know you are putting him outside due to the pooping but one of the problems will be the cold, he will have lack of bloodflow to the leg which means maintaining temperature to the leg will be a problem, which means he could lose the leg to frostbite plus the cold and dampness will cause increased pain. Is it not possible to maybe babygate him into the kitchen where cleaning would be easy? With his age being so young it would be a shame not to make some kind effort at rehab to see if his quality of life can be improved.

He have spinal misalightment caused from running into the cable which is pinching nerves that control the leg and bowels maybe even affecting the digestive track and chiropractic treatments may be able to help.
This website provides a list of Certified animal chiropractors world wide toward the bottom of the page
http://www.avcadoctors.com/

THere are physiotherapy clinics for dogs as well, On this site if you select some of the names of dogs say for example under truama, you will see dogs that have suffered even more damage than your dog who were left unable to walk at all or even support their weight some with fecal and urinary incontinence , with therapy and it states what therapy was used to treat the dog these dogs are walk and run and regained functioned of bladder and bowels Chiro is often used as part of the treatment chiros may often include/recommend passive exercises that you can do at home to help with the recovery
http://www.tops-vet-rehab.com/profil...racie"%20Boton
Results are often seen much faster in animals than with humans partly because they walk horizontally rather than vertically so less compression on the spine, I have taken one of my own dogs to and was really impressed at the results, I have used a chiro myself after an upper back and neck injury had left more than 65% of my spine very unstable it spared me a major surgery thats only function is to protect the spinal cord by screwing all the unstable segments of the spine to rods would have left me very disabled,with spinal movement in the lower third pf my spine it took 2 years of treatments 3 days a week plus a few sessions of physio and I am back working as an autoworker building cars and was able to keep my house and car

This place itself is in Chicago there could be something like this in Iowa

You want to add accupunture as part of the treatment to help manage pain and to help improve nerve function

http://www.aava.org/cgi-bin/datamana...trieve&default

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