Question:
Hi all,

I am from Singapore. Today my dog was hit on the back by a rubber shoe after knocking into the shoe rack when coming back from her walk. This has caused her to lose control over both her hind legs. (She was diagnose with slipped discs more than a year ago)

She has been panting for hours and having problem to sleep and rest. The vet says that the hind legs do not response when she examine them. She is hoping that it is just that the nerves are compressed by the inflammation at the spine where the slipped disc are. So if this is the case, she should regain control over her hind legs after the inflammation has subside.

If not, she will suggest my girl to go for MRI scan to see which part of the slipped disc affected the nerves most and have an operation to have it corrected. As my dog has got multiple slipped disc over her back and neck area so its impossible to operate to correct all the affected part as this will do more bad than good.

Its sad to admit that Singapore do not have any sophisticated Veterinary facilities that could provide better care for animals with special needs. I have brought my girl to the most reputable vet clinic available in Singapore and there isn't anything much they could do to relief my girl from the pain she is suffering now.

I have requested for an IV Catheter to inserted on her front leg so that I could inject concentrated Vit C into her twice daily at home to speed up the recovery. The vet agreed that it is one of the best option but it is going to be expensive ..... What the hack.... I am so worried of my girl and is willing to do almost anything to help her heal and the vet did not tell me that this is one of the best options till I ask for it myself.... I am really glad to have such a nice vet who cares for the pocket of her patient's guardian.....

May I ask if any other pet guardians here has a pet with the same problem? What else can I do to help my little girl? I heard swimming is good for her but with her current condition I doubt I can do that right now. Do any one has got as special remedy that will help the inflammation to subside faster? I have been giving my girl Homeopathy Remedy for spinal problem for past 1.5 years. it works for normal days but I guess the pain is too much this time.

I would really appreciate any recommendation anyone could give me now but too bad that I can't bring my girl over to your country for treatments unless any of the famous vets who is specialist in this area in your country do visit Singapore on a regular basis.

Thanks a lot.

Answer:
Typical a injection of prednisone is given in the effected area by the to help reduce the inflammation and provide some help with the pain, prednisone tablets may be sent home with the client to give orally afterward. This is usually the first stage of treatment here and then a waiting period to see how much recovery the dog will gain, MRI like you mentioned would be the next step, sometimes a dopt would be referred to a rehab center which would use treatments such as chiropractor. acupuncture, ultrasound treats and physio therapy exercises to regain back function, in some case surgery is needed in which they fuse the spine and often that is also followed rehab.

This link you may find helpful

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body...ed_animal.html

Answer:
Updates.

My girl has regain partial movement on both her hind legs. The accupuncturist is confident that she will be able to stand again after another 4 session of accupuncture. My girl is also starting on hydro therapy. I can't wait to see her standing and walking normally again.

Cheers!!!

Answer:
Good news about your girl, thanks for letting us know.
There are a few vets in North America now using acupuncture. My sister's cat had acupuncture treatment after he fell from a third floor balcony (using up one of his nine lives). He didn't break anything but got twisted out of shape. His motion was so much improved afterwards.
Tell me, in Shanghai, do they use acupuncture for illness (as opposed to injury), for example for stomach ailments or chronic infections?

Answer:
What breed is your dog? I am hoping not a Dachshund. If so I have been through full body surgery - back and neck with my first guy when surgery for the problem was new - and again - back only with my last little guy. Prior to my first guy having the surgery he had 3 "events" - just playing - resulting in paralysis requiring 2 week stays each time in hospital, major treatment with steroids and being moved to increasingly smaller cages as movement (thankfully) returned. When his neck discs calcified surgery was only solution and his back went again just before surgery - so EVERY! disc in neck and back was worked on - plus 4 bladder stones removed that were "adopted" with him. At 10 lbs. he looked like a giant bright blue barb wire fence - but lived to tell the tail. I hope your guy continues to improve, but if he is a Dachshund I am looking a surgery.

Answer:
Glad to hear she is doing better

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Glad to hear your dog is improving. Do hope she has a full recovery.

Answer:
Originally Posted by badger
Good news about your girl, thanks for letting us know.
There are a few vets in North America now using acupuncture. My sister's cat had acupuncture treatment after he fell from a third floor balcony (using up one of his nine lives). He didn't break anything but got twisted out of shape. His motion was so much improved afterwards.
Tell me, in Shanghai, do they use acupuncture for illness (as opposed to injury), for example for stomach ailments or chronic infections?

LOL, I am not from ShangHai. I am from Singapore. I have some leisure talk with this acupuncturist, he is trained in China as a Chinese Physician for humans and trained in Taiwan as a vet but using mainly chinese herbs, physiotherapy and acupuncture on animals.

I understand from him that treatment usually involved both oral in take of chinese herbs and acupuncture. Acupuncture is something that you can imagine to be tuning the body parts to obtain a balance in the "Yin" and "Yang" charges in the body.

Answer:
Originally Posted by SnowDancer
What breed is your dog? I am hoping not a Dachshund. If so I have been through full body surgery - back and neck with my first guy when surgery for the problem was new - and again - back only with my last little guy. Prior to my first guy having the surgery he had 3 "events" - just playing - resulting in paralysis requiring 2 week stays each time in hospital, major treatment with steroids and being moved to increasingly smaller cages as movement (thankfully) returned. When his neck discs calcified surgery was only solution and his back went again just before surgery - so EVERY! disc in neck and back was worked on - plus 4 bladder stones removed that were "adopted" with him. At 10 lbs. he looked like a giant bright blue barb wire fence - but lived to tell the tail. I hope your guy continues to improve, but if he is a Dachshund I am looking a surgery.

My girl is a Maltese. She has got weak bones. According to the vet it was caused by the in-breedings. She was diagnosed with loose joints in both her hind leg at age of 1 and her slipped disc problem came along about more that 2 years back. She has slipped discs in her back and also in the neck area, somewhere above the shoulder blades but from the x-ray, that part of the spine has an extra bones grown underneath which will help to strengthen it but will cause pain to my girl from time to time as the extra bones will affect the flexibility of the spine but having that removed might cause the spine to collapsed and she will be paralysed. On top of that my girl has got fatty liver and is prone to have liver expansion easily so I am skeptical of letting her going under GA. It always take her at least 1.5 days for her to come around.

Being equipped with the knowledge of her medical issues, I have been giving her load of supplements to help the joints and liver. She has been taking homeopathy remedy to reduce the pain for past 2 years so she has not been on pain killers at all, but its just unfortunate that she will be hit by an object like that.... sigh....

I have considered the option of an surgery when I first found out about her slipped disc but the vet advised against it as her spine has got multiple slipped disc, about 5 parts of bone narrowing in the 2 affected area. The vet says that they can't fixed all of it and going through operation also has a risk of damaging the nerves and caused permanent damage. In her current situation, vet also told me that I could try to let her go for an MRI scan and see which part of the slipped discs cause more pressure to the nerves and have them surgically removed but they can't fix the whole spine.

I spoke to the acupuncturist and he gave me case studies of his previous cases and said that acupuncture will help the muscles in the affected area to relax and the pressure on the nerves will be reduced. He was quite confident that my girl's condition is not as bad as some of his other patients. I have also spoken to a Daschund owner whose dog faces the same condition and has gone for the surgery and took 2 mths of acupuncture to see improvements. According to her, she said that the surgery has injured her dog's nerves more and thus needed longer time to recover. (Thanks lord that I am able to see so much improvement in my girl within just 2 weeks).

I have also asked him about the chances of a relapsed after my girl was cured this time. He says that so long as I continue with periodical hydro therapy and acupuncture treatment, her spine will be strengthened and chances for relapsed can be reduce. He also advise for my girl to slim down slightly, so far, I have managed to slim her down by only 0.2kg... lol... I still need to slim her down by at least another 0.3 kg for her to reach the target of 4.5kg, I will have some problem thou as she has became more greedy after the injury.

I am getting more confident that she will gain full access to her hind legs as she was able to stand on 3 legs for a few seconds this morning while trying to run to me when I approach her. I am still praying for more improvements.

Answer:
Thank for all the well wishing. I am trying to keep her as happy as I can. She still go for many walks everyday, except now that we are the one doing the walking and she will be sitting on her baby pram and looking at the happenings around...

I think is the effect of the flowers essences that I spray around her that has kept her calm and she is taking it quite well without showing any signs of depression.

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Picture of my girl taken a few days after she was injured.

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