My dog had disc paralysis, now incontinent. What should I do?

Unfortunately urinary and bowel incontinence from spinal damage is often permanent. Switching to a high fiber/low residue prescription diet such as Royal Canin Gastrointestinal Fiber Response may help reduce the amount of stool that is produced. Odie looks very sweet. I wish you the best.

My practice does rehab for animals like yours that are recovering from paralysis. I find doing laser like you are doing in the photo helps, also acupuncture. For my acupuncture treatments I start with three treatments several days to a week apart then every 2-4 weeks. This can help the nerves start functioning again. The incontinence may improve with time also, I generally continue to see improvement over the first 4-6 months after the paralysis. Make sure you are fully expressing his bladder and repeating a course of antibiotics to cure a low grade urinary infection may help also. To manage the fecal incontinence you can learn to stimulate him to poop twice daily which helps control accidents in the house. Check Dodger's List for other ideas on how to manage him. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you get answers to your veterinary questions.

It sounds like your dog may have meningitis or encephalitis or had a brain bleed. You will have to express his bladder twice a day to get the urine out and hopefully his anal ring muscles are relaxed so the intestines are pushing out feces. He will need to drink water to keep from dehydrating and hopefully he eats his food. The fact that his right side is paralyzed is a sign that the left side of the brain is where this initially started. It will take a few days for improvement to be obvious. You should consult with your veterinarian again tomorrow, because of the inability to urinate and defecate. This will complicate matters. Here is a video on how to express a urinary bladder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAaLdeJCIkw

If she is in pain despite medication, unable to mobilise and also incontinent then yes, euthanasia should definitely be considered to prevent further pain and discomfort (such as infected bed sores etc). The cold limb is also a red flag for reduced circulation such as from a clot and is extremely painful in itself. Recovery is very unlikely and delays would add further suffering and pain

This is an emergency situation as Cooper needs to urinate and empty the bladder as soon as possible, otherwise it will get over-distended and become flaccid permanently. An immediate check up at your local veterinarian is absolutely needed as soon as possible. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Hi there and thank you for your post! In regards to Paco, fecal incontinence cannot be treated per se due to aging. IF there is a primary problem that is causing it such as intestinal parasites or diarrhea, than that can certainly be treated. Due to age, however, it is difficult to stop this. You can try omega 3 fish oil and melatonin to help with cognition and maybe help with the fecal incontinence but this will likely not help much with the defecation. Most of the time, I have clients buying disposable diapers to managing the condition that way.

Hello again. As I mentioned before Hannu needs rest. This means in a cage where he cannot move around much. You will need to express his bladder about 4-6 times per day. I hope the vet gave you medicine, so continue to give that as prescribed. If he improves it will take weeks to months to get better. His best chance for quicker recovery is surgery. If you have more questions a consult with us would be best. Good luck and kisses to Hannu!