My dog has paralyzed back legs. Can he still feel his bladder?

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

This is an emergency and you need to take your dog to a veterinarian or PetER now. There may be a spinal cord problem. neurological problem as well as a urinary tract problem. Please take Kikin to a vet now.

It does sound like a back injury. If he is getting worse (meaning he started out stumbling and then was dragging his limbs then stopped urinating), the best solution for him is surgery. Make sure you talk to the vet about medications and the biggest importance is REST! This means in a cage only- no walking, carry outside to potty and carry back in. Talk to the vet about how to express his bladder, too. Good luck and kisses to Hannu!

The problem with Camelia's back is likely affecting the nerves leading to his bladder and bowels, causing him to be incontinent. Depending on how bad this disc is, he may need surgery to fix this problem. I'd talk his vet about it.

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!

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.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Not being able to posture to urinate or wak is an issue. A dog should not go more than 18-24 hours without urinating as that can result in severe discomfort and even metabolic imbalances. This requires a visit to a veterinarian as soon as possible so that they can consider passing a urinary catheter and possibly recommending other pain control medications as it is not normal or expected to not be able to walk to urinate at this point. Have a good day!