My dog has a spinal injury. Can his back legs heal without surgery?

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!

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!

Once they have a disc issue, Dachshunds are more prone to future issues. I would recommend confinement again, and a quick vet checkup. Often pain medications and rest will help them heal. Veterinary acupuncture is also a great alternative therapy to increase speed of healing and hind end weakness or paralysis.

You need to rest Luther as must as possible. It can take six to eight weeks for him to fully heal. Do not let him roam around at all. The spinal cord recovers slowly and extra care must be taken not to allow running, jumping, stairs, playing with other dogs, or hopping on or off furniture. Keep him confined in a small room or crate, taking him out to potty, and putting him right back in when he's done. Physical therapy can be started right after surgery to help regain strength. Speak to his vet about physical therapy. Best of luck.

These signs are due to a spinal cord injury most likely due to intervertebral disk extrusion in the thoracolumbar tract. The presence of paresthesia (due to nervous system lesion) is causing tingling sensations on the penis and a sort of itch (that is why is persistently licking it). A buster collar would be essential to avoid excessive licking. Physiotherapy would be very useful to improve recovery, but sometimes only neurosurgery can give best outcome (as the disc material keep compressing spinal cord). Learn how to do it on this link http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/rehabilitating-canine-veterinary-patients-after-neurosurgery 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.

I am so sorry that this has happened to Tommy. Unfortunately I cannot not say for sure if there is any chance of recovery from just X-rays. An MRI or CT really needs to be done to get the best view of the spinal cord and his intervertebral disks. Also, you may want to see if there is a veterinary surgeon who is comfortable with back surgery as this could be an option for Tommy. If not, the only other suggestion would be high doses of steroids. None of these options are guaranteed to work but they might. I hope this helps and hope that Tommy is capable of healing. Hang in there and good luck.

Without seeing Browny or any diagnostic images that may have been obtained I really can't speak about the accuracy of your vet's diagnosis. There certainly are spinal issues that can result in an inability to ambulate well in the hind end. Some of these can be traumatic, infectious, or congenital in origin. If there is a spinal problem and you want to obtain a permanent fix, the best thing to do would be to speak with a specialist. Specialty facilities have the ability to perform advanced imaging such as MRIs and CT Scans to identify the exact spot where the spinal issue resides. In the event of a bony spinal issue (versus a disk issue), identifying the problem can be done with basic x-rays. Depending on what the problem is the treatment to fix it will vary considerably, from medical therapy and rest, to a surgical procedure with significant recovery time. Hope this helps.