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Dog with stage V IVDD can't move back legs. Is recovery without surgery realistic?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 4 years old | 15 lbs

I have a four year old Jack-weenie mix, and two days ago she suddenly lost feeling in her back legs. She is being monitored at the vet now, with no signs of myolemacia. No deep pain in her rear legs either. The dr wants to keep watching her, because he ruled out surgery... I cannot stand to watch this draw out. Is recovery realistic with stage V IVDD, a type 3 vertebral concussion? Or would it be better to euthanize her humanely?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on October 21st, 2017

I'm so sorry Drew is going through this at the moment, and I'm sorry for you as well! This is a very hard situation. Unfortunately, the statistics with recovery are very poor with stage V IVDD. With medical and conservative treatment, the prognosis is less than 5% of recovery. With surgery, there is a 50% chance of recovery if the surgery is done less than 24 hours after symptoms appear, and less than 5% if it's done more than 48 hours after symptoms appear. As you can see, these numbers are quite poor, and if your vet has ruled out surgery, your only option is the medical treatment. I guess you need to weigh whether or not you want to see if Drew will be part of the less than 5% who can recover, but the fact that she doesn't have deep pain is not a good prognosis. You can have her monitored with the vet for another 24-48 hours, but if things still look poor after that time, euthanizing her may be the best option. Again, I'm so sorry you are going through this, and I hope my answer helps you somewhat.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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