[Dailydrool] down in the back issues

Sun Nov 15 19:06:08 PST 2009

First- healing drool to Molly Moo's family. We hope knowing that she is free of pain eases the pain in your heart. And Elvis is in overproduction slinging healing drool to Bob. Hope you get to come home soon- on all fours!

I am no expert in basset back issues- but the last 16 months have sure taught me lots! For those who don't know- Elvis (he was my mom's at the time) went down in the back one morning while I was basset-sitting him. No warning- just suddenly couldn't get up and was in pain. A few days at the vets and they advised my mom to put him down. There was no hope as he had almost no reflexes in one leg and none in the other. They diagnosed spondylosis and did not suggest surgery for three days. Since then we have learned that surgery must happen ASAP if it is going to help. He had had problems a couple of times before- but was 'cured' with crate rest and prednisone.

Many droolers said there was hope- so I brought him home to stay. At first all the meds and pain kept him from eating. I thought he would starve to death. Weened him off the morphine, got him on some muscle relaxers - his back half was tight as a drum- though he had no feeling from about an inch above the tail. Just as I was ready to force feed him ( was only to do that for three days to try to 'jump start' his appetite) we had chicken Teriyaki for dinner and he wanted some! He only had a spoonful or so- but that was the beginning. For the next couple of months he was crated or x-penned into a small area. He could not move around much at all. Belly bands helped with the pee. All those meds etc did not help with the poop. It was many weeks before he had a solid poop- and let me tell you I was so excited about that! You just don't appreciate a good firm turd until you have a hound who can't move or go out. I also weened him off the pred- which the vet had wanted him to stay on for the rest of his life. With the help of a dear friend I learned what homeopathic and non-steroid meds I could give him to help. He takes several supplements daily now. Very slowly he began to improve. Reflexes came back in one foot- the weeks later in the other. He learned to drag himself around with his front legs. Fast forward to now- he can move his legs and his tail. He can stand up sometimes and has even wobbled a few steps on his own. He can feel his legs and back when you touch them. He can race like the wind when he is 'after something'... sort of a drag/hop thing. It's like everything works- but the wiring is loose. If I hold his tail he can walk. He just can't hold his own balance.

My whole reason for writing this- is that if you are ever faced with this situation, there is hope. Of course there is no guarantee- but there is hope. It was a lot of work... and heartbreaking at the time as I didn't know if I was prolonging his life or his suffering. For us it worked out. He is happy and not in pain. It bothers people more than it does him that he can't walk. He is going to start some new injections that may even allow him to once again walk. We will see. If he does or not though- he is happy as anyone who has seen him will attest to. 

However it was not easy. It can be frustrating. You do more laundry than is imaginable. A poop-free day is celebrated ( and then worried about). I am not sure I could do it all over again. It is a tough choice to be faced with and only yourself can decide what to do. 

Store this away in your memory in case you are ever in this situation- and feel free to contact me if I can help in any way.

droolies, Angelika and Elvis

_________________________________________________________________
Windows 7: I wanted simpler, now it's simpler. I'm a rock star.
http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/windows-7/default.aspx?h=myidea?ocid=PID24727::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WWL_WIN_myidea:112009
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.dailydrool.org/pipermail/dailydrool-dailydrool.org/attachments/20091115/3f4eaaca/attachment-0002.htm>