Friday 11 July 2014

Weeks 10 & 11 Spinal Walking

The last two weeks have not been very remarkable in any way.... just plodding on with our routines... 

We continue to have weekly acupuncture sessions, Dr. Neil Barnsley at the Animal Holistic Therapies was really pleased with Pennys progress last week.... I did not put her in the pram, but let her walk (stagger) in on her own two legs....  he even took a video of her walking.  He said when her legs get a bit stronger, he can start doing some treatments to help her bladder, which would be awesome.

I keep thinking her incontinence is coming to an end, because she is still trying to squat and sometimes a few drops come out, but I think it's just when her bladder is really full, she can not initiate a full stream on her own.  Expressing her bladder is easy, and if we do it 4 times a day, her bedding stays dry... otherwise when her bladder gets full it does leak out a little.... 

Poop, though is a different story... poop poop everywhere like a little trail of breadcumbs.... so now that she has a little more mobility, I have been letting her spend more time outside after expressing her, in hopes that she will poop outside, but it hardly ever seems to work... she always just goes on the floor when she comes in.  She also consistently poops when she barks.  So I thought, ok, maybe it's because I pick her up, and that makes her go.... so I started picking her up outside and walking her around, then put her back down on the grass..... nope, nothing.  As soon as I bring her in, yep, poop on the floor.  Thank goodness we have wood laminate floors  and her stools are firm.  (the downside is that the floors are slippery and she slides around on it.... still waiting for the booties I ordered to come in)  Anyway, there just not seem to be a way to predict when, or to help her to actually "go" outside..... One night, she did her usual, and I picked it up and cleaned the floor, but I still smelled dog poop... check our shoes, double check her bedding, check her feet and her bum... no  poop.... wheres the poop?  Put my hand in my hoodie pocket...yep... poop surprise!  Lovely.  

In week 11 we expanded her pen to a penthouse... 
Lady Penelopes new penthouse
We are hoping that the addition of the pee pad will encourage her to use it, should she feel the need.  

We were so encouraged Kane built ramps in and out of our doggy door, and out the back sliding door for Penny... she manages them in a noodly wobbly drunken stagger sort of way, and I don't feel confident leaving her unsupervised at the moment, but it is nice to see her able to make her own way when she wants.  



The hard news this week was from our physio... Pennys physio  said she was "spinal walking" (aka Spinal Locomotion) which I have learned means her back legs are automatically following her front legs in a sort of body memory way.... she still does not know where her feet are, and has adapted. Our physio thinks this *could* be the best Penny gets, as nearly 12 wks post op, most improvement is seen in the 1st 6-12 wks. Of course she did go onto say, she didn't want to be discouraging, but for us to be aware of the reality, and that Penny *may* get some more improvement over time, and no idea if her bladder/bowel control will come back at all....

We always knew Penny only had 50/50 chance of walking again, so we are not devastated or anything, just trying to get our heads around having a "special needs" pup... and worried about what the best next steps for us would be... there is some discussion here and on the IVDD support fb site as to whether or not we should get her wheels... I don't know if this will help or hinder her recovery... I have posted the question to the Dogerslist forum. 


.... We will continue with all the treatments- acupuncture, physio etc till we have exhausted all chance of further improvement of course... (even though it's costing us a bomb! LOL) 

Lifted from The Dodgerlist website:

"Animals have locomotor automatism, meaning that the basics of walking are hardwired into the spinal cord of domestic species. 
The brainstem adds the remaining ingredients for rudimentary, voluntary locomotor activity. The cerebellum adds smoothness while the cerebral cortex provides behavioral direction." The Neurologic Examination. R.M. Clemmons, DVM, PhDWhile a dog with severe spinal cord injury does not have deep pain sensation meaning their legs can no longer communicate with the brain, some figure out how to "walk" by using their rear limb reflexes. They learn to swing their legs into position underneath the body. The leg movements look jerky or motorized. The "walk" is in a straight line, as the brain is not involved to tell the legs to change direction to avoid falling."

Lifted from Handicapped pets.com blog:
"It is a spastic, motorized-looking movement of the back limbs of neurologically impaired dogs (and other animals) that propels them forward with an odd but effective gait. In crude layman's terms, the neurological signal bypasses the brain and it is a reflexive motion not dependent on the (damaged) neurological pathways to complete the process. From what I understand, this is an oversimplified explanation, but it conveys a rough idea of what occurs. ....(sic)  "


Also from The Dodgerlist website in the 'Ask section' Dr. Jared Galle, DVM Diplomate ACVIM (Neurology),:
"In my experience, dogs that do not regain deep pain perception (sensation) after 6 weeks rarely regain it.  Notice, I didn't say never!  These dogs often times will regain motor function and appear to "walk" once they get their legs under them.  When this occurs we call it SPINAL WALKING.  The "walking" is actually reflexes in the rear limbs being stimulated, which gives the appearance that the dog is walking.  These are involuntary movements and do not require the input from the brain to occur.  If you watch carefully, the front legs and back legs are not in sync with each other.  We do see paralyzed dachshunds that never regain deep pain perception but spinal walk several weeks or months after surgery.  These dogs live a great life!"
I was thinking that because I could see her actually "lifting" her back legs and stepping forward with them that she was recovering and that her nerves were "getting there"  Apparently I was wrong.  It does not mean that at all... 

She has adapted to her new normal...I think I may have had one day where I didn't actually cry.... I guess I'm adapting as well.