Paralyzed Dog

i know this is a pit board, but i was wondering if anyone has ever cared for a paralyzed bulldog... or ANY large breed dog for that matter?
Saturday, an hour before i got home, Kaydee someone managed to escape. my husband was gone for the evening. my mom was the only person home next door and she didnt noticed anything out of the norm. she was outside only an hour before i got home.. when i pulled into my drive i saw Kaydee sitting in the front yard panting and unable to move her hind legs and tail. she also had cuts inside her jowls. they line up perfectly with her teeth, as if she had bitten herself.

We've been to the vet and had Xrays taken and nothing showed up. the vet said mostly likely some kind of trauma, but her spinal cord was swollen.. though i dont remember if she said it was for sure or it MIGHT be.... it was a late night for everyone. we have pills to give her that will hopefully reduce the swelling. we were told to wait at least 3 to five days for any kind of sign of improvement.

of all the research of done on this breed, and other bully breeds, i've never heard of this being a potential problem. the vet mentioned the possibility of a herniated disk. she also didnt discount the possibility of a seizure, which would explain the cuts inside her mouth....


like i said, my mom was home and didnt hear anything like a car hitting a dog, dogs yelping, or any other abnormal things..... Kaydee has never escaped when no one was home. and when she gets out its usually just to be with us. she isnt a car chaser.... the neighbours across the street werent home.. but i dont know about the others down the road. they arent very nice people when it comes to animals.. infact our cat was shot this past week and had to be put to sleep. so we're concerned someone hit her on purpose with either a car or a bat... she isnt an unfriendly dog, and like i said, she's content to be in her own yard.....

anyway, everyone is stunned and confused.....
i JUST bought an invisiable fence friday. it came in the mail yesterday.... a couple days too late for it do any good for Kaydee or my dead cat.... infact i even bought a collar just for our remaining cat to make sure he wouldnt give the neighbour's an excuse......
i honestly dont understand people.... if our pets were causing problems then why not come tell us? we would have put BOTH cats in the house if they were bothing garbage cans or harassing other cats....
i can understand accidently hitting a dog with a car, but everyone out here knows where she belongs. there's only four people on this road.... they have been the same people living here since the early 60's, and they have known my grandmother for that long.. they USED to be friendly....... i just dont understand.

Just one question, just to clear my mind, and answer everyone else's questions. Why wasn't the dog on a chain, or leash or something when it was outside?

I had this happen to me my min pin escaped out the door and my neighbor shot her, paralysing both her legs in the back, and causing severe spinal injury, I had her put down, I WILL NOT let my dogs live in agony or pain, and I will NOT allow them to live their lives like that if they don't have to. I may not be god, but I also wouldn't want to live like that myself.

Wow that sucks I have dealt with a spinal problem. One of the pups sola delivered she accidentally stepped on, he was fine that day jumped right back up but then the next am he was just laying limp bottom half not moving. i went to pick him up and he bit the heck out of me. So i rushed him to the vet they did xrays found nothing gave him a steroid shot and i was suppose to bring him back the next am for anohter but he died at like 2am. He got worse with that shot instead of better. It was actually my mom's litter and she cried and cried! I also know of a person with a different breed who had spinal problems wiht their dog and took them in to a chiropractor (sp) and it got the dog back right but the vet told me on my pup that there may have been fluid on the spine and when that's the case death is the only possibility. I had to sound so negative that was just my experience.

well Kaydee was on one of those thick tie out cables. we dont like to tie her outside because someone is usually, if not always, home. My husband was going to leave her inside the house when he left that evening but when he was taking a shower she decided to be a bad girl and chew up a few things.
...it happens, i know, but she does not normally chew or destroy the house. a few days before she scattered the garbage into the dining room then peed in there while i made a quick trip to the bank.... i didnt know it but the guests we had for dinner the night before had put food in the can, which is something we dont do just because it DOES tempt the dog to misbehave.
Our dogs are normally well behaved... but i dont blame my husband for putting her outside on the cable when he left because he spent all day Saturday reparing doors after our six month old puppy destroyed them....

the friday before she got hurt, when she was playing with the other dogs, i noticed her collar was getting too tight. i could hardly fit one finger under it, let alone two.... so i loosened it a notch. so the only obvious conclusion is she slipped out of it, but i dont know why. she's worn loose collars before and has never tried to slip free, whether she was on a cable or a leash. infact, Kaydee has always been more inclined to break chains or cables, or cheap collars... but she's never slipped one. I hate seeing my dogs chained up, especially since they arent used to it. the place we just moved from had a good strong fence, but where we live now, there is no fence... only neighbour's with guns. which is why i paid so much for the in ground fence for our property.


as you said, i believe in "Quality" of life.... she's a big strong dog, very active and not used to be held down. even being crippled she still tries to be her normal "guard dog" self. When someone shows up she sits up and barks at them. they dont know she's hurt. they still see a bulldog on our porch barking at them. but i am worried about the next step in this whole ordeal..... its a case of "everything looks fine but something is wrong, but what is it?" The vet said she could go one direction or the other.. IF she recovers then it could possibly be months before she will ever walk.
So.... do we take a chance on that? i want to at least see her try to walk again.. but if the prognosis takes a turn for the worst then i know what we have to do.. its already heart breaking to see her in the state she is in right now. Its day five of the medications, so we'll be going back to the vet very soon and find out if there is good news or bad news.

The irony of all of this is someone mentioned in my thread about the pit bull on the side of the road that maybe the puppy slipped out of his collar and he may have had a good home with people that cared...
And now here i am with a dog that has slipped out of her collar and gotten hurt.... the problem is this is a dead end road with very limited traffic, everyone knows who she belongs to.. regardless of their opinions on her, they know which house she is supposed to be in. i've known these people out here all my life. Which is also why i find it hard to believe she was hit by a car. these are the kind of people that would want to avoid trouble by "finishing off" the injured animal and getting rid of it, not just letting it drag itself out of the road and back home. That and she's a stark white dog.... one would think that either dirt, or the black residue from a car's bumper would have showed up somewhere. this dog cant even lie down in the grass without getting green grass stains on her hips and elbows.
so yeah.... i'm lost... totally confused and worried.

Was she possible hit by a car?

I've delt with a few spinale injuries before. One was nothing more than just draining the fliud out of the spine, and the others where from a roff colapsing and had to be put down.

How is she feeling now? Is she able to walk any?

3P Kennels wrote:

Was she possible hit by a car?

I've delt with a few spinale injuries before. One was nothing more than just draining the fliud out of the spine, and the others where from a roff colapsing and had to be put down.

How is she feeling now? Is she able to walk any?

the vet couldnt say exactly what caused the problem. she said possible hit by car, OR herniated disk.
the progress comes and goes. so far she has wagged her tail twice, but only like... two thumps. moved one of her legs slightly when i pinched her toe.. hasnt done that since.
i borrowed my cousins large dog crate to make !!!!! sure to keep her in one spot. if its a herniated disk then it may heal but she has to stop dragging herself around. i had to get onto my husband about pitying her too much. originally we had her in our bath tub but she would slip around inside too much, even with a blanket. we put her out of the tub on the floor on her blanket and as soon as we left she would drag herself through the house.... he felt bad for her.... he isnt good at tough love.
We're going to try to crate for two weeks and see what progress comes of it. Then of course its back to the vet with her.
i'm not ready to give up on her just yet. but i'm still worried....

I'm glad your not giving up on her.
I sure hope she gets better, make sure to keep us updated on her progress!

Give her BIG hugs and a kiss on the head for me

well i got some good news today, not about her progress but possible solutions to help her.
one of my cousins recommended a particular vet that practices eastern medicine... in other words, acupuncture, and its actually cheaper and said to be more effective than pills. they also do a payment plan and will work with people on stuff like this.
i havent talked to them myself. she called them on a whim while thinking about me and the dog, and asked all these questions and relayed answers for me.... i dont know much about that kinda stuff, but hey, i'm ready to try anything if it will get her back on her feet. even if they give me a second opinion from the other vet, which i believe in, i have to know something. the other place didnt offer a payment plan, just some kind of credit card type payment system with high interest rates..... which is counter productive...

anyway, if all goes well this week i'm making her an appointment with this new vet. hopefully i'll get some good news!

Wow!!! That is rough!!!! Sorry to hear that!!!!!
I would say that she got hit by a car??? Unless you saw, you might never know!!