A few weeks ago my boy was in the garden and as he ran out yelped rolled onto his back and could not move his back legs at all, after rushing him to the vets and after lots of xrays it was decided no evidence of disk damage and as he still had deep pain sensation was most likely nerve damage, he is on anti inflams and next week having a MRI, the left leg has slowly returned to normal but the right is still being dragged and he has very little use of it.
I accept its going to be a slow recovery but I'm more interested to know if anyone has had a similar experience and also has anyone used any alternative therapy's to any success, I shall be taking him to hydrotherapy but he is not allowed till minimum 5 weeks post trauma.

Boody, so sorry to hear of your news. Not quite the same but one ours suffered Paralysis from behind his shoulders after he was attacked on lead, it worked it's ways up his back over a couple of days. After the vet who prescribed anti inflammatories, the first person I contacted was his chiropractor. the vet was not pleased 'if he was my dog, I would not subject him to that'.

Ended up at the specialist, who diagnosed  a ruptured disc into his spinal column, due to circumstance at home it was decided to leave him there, his weight alone meant that I could not deal with him on my own, 7 weeks was discussed as the normal time for improvements.

Some days later he was found standing, should have stayed on but was discharged for bad behaviour (LOL), he bayed constantly when no one was around.  The specialist said that having been seen regularly by a chiropractor was probably a contributing factor that  he came home on four legs, he wasn't caged but kept quiet in an area boarded off in the kitchen, allowed out on lead to do his business & then back. I can't exactly remember the time before he was allowed again to be checked over by the chiropractor, probably about 5/6 weeks, hydrotherapy was discussed but Lucas has always been terrified of anything more than a puddle so we decided against it but otherwise he would have gone. We, he were very very lucky, how about acupuncture? Good luck to you both, let us know how your boy gets on? Boody are you on the I.O.W, or am I thinking of someone else?

Im in the Midlands :) I can't get my head round such a minor accident causing such a terrible injury.  He is at the willows tuesday for a mri, someone else mentioned acupuncture t me but I don't know of any around here. He is the last dog you would of expected for this s to happen to andjwas waitng on his last cc :( I feel so sad watching what was such a atheletic dog struggling to stand but im thankfull that at least he will haVe 3 good legs to get about on.

Im in the Midlands :-)

Ok, a little further north than I thought!

Could The Willows or your vet recommend an acupuncturist? Keep positive, the body has the most amazing resilience & ability to heal it just takes time & rest. I never thought that Lucas would be with us now especially after he suffered another whopper of a slipped disc last summer during a non strenuous amble with friends.

Fingers crossed & will be thinking of you both on Tuesday.

Perhaps someone on here knows of one closer to you, than this far south LOL!

3 years ago my cocker spaniel was running after a frisbee in the garden, and cried out. He was very weak on his back legs, but could stand. He had delayed reflexs on both back legs. We rushed back to my vet who gave us rimadyl and said if there was no improvement in 48 hours, we would need to see a specialist. We travelled to see an orthopedic vet surgeon who specialises in spinal surgery who examined Alfie and said there were 5 grades and my boy was a 2. Though to me it was more like a 10 as I was so worried. He explained that the jelly part of the disc had popped out and would need at least 4 weeks to be reabsorbed and repair itself. No jumping, three 5 minute walks a day for a month and we were to return 5 days later.  If there was no improvement, a myelogram was to be done and the disc removed. Thankfully Alfie recovered but it took 3 months before he was back to normal. He had another very minor one 5 months ago running out the door with my other dogs so after some training, he now sits and waits for a treat and doesn't run out like a mad thing!

And all frisbees and throwing anything is banned for all my dogs. I forgot to mention that the vet said it was going from standing still to a sudden burst of running that caused the injury.

Thanks Kate, he is on crate rest but I've had to take him out and keep him confined in a room as he got that distressed and bored he was in danger of doing more harm to himself.

Alfie was the same. He hated any time in the crate so was confined to the living room. I hope your boy improves.

> Thanks Kate, he is on crate rest but I've had to take him out and keep him confined in a room as he got that distressed and bored he was in danger of doing more harm to himself.

Would agree with you Boody, keep him quiet, settled & with you if posible - much better than being crated & distressed

Several months ago one of ours jumped out of the car on a walk, ran around one side of it and didn't come out the other side. When I went around to see where he went he was dragging his back end long the floor, completely paralysed.

Vets suspected a spinal tumor, it ended up being a spinal embolism which weeks of rest, lead walks and hydrotherapy have all but mended. You wouldn't know it had happened now.

It was the most frightening thing I have ever seen in one of the dogs, I really hope yours is as positive. This boy showed vast improvement within a week, followed by very slow progress. Good luck :)

I must say my first thought is FCE. Depending on where it occurs it can resolve really well, from being frighteningly acute, to pretty fully functional.  Horrible thing to happen. Do hope all goes well.

Hi everyone, he has had a acute non-compressive disk extrusion, there is no surgical treatment just conservative care. The injury to the spinal cord was fairly impressive for such a small knock and you could see a slice right through it :(

Really frightening for you, and that they can happen with such normal activity it seems.  Best of luck with him, I hope that you are already seeing improvement and with time he will make a complete recovery.