Tucker the Mini Dachshund
My five and a half year old miniature dachshund, Tucker, is a very active and energetic dog. It is practically impossible to stop him from jumping off and on things. He is constantly running around and wrestling my other animals. In early September, I noticed that he was acting differently. He would not attempt to jump on the couch, and was less active than normal. One day he was lying next to the sliding glass door and one of my cats went and laid down next to him. That was when I knew something was wrong.
The Impact of Dachshund Sudden Paralysis
I took him to the vet the following Monday. When at the vet they did not see any issues. He had mobility and feeling in all limbs. However, because of the spine issues with this breed, they provided muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories and pain killers. By Wednesday of that week he was extremely wobbly and would fall over when lifting his leg to pee. The vet said there wasn’t much I could do other than keep him
confined to a crate and hope for the best.
By Friday of that week, he had no feeling or movement in his lower limbs. He had lost all control of his bowels and bladder. I was doing laundry 2-3 times a day and having to bathe him at least once a day. He hated being in the crate and was keeping me up all night crying. The vet said that without surgery (that I could not afford) there was a 20% chance that he would regain mobility and that I needed to start making the hard decisions.
A ‘happy boy, just with a disability’
He was the same happy boy, just with a disability. There was no question in my mind as to whether or not I was willing to work through all of the issues. I ordered his Walkin’ Wheels dog wheelchair after a few weeks of full paralysis. I wanted him to have as normal a life as possible as soon as I could. His first trip in his new wheel chair was a little hard. He had a hard time walking straight and ran out of energy very quickly.
But every time we go out for our walk he gets more used to the chair and his energy is coming back. While using the chair I noticed that he was slowly moving his back legs (that were in the stirrups) and at home he started attempting to stand on his own. He regained control of his bladder and bowels and is now used to sleeping in his crate with no issues.
Over the past few days he has begun standing on his own for short periods of time. When going for walks I still put him in his dog wheelchair, but I am now letting his back legs hang and he has started using them while walking/running and this is helping to rebuild the muscle that was lost while he was immobile. I am happy to say that he is part of that 20% of dogs that regain mobility!
Having the Walkin’ Wheels helped him become mobile again when he could not be on his own, and it is helping with his rehabilitation.
