Integrating a Dog Wheelchair Into Rehabilitation
In many canine paralysis cases, most of the care will be done at home. Your Veterinarian will help you to make a plan to properly care for your dog. Restricting your dog’s mobility through creating rest is common, especially in cases of spinal disease.
Follow your Veterinarian’s plan closely until your dog is fully recovered. Administer the full course of prescribed medications even if your dog appears to be fully recovered. If you have any questions, always call your Vet.
A paralyzed pet will have additional needs, luckily with a little assistance, they can go on to live a relatively normal life. Most importantly, your dog needs to be able to get exercise.
The first thing to pick up for your paralyzed dog would be a wheelchair! The rear wheelchair can help get your best friend up and mobile. They will be able to go out to the bathroom, go on walks, and play! The wheelchair can also prevent further injury, such as pressure sores and rubbing from dragging their weight.
Depending on if your dog is continent or not, doggie diapers may be helpful to keep your house free from urine and feces.
Finally, a lifting harness would be a great start to helping your paralyzed dog. A rear harness will help you get your dog up the stairs, into the car, outside for your dog to go to the bathroom, and around on short walks!
The key to caring for a paralyzed dog is ensuring you have all the right tools available. Paralyzed dogs require special care and support to heal and stay active. Whether the paralysis is temporary or permanent, many assistive devices are available to help make your life easier and get your dog moving again.
Symptoms of Leg Paralysis in Dogs
Symptoms of leg paralysis in dogs include:
Types
What Are the Types and Signs of Dog Paralysis?
Sudden paralysis in dogs is caused as communication between the brain and spinal cord has been disrupted. Occasiona0lly the dog won’t have the ability to move at all and have full paralysis, whereas other times your pup only may appear weak, or have a hard time moving.
Paralysis in dog symptoms may range from obvious indications to subtler ones, depending upon the trauma’s location.
If your pet was hit by an automobile or recently experienced another traumatic situation, the cause of your pet’s paralysis is obvious. But, periodically, symptoms might appear suddenly, out of nowhere. Identifying the canine paralysis cause will help your vet make the proper diagnosis and cover the best action plan to help your dog possibly regain mobility.
The main cause of dog paralysis is tick bites.
Specific tick species will inject a neurotoxin into your pet’s bloodstream as they bite. The toxin may trigger an abrupt neuron paralysis, which sometimes, might result in sudden paralysis. As this occurs, you must address the problem as fast as you can. If left neglected, the paralysis is going to spread and even can become deadly. Tick paralysis is more than often caused by several ticks, yet occasionally it just takes a single tick to trigger paralysis.
Common indications that your pet was bitten by a tick involve vomiting and a loss of coordination. Some canines even may experience changes in the quality and tone of their bark. The symptoms usually will start to appear 6 – 9 days after a tick attaches itself to your dog’s skin.
Thankfully, tick bite paralysis may easily be treated using medicine.
There are many conditions in canines that may leave them more predisposed to developing this condition.
Chief among them is IVDD (Intervertebral Disc Disease) (more on that in the next paragraph). IVDD mostly affects chondrodystrophic dog breeds, or canines that have abnormally short legs, such as Dachshunds. It’s a condition which occurs as the cushioning intervertebral discs in between the vertebrae of their spinal column become burst or ruptured into the spinal cord area. As this occurs, the discs press on nerves which run through their spinal cord, potentially causing paralysis.
How to Sling Walk a Paralyzed Dog
As a pet owner, paralysis is perhaps the scariest thing that can happen to your dog. A loss of mobility could mean the end for your furry friend, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. There is plenty you can do to care for your dog if he should suffer from partial or full paralysis.
There are different types of canine paralysis. Some cases can be sudden, while others can develop over time. Read below to learn what steps you can take if your dog ever suffers from paralysis as well as some preventative measures to ensure that your furry friend never has to experience this debilitating condition.