Seth had his first session of hydrotherapy with a company called K9 Splashes (near Clacton),  the lady there was fantastic and you can tell she loves her job and the dogs.  He was fitted out in a life preserver and a rubber hat to protect his ears.   In total he was to swim for 5 minutes.  The lady got into the pool with him and held him up, the timer was started and there was about as much splashing as our sinchronised divers (sorry boys).  However he was swimming, and even better than that his back legs were moving, not dramatically but he was gently kicking them.  This was a great result.  After his initial panic (aparently you can tell if a dogs stressed by looking at its gums, pale and they are stressed), he settled down to 3 sessions within a total of 5 minutes.   It was more successful than we had imagined and we were told though that all our physio therapy was really helping him as he was gaining muscle back, which was nice to know.

That evening whilst taking him out he walked on his hind legs, only 5 steps or so and still very weak in his back but he walked..moving both right and left legs.  This was incredible as we had expected to only see signs of walking after maybe 6 months not 1 month. 

We cant get to excited about it but Seth seems to believe that he can walk/run anywhere and has to be watched very carefully in case he makes a bolt for the garden (which he did tonight and he was still to fast for me to catch even on his two legs).  He is confined to his cage now as he could really have hurt himself and set back all that has been acheived.

Each week shows signs of progress, but we dont expect things to continue at such great speed.

A good week.

Not written for a while as nothing had really improved.  However over the last few days there has been some movement in his back legs.  Small steps with his left leg and he tried to scratch his face today too.

He also took proper small steps when being supported.  This is the first signs of real independent movement.

Booked in for his first hydrotherapy session so this should provide some real strength back in his legs.

Not much change in Seth for the past few days.  He is recovering well from the infection and seems like his old self, eating and drinking well and very strong even on two legs when out for a walk.

Movement wise there is small nerve movements when pressing his toes.  It also seems like he is attempting to skip his legs when walking although this could be more to do with momentum when they swing but it seems he is puting his left foot down to push off even though he does not have the power to do so.

Hes peeing everywhere and is def like his old self as he is so nervy that he pees when given a ticking off (for peeing, which is a never ending circle )...

We are looking at hydrotherapy for him now to begin stregnthening his back legs.  He has put some weight on and seems that there is a small amount of muscle back on his rear and thighs.

Today was a good day.  Seth was eating and drinking and unfortunately peeing everywhere! but never mind.  We had to modify his sling (supports his spine when out for a walk) by cutting a hole in it for him to fit his peeeeeezle through and pee more freely.   (maybe we should patent it!). We also thought of a solution for his incontinence over night...stayups/pullup nappies..we will have to see if he will keep them on!.

On the movement side, he has on a couple of occasions stretched his leg out and held it, he is also supporting his weight to some extent although not sure whether its just because we have him balanced.  However there is definate reaction to washing him etc in his toes and legs.

a good day...keep going boyzee.

Its been a couple of days since my last entry.  We thought we had lost him on Thursday/Friday.  He had stopped eating and drinking and we couldnt get anything out of his bladder either.  Took him to the vet on Friday morning and they put in another few bags of fluid.  By the evening he was eating and drinking by himself.  They also removed his catheter as he seemed to really dislike it.  It may be that the catheter was blocked and going back into his kidneys thus making him feel really unwell. 

We got him back Saturday morning and once more he seems like his old self eating / drinking/and pull on his lead when taken for walks.

Now however its 2 hourly visits to the garden to try and get him peeing and getting back full control of his bladder.

It seems though, that he does have some element of control and can pee when outside.  So it will take time, and lots of baths!

As for other signs of movement well nothing really but thats not important today.  Tomorrow back to physio. 

That was his last chance we thought.  fingers crossed he can keep going from here.

We must have looked quite the sight in the field across from our house today.  Seth is excited about his 2 strolls around the park each day and whilst his back legs are doing nothing we were excited by him being able to poop.  Yup his first proper poop since the injury.  So why excited about that? well the fact he knew he needed to do it and laid it, although by the look on his face he wasnt too impressed by all the effort and the minor result.   But its another step towards some form of feeling plus normality. 

There was also slight (very) movement in his lower left leg and he has been able to push very slightly when doing his squat excercises.  Its amazing how he did manage to dupe us at first by taking two steps forward on his front legs thus pulling his rear up with the motion, so now I have to hold his front legs and make him push properly.

A good day today.

Seth was left at the vets for a night and a day on fluids and to receive IV antibiotics.  They also sent us home with various drugs (anti sickness, antibiotics etc) which we administered through a bung and injected into his kneck.  It was great to pick him up at the vets seeing him straining to get to us and looking so much better.  Obviously this was just for show for as soon as we got him home he was not looking that great.  It seems he likes to either turn it on a little for the attention or didnt feel that great really. 

Anyway he is definately on the mend infections wise it seems, as today we took him for a walk (my wife takes his lead and I support his rear with a sling) and for a little dog who has lost at least 2 kilos of weight and only has two good working legs he can pull some!...

His ears were up and looking for birds to chase (his favourite walks entertainment).  It also seems as though he is getting feeling back bowels wise with him positioning himself for a pee and also squating. Hopefully after another couple of weeks when the catheter is out he will feel more like it.

On the legs front his left leg is better than his right, and indeed can tense it to ridgidity but also flexed his toes two or three times during his massage.  The first improvement since we got him home.  The other is the fact he is now eating and drinking, so we are feeding him small and often rather than putting him off wih a massive meal in the evening.  This hopefully will encourage his hunger and put weight back on.

Its a step back today, certainly not a step forward.  Poor little guy has gone down hill quickly due to the infection.  Not eating, vomitting anything he drinks, not even his tail is wagging now. .  We had to take him into the vets and he has been kept in for a couple of days on IV antibiotics, and fluids.  Hopefully this will perk him up a bit and will make him want to eat, a little.

Fingers crossed this helps and gets him back on the mend.

update tomorrow

My dogs name is Seth. A black Spaniel.  Hes 4.

So why write a blog about my dog?    Well hes been in the hospital for 3 weeks after collapsing paralysed from the middle of his back, right down his back legs.   This is apparently a common problem with Spaniels (and Daschunds) where their spine or more specifically the cartiledge in between the vertibrae just crumbles.  This collapses/explodes/implodes or just plain moves, touches the spinal cord and Bingo! paralysed.  Last year same time, our other Spaniel was found paralysed, couldnt walk, back legs dragging..same thing as Seth.   She was operated on and has made a full recovery but unfortunately Seth is a different story.

The reason for this blog is to note any small improvements day by day in his movement.  Its going to be tough going for him, and the family.  The poor little guy has developed an ear infection and a UTI (caused by his cathater), added to that the lack of movement in his legs has meant his muscles have wasted away, so now its strict massage and physio 4 times a day with a pharmacy list of drugs to keep the infection down. 

As I mentioned we found him unable to walk and in quite a bit of pain, the surgeon (same one that operated on our other dog) was not sure exactly what was causing the problem as the symptoms were presenting differently on the MRI and the prognosis looked really bad.  However, with the help and care of the nurses hes made small improvements over the last 3 weeks, the first was watching his stub (tail) wag, not a frantic 100 mile hour wag as it used to be, but  a gentle tick...tock.  Then small movements in his left leg, and the ability to stand on his back legs for a few seconds.

With these tiny improvements and his whole demeanour on the up we were allowed to bring him home yesterday.   He was happy, wanted to go for a walk (or a drag!) and seemed great.  This morning it seems the infection has really taken hold and hes not looking great.  Wont eat, wont drink, wont walk.  So we just give him his therapy and he falls asleep.

Managed to get some antibiotics down his kneck but not sure they will do the trick.

Fingers crossed we see some improvement in his health tomorrow never mind his ability to walk 2 steps back 1 step forward....