There's hope. I'd hang onto that and give the dog as little reason for anxiety as possible under the circumstances, if you can.

Thinking of you......

Thank you Connie. We are keeping her quiet in her crate and keeping the other dogs away from her. We stay close and listen for her so she is out when she needs to go. I don't think there is much more we can do....but I'm open to ideas if anyone has any. I hate when I can't "fix" something...

Beth

 Quote: beth fuqua

I hate when I can't "fix" something...Beth

Oh Beth I do too...powerlessness is just that...I wish I could send an insta-cure for you or at least a suggestion. But I have none.

I know you are doing everything in your power to help your dog and now it's hurry up and wait.
Time does and can heal.

That's true, and X-ray usually will not show disc problems. Sometimes you can kind of see them, but they do not show up clear enough, and you don't have the 3-d slices of it to actually see what's going on.

An MRI or CT should show any problems. I don't know what they cost for dogs, but they are not cheap for humans. I need to have another one for my neck very soon.

Someone specializing in neurology is a huge plus, I'd do some searching for the best person to consult in your area including vet schools (in this neck of the woods I'd be in Pullman, WA at WSU). It is a good sign that some sensation is coming back although very likely swelling is causing it to diminish again.

When I was much much younger we had an incident involving a skull collision between the neighbor's gsd and our family's cocker spaniel which resulted both dogs being knocked unconsious. The GSD bit off part of her own tongue and our spaniel lost all sensation in her left hind leg and lost the use of sight in both eyes completely. We rushed her to the vet where she was put on anti inflamitories for swelling, steriods, and another drug that escapes my memory to combat the few seizures she had from the brain trauma. She did recover use of her hind leg with limited sensation in the toes but never did fully recover her eyesight and sees mainly shadows now.

One thing of note is please keep an eye on her for self mutilation of her desensitized areas. Phantom pain or streaks of pain can cause a dog to chew and not realize they're hurting themselves.

I agree with seeing a neurologist. I would think that the trauma to the brain and spine would account for her problems, I would suspect something up in her neck. A healthy body has the ability to heal over time. I don't know if all the steriods are a good thing which is why I would see a specialist ASAP.

I don't know if you believe in alternative therapies, but accupunture and homeopathy would definately help the body heal itself. I would also keep her as quiet as possible and totally support her weight. I would not encourage her to walk on her own at all at this point.

I hope she she makes a full recovery. I will keep you both in my thoughts!

Beth,

About 6 years ago, my GSD had spinal problems. Although we could not connect it with any particular incident, she has always been
very driven and has had some accidents. Her symptoms were not as severe as your girl. Mine had "knuckling" (when she was standing if you bent her toes under and placed her paw on the ground, she would not reposition her foot so the paw pad was on the ground),
"crouching"in the rear as she "walked", and urine leakage. We took her to the University of Davis (California) Veterinary School to see a neurosurgeon. She stayed 3 days for evaluation.
They did do a MRI. We were told it was the only way to be sure of the diagnosis (especially visualizing non-bony tissues). The
dog must be anesthetized for this procedure and there is some risk involved. It has been a long time but I believe a dye is injected into the spinal column. If they found anything, they would go directly to surgery without waking the dog. In fact, they pretty much said unless we were committed to following through with surgery if necessary, there was no point in doing the MRI. From the initial exam, they thought surgery would be required. We got lucky and the MRI showed no surgical remedy.
She required lengthy crate rest, medications, and some physical therapy.

I would HIGHLY recommend seeing a specialist as soon as possible!
It can be hard to get an appointment. We got in because of a cancellation. Also, this is expensive. We wrote a check for $4000
when we left her there. Since surgery was not required, they refunded about half but that was 6 years ago.

I am so sorry and I hope she recovers completely.

Thinking of you and your girl Beth. I too hate it when I can't fix something.

Beth, just wanted to say sorry to hear about the injury and I'm wishing for a full recovery for your girl...

i also just wanted to say you're in my thoughts. hope she does better soon.