Coonhound Paralysis in a Weimaraner '07

THREE YEARS & Counting - Tue, Jan 2011

2011-01-11T12:34:00.000-08:00

Stumbled across this blog today and am happy to report that Lexi is heading toward her 15th birthday!!!

She can no longer walk on her own but with help from her people and a rear-harness she can get around all she needs.

She seems happy, loves to chew nylabones and yell at the other dogs when they are naughty.

Her world revolves around her next cookie or meal.

Blessedly we have learned how to keep the pnuemonia at bay and maintain decent tummy health when using antibiotics.

We have all learned to make do with Lexi's limitations and with the help of family and friends made it through some personal crisis recently as well.

Thankfully most of our friends have stopped asking when we will 'put her down' and have come to accept our special needs case that keeps us from leaving the house longer than 5 consecutive hours. And Lexi has taught us more about compassion and kindness than anyone could imagine.

Hoping this post sees everyone well and prospering in the new year 2011!!!!

Sun Jan 25 2009 - POST ONE YEAR

2009-01-25T13:02:00.000-08:00

I think it has been 14 months since our girl Lexi became ill.

She has not fully recovered, but she is happy and mostly healthy.

She spends most of her day asleep (ok, that is the same!!!).

She only volunteers to stand up without assistance from us for food or select company.

However she has remained her same willful self: she knows exactly where she wants to be in the house and it's our job to decode her intent. Sometimes she wants to be on the ottoman, sometimes, the couch, but mostly she wants to go to bed!!! And she will bark and wiggle until one of us figures it out and helps her down the hallway. Sometimes if we are too dense or god-help-us too busy to get her started she will get up on her own and stagger back to the bedroom of her own accord. It's hyserical!!! Although we can't let her fall.

If she has to potty she usually barks until we help her out, although occassionally she just poops without warning or moving.

She barks when she's thirsty but we make her stand up to get water.

She loves to chew nylabones and "yell" at the other dogs. Yes, regained her voice about 4 months ago I think. Alas, we were hoping that wouldn't return ;-) And she loves to hear herself speak!!!

She loves cookie-time before bed most of all.

I would say that she holds 90% of her own body weight about 90% of the time.

Did I mention that she is very happy though?? She smiles and wags and yawns and "wallows" on her back and tries to nest, mostly only succeeding in ripping her bedding.

Life is weird, but good. Most of our friends don't understand why we do this, some of them have become downright annoyed with us for it LOL, but what can I say??? We love our Lexi madly. None of us would have it any other way.

Tuesday, Nov 25 2008

2008-11-25T23:38:00.000-08:00

Wow, tonight is the 1 year anniversary of Lexi's disease.

365 days ago we thought we were losing our girl; turned out we were gaining an invalid ;-)

This ordeal has taught us patience, perseverance, and love.

Lexi is thriving, standing on her own, walking outside, and even running every so often. All with our assistance and laughter. She is the sweetest girl ever and we hope to have another wonderful year with her, and another, and another.

Thanks to all that have supported us via email and posts and thoughts and prayers. Your kind wishes have been so very much appreciated.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all, puppy kisses to your pets, and hope that you can find a blessing in something unexpected.

Friday, Oct 24 2008 - Day 335

2008-10-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

Wow, almost a year has gone by since Lexi "went down".

As of today she in now standing UP and walking entirely on her own for breakfast and dinner, sometime to greet company, and has started to jump on the ottoman fully under her own power!!!

We just finished with bout #4 of pnuemonia, and pray that it was our last.

Overall Lexi seems very healthy and totally happy.

We will have to plan something special for the 1 year anniversary. Unbelievable.

Thursday, Aug 14, 2008

2008-08-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

We have had a rough 10 days: Lexi had a severe relapse of pneumonia last Monday.

The coughing began at 6:30pm and the first dose of Clavamox was given at 6:35pm. Within hours her temperature skyrocketed to 104 and her breathing worsened with wet attempts to clear her lungs.

By 10pm we were headed to the emergency room. Unfortunately VetCare in Dublin, CA is completely inept and apart from noting her fever of 104.6 they failed to triage or ultimately treat her. To reduce the immediate fever danger I applied cold compresses to her pulse points until her fever broke at 1am. By then though her breathing had increased to almost 60 breathes per minute and we once again sped to the emergency room, this time in Walnut Creek. Encino Emergency Vet treated her immediately.

Her right lung was completely obstructed. IV antibiotics were given and we were on our way home by 4am.

She is much better today, but headed back to the Vet tomorrow for x-rays to see if her lungs are clear. Send good thoughts her way, she is such a sweet girl and this has been so hard for her.

Wednesday, June 25 2008

2008-06-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

My how fast 214 days fly by ;-)

Lexi has made tremendous progress in the last 7 months. Thinking back to those first seemingly hopeless and overwhelming days, this seems like heaven.

Lexi stood up entirely on her own for the first time on Day 184, almost a month ago. She fell back down and waited for us to help her up and then trotted off with our assistance. Since then she makes the odd attempt here and there to stand on her own, mostly just scoobing around the floor at will.

She was able to stand up and take several steps this week, before falling. Poor girl hurt her leg but that seems better now. Unfortunately she is back on antibiotics due to developing pnuemonia - but we caught it very very early and she is doing fine again.

Day 136, Tuesday Apr 8

2008-04-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

Amazingly enough we have spent over four months toting around Lexi!

I am happy to report that she is still happy and otherwise healthy.

She is regaining tons of mobility too. She can manage to walk her front end all by herself, but the back end is still wobbly. She can't stand up on her own, but she can sure let us know where she wants to go! She pulls anxiously on the harnesses every time we help her up.

Her toe articulation is also greatly improved. For a long time her feet were 'flat', as if they had no muscle to them. Now they look properly formed.

She is constantly hungry, but that's not new ;-)

Day 96 - Thursday, February 2008

2008-02-28T13:00:00.001-08:00

Not much in the way of marked improvement, but Lexi remains strong.

Over the last month Lexi can stand for a longer period of time, some muscle tone has returned. She now actively "walks" with her front legs and is stronger in front than back. The biggest problem now is the swelling in her wrists from "kuckling under" when she stands or tries to walk. She is back on the Dexasome. However with the UTIs we pulled her out of hydro-therapy and are not returning. She pretty much decided to float when she was in the tank, so we were not seeing any benefit, but plenty of negative side-effects.

We hope to get her into acupuncture soon.

Day 96 - Thursday, February 2008

2008-02-28T13:00:00.000-08:00

Not much in the way of marked improvement, but Lexi remains strong.

She

Monday, January 28, 2008

2008-01-28T20:41:00.000-08:00

Lexi had her first UTI during this ordeal so she is out of hydro-therapy for a while. In fact, the hydro-therapy didn't seem to be a huge help. After the first session she made little improvement in the tank.

Most of her progress has been made at the food-dish, LOL. She actively pushes herself into a standing position to eat and drink. Although the moment the food is gone she lets herself collapse.

The front feet remain problematic: she makes little effort to more her legs and her toes are clearly not "feeling" the ground. The toes look slack, not well-arched, even when she is bearing full weight on her front legs.

We are adding short sessions of moving her front legs for her while we assist in holding her. This is how we got her back legs and feet to move and seems to be helping get her mind engaged with her front legs/feet.

Progress is slow and hard to measure as pass into Week 9 of this ordeal.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

2008-01-09T15:42:00.000-08:00

Lexi started the hard-work portion of her rehab today. She was put in the treadmill hydrotank today for some muscle building activity.

She did wonderfully!!

At day 32 she was able to support a small bit of her weight on the front/back legs in turn. By day 39 she was able to stand without the ball to eat, with support. She was also able to squat pee in her harnesses!

By Day 44 she was actively and quickly army-crawling at will.

We are soooo proud of her!!!

Saturday, Dec 22 '07

2007-12-22T09:40:00.000-08:00

So today is the four week mark :-(

But Ms Lexi has shown incredible progress in the last couple of days. We left her alone for two hours and when we came home she have travelled over 7 feet from her bed, some over hard wood wood, mostly over carpet. This morning we saw how she did it when she crawled from her bed to the living room: she 'swims' her feet in the air and worms her way along, then she sits up and pulls herself along a bit, then more worming. She even tried to stand a time or two, which makes me want to cry. All I want for Christmas is for my Lexi to walk.

Thursday, Dec 13 2007

2007-12-13T19:25:00.000-08:00

We finally arrived at Therapy Day!!

We saw Dr Troy at the Canine Rehab center and were thrilled to have new hope for our girl. Lexi has new exercises:

rolling over the way a dog physiologically should move
a big therapy ball (like an ab ball at the gym, KWIM?) to help teach her how to bear her weight again
a set of lift devices for the front and rear ends to help get her mobile again

We are thrilled that we have tools and techniques at our disposal to help Lexi walk again.

Wednesday, Dec 12 2007

2007-12-12T17:55:00.000-08:00

Day 18 and I can't remember life any other way.

Poor Lexi still can't stand, and progress is slimmer each day. She does sit up constantly, but no attempts to walk. She "swims" when she is wheeled out to potty, mostly with all four feet. She can hold her bladder for a lot longer now though.

I am wondering if we should up her dose on the dexasone again. Everything I have read says steroids are contraindicated, but since no one seems to know anything concrete about this disease, it's all a guessing game.

We go to Physical Therapy tomorrow for an eval and we are hoping she responds well.

I wouldn't wish this on my very worst enemy :-(

Friday, Dec 7, 2007

2007-12-07T20:58:00.000-08:00

Last night, at 2am, Miss Lexi-liscious sat up on her bed, all alone, for no reason, and just stared at us.

So far we have been baiting her with food to sit sternally but last night she decided she was tired of laying down.

We also decreased her dose of Dexasone from 1 pill/day to 1/2 pill so hopefully the endless pottying will get better.

I can hope, right?? ;-)

Wednesday, Dec 5 2007

2007-12-05T16:50:00.000-08:00

This blog feels like the only way I mark time anymore.

We are on Day 11 of full-time nursing care. Our backs and necks and knees are trashed, every towel in the house has been washed a million times and Ms Lexi never ever stops barking.

We have the I need water bark,
the where the heck is my food bark,
the I HAVE TO PEE NOW bark,
the uh-oh here comes a poop bark,
and my favorite, the where did you GOOOOOOO bark when we dare leave her side

Life is very strange in this house.

But Lexi is doing better.

Today she sat up all on her, without prompting of a treat or any encouragement. She fell right back over, but babysteps are good.

We are no stressing over Physical Therapy. Since she is regaining so much movement in her limbs and torso (aided in part I am sure by all the BARKING!!!!) we want to keep her as mobile as possible. Her muscle seem a little less thin, although she is so boney now.

Her vet recommended starting therapy in January, but I think we'll err on the side of sooner rather than later. We have an appointment next Thursday with a rehab center. They have a hydro-tank where they let the dog walk on a treadmill underwater, plus ball therapy and other stimulation. I can't wait!!!

Monday, Dec 3 2007

2007-12-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

Lexi continues to progress a little bit each day.

She is able to sit herself up sternally and hold it for a few minutes. The intensity of kicks is increasing and she is gaining mobility and flexibility in those previously stiff front feet.

Our other dogs must think we are crazy for being leaders and catering to ever whim of the weakest member, LOL.

I am getting anxious to get Lexi into PT so she can start really regaining strength under the care of people that know what they are doing. I feel so inadequate to care for her sometimes. DH is doing a fabulous job.

Sadly, she has lost over 5 lbs since she was taken to the ER 9 days ago.

But we try and focus on the positive: she gets better every day and we hope to have our sweet girl bouncing around again soon.

Sunday, Dec 2 2007

2007-12-02T12:11:00.000-08:00

Last night my folks came to visit our invalid, LOL. She was so excited to see them! They brough gourmet puppy cookies and we were able to use one to lure her into a sternal position, all on her own power. She was able to hold herself up for maybe 3 minutes, but it was so good to see her prop herself up.

Her front legs seem less mobile than the rear legs. When we take her out on the cart to potty, after she faux-squats and pees, she kicks her rear legs out, just like she was 'marking' the lawn like she used to do. When she sits herself up sternally (which she can consistently now but it takes a huge amount of effort on her part) she gets leverage with the rear legs and neck/back muscles. Her front legs are used a little but not nearly as much as the hind quarters. I did see a front foot twitch several times, so they are coming along, just not too quickly.

In the meantime, we are on Day 7 and she has already lost 5 lbs. I am so sad to see her muscles wasting away.

There is a Dog Therapy center not too far from us. I look forward to taking her there to help rebuild her body when she is able to stand again.

Friday, Nov 30 2007

2007-11-30T10:19:00.000-08:00

Lexi made more progress!

Last night she was able to hunch her back and lift her leg and tail in an attempt to posture to pee. It's the cutest thing: we get her on her cart outside and she can go anytime, but she holds it until we wheel her to the grass, LOL.

This morning she had her first BM since Sunday (the first full day of paralysis). It was small but firm (thankfully!!). After her morning potty and water, we propped her up sternally and she was able to hold herself in that position for at least 15 minutes. She even tried to curl up into her favorite ball position by moving her nose toward her tail, even though the legs stayed in the same position.

I am sooo encouraged!!

Saturday, Nov 25 2007

2007-11-29T13:09:00.001-08:00

On Sat, 11/25/07 my 12 yr spayed female Weimaraner, Lexi was suddenly and inexplicably striken with paralysis. As we later learned by process of elimination, she has "Coonhound Paralysis" (disease, syndrome, aka acute idiopathic polyradiculoneuritis).

Lexi collapsed Saturday night after showing minimal weakness in her hind legs and no other symptoms. Within hours she was completely immobile with decreasing loss of pain reaction in her limbs. Tests at the ER were clear and signaled an otherwise healthy dog. We took her home, mystified.

Our regular vet eliminated all other options and came up with Coonhound Paralysis.

So this is what I know now:

Coonhound paralysis is also termed Idiopathic Polyradiculoneuritis, and is essentially a sdden onset inflammation of the nerves outside of the spinal cord and brain.

It is termed coonhound paralysis since the condition was first recognized in coonhounds. Some cases have a history of contact with raccoons, or perhaps raccoon saliva, but some do not have a clear history of exposure.

The source of this condition is still somewhat of a mystery, but current opinion favors this being an auto-immune condition. This means that the body recognizes itself as foreign, and mounts a reaction against itself; as it would to a bacteria or virus invader.

Prognosis for recovery is very good.

But what we don't know is *HOW LONG* she will be paralyzed.

There is so little information on this disease I was compelled to blog for the first time ever. If others are going through this, or have successfully nursed a dog with this condition, please let me know! hmwe46@yahoo.com

Thursday, Nov 29 2007

2007-11-29T13:09:00.000-08:00

Lexi is doing better day by day. Yesterday she lifted her leg twice on her own, wagged her tail, and stretched even!! We are hopeful in time she will make a full recovery.

The supportive care is hard on all of us. It is obviously the Lexi would like to go potty on her own. She tries very hard not to eliminate in her bed, and barks until we take her outside. DH made a cart for her so we transport her near the lawn on it, and she is able to go inside a bucket set into the cart. Clean up is easier this way. And she is even mimicking a "squat" while lying on her side! It isn't very effective, LOL, but it is so encouraging to see her posture and try to regain functionality.

Her barks are hysterical: she has no voice so they are 'silent barks' which also clearly frustrates her. She is born yapper!

At first her mouth was so dry that when she barked her jowls would stick in her canines and she was starting to wear raw spots. She was very stressed for the first few days. Now that she is settling down the barks are only used to signal us to give her water or take her for a potty.