Tag: IVDD

To Drag or Not to Drag: What’s the Best Option for Your Down IVDD Dog?

Posted on by inpawsuitrehab
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“Should my dog with IVDD be allowed to drag?”

I often get this exact questions from pet parents just like you. Your dog unfortunately had an episode of IVDD and is paralyzed in the back legs. You are scared and worried if he or she will ever walk again. Regardless of you choosing to manage your pup conservatively or undergo surgery, this blog article is for you!

You probably already know that your pup should be on crate rest for the next 8 weeks to allow for healing. When your pup is allowed out of the crate, he will likely try to drag himself around with his front legs. This seems good right? You want him to be moving and he likely enjoys the freedom! Should you allow your IVDD dog to drag?

In my experience, dogs that are allowed to drag, especially when they have no use of their hind legs, either take much longer to walk or don’t walk again. See, dogs adapt pretty darn quick to their situation. If they find out that they can get around by dragging, they will! And they can live a very happy life motoring around like this. However, if the ultimate goal is for your pup to walk again, and he has the potential to, it is best to not allow him to drag. If dogs learn that dragging is a reliable way to get around, it is unlikely for them to work harder to relearn to walk. “If you don’t use it, you lose it” is true in this situation and dogs that aren’t encouraged to use their hind legs to walk will likely lose the ability to do so.

After the initial 8 weeks of crate rest, if you dog is still unable to use his hind legs, some dogs will still regain the ability to walk over the next few months. If you pup has deep pain sensation, can control his bladder/bowels, and can wag his tail, it is likely for your pup to walk again. But, it’s very difficult to say when! That’s why I like to err on the side of caution with allowing dogs to drag. 

Now, if after the initial 8 weeks of crate rest, your pup has no deep pain, is unable to control his bladder/bowels, and has not show a tail wag, it is less likely for him to walk. This does not mean it is impossible, just less likely than the situation described above. If you are working with a qualified rehab professional, he or she will be able to give you better indicators of your specific dog’s probability of walking again. 

I have seen pups with no deep pain, no bladder control, and no tail wag walk again, however this can take up to a year with consistent rehab and acupuncture. Yes, that is a long time, and yes that can get very expensive. Are you a terrible pet parent if you are unable to provide these services for this amount of time? Absolutely not. Dogs can live very happy lives motoring around by dragging and in a wheelchair. It’s all about what you want for you pup and what you are able to do. Regardless, you can still provide your dog with the best life possible!

If you do allow your dog to drag, it is very important that you frequently check him all over for signs of hair loss, abrasion, scratches, redness or anything out of the norm, which can indicate that dragging is causing damage. Because your dog doesn’t have sensation, or very good sensation, he doesn’t know when something is hurting! So, it’s up to you to make sure that he is not accidentally injuring himself. Drag bags are a great option to help prevent this. Just like with a diaper, you will have to frequently check the drag bag and your pup to make sure he didn’t urinate or defecate in the bag and is clean, which helps to prevent urine scald and urinary tract infections (you can use the diaper with the drag bag). 

Wheelchairs/carts are great options for dogs that are unlikely to walk again because they can be safer suspended in the wheelchair and still enjoy walks with the family. More to come on WHEN is a good time to purchase a wheelchair in coming blogs.

Interested in finding out more about how you can help your dog with IVDD at home? 

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All About Hydrotherapy, Underwater Treadmill – IVDD Edition

Posted on by inpawsuitrehab
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Your dog has been diagnosed with IVDD. Maybe your pup underwent surgery or maybe you have chosen to conservatively manage this condition. Your vet or someone you know has recommended hydrotherapy, underwater treadmill to help your pet.

You have called around to a few places that have hydrotherapy and they want your to come in 2-3 times a week for 30mins. Maybe the commute to this clinic is up to 1 hour (or more)! Or maybe you don’t have one close by.

PLUS they don’t allow you to come back to observe the treatment (I mean who wouldn’t want to see that cuteness overload?!)

I’m sure you have many questions and concerns about this type of treatment: Why is it so expensive for such a short treatment? Why do I have to take my dog so often? It’s so far! Is this really going to help my dog? What am I going to be able to do at HOME to help my dog?

Does my dog REALLY need to do this treatment?

Is this the ONLY other treatment option for my pet?

When should I start this hydrotherapy, underwater treadmill?

You are reading this blog, so I know you treat your pet like a member of your family. And you want the absolute BEST for your pet. So this “fancy” piece of equipment MUST be the best option…Right?

I’ll help to clear a few of these questions up, but first I’ll explain what the underwater treadmill is.

Hydrotherapy, Underwater treadmill involves your pup walking on a treadmill that is inside a topless box. This box is then closed with your dog inside and sealed (again, the top is open). This way, water can be added to the tank at varying levels depending on the goal of the treatment. If your dog has a hard time walking, more water will be added to the tank to help place less pressure on your dog’s joints (the water helps to make your dog move easier in the water by making him lighter). If the goal is to strengthen your dog, less water will be added to create more difficulty for your dog to walk through the water (think walking through shin or knee height water). This is different than swimming and is much more controlled.

Hydrotherapy does provide some benefit including the ability to help your dog walk with less pressure on his legs/joints which aides in exercise for many different conditions. 

Underwater treadmill is good for pups with hind leg weakness from IVDD (intervertebral disc disease – back/neck problem in dogs), however if your dog is paralyzed, it is best for your dog to have SOME function of his back legs before starting this. If your pup has no function of his back legs, there is no reason sign him up for hydrotherapy. 

Think of it like this. When babies are learning to move around, they first learn to sit, crawl, then to stand up, then to walk while holding on to something, and THEN they start walking by themselves. If you start your pup immediately in the underwater treadmill, before they have any leg function, it is likely to maybe encourage spinal walking (reflexive walking). Which IS good because that means your pup can walk to some degree, however he is unlikely to go beyond and get better and to more “normal” walking. You have skipped all of the necessary developmental steps that he needs to take (sitting up, going from sitting to standing, and standing still on his own) to RELEARN how to walk. Following so far?

Hydrotherapy is a great tool once your dog is able to go between all of those transitions to improve his ability to walk. This “fancy” tool is absolutely not necessary to get your dog walking again. So, if you don’t have access to one or it’s just too far to travel, don’t fret. There are plenty of things that you can do at home to get your pup walking again (stay tuned for another blog post on this).

We don’t use hydrotherapy in most cases because we feel you and your dog’s time is better spent on land based exercises that you can perform at home (so eventually you don’t need to continue to have rehab). And, more importantly, we need to address the root cause of your pup’s problem FIRST before we can think about walking and/or building strength. In the case of IVDD, the problem is poor communication between the spinal cord and muscles.

After the root problem is addressed, we need to go through the developmental sequence to relearn how to sit, go from sit to stand, and stand independently. 

Unfortunately, hydrotherapy doesn’t address the communication between the muscles and spinal cord, and it doesn’t take your pet through the necessary developmental sequence he needs to get better. 

The other major problem with this device is that your pup will likely receive this treatment provided by a technician who may or may not be trained in canine rehabilitation. This means that your dog can be missing out on specialized and individualized treatment. Technicians often are not trained how to progress your pup or the techniques necessary to decrease pain or improve muscle/spinal cord communication. So, unfortunately, many dogs that come to me AFTER wasting valuable time (and money) because they were not appropriately progressed during the treatment. This ends up being very costly in terms of time and money. Not to mention that you want your dog better…FAST.

We also want pet parents to participate in the treatment. Our aim as rehab professionals is to give you all the tools and knowledge so that eventually you don’t need us! We teach pet parents exactly how to help your pet and the best way to do it so that we get your pet moving and back to normal as soon as possible.

The truth is, most dogs can recover faster WITHOUT the use of an underwater treadmill in their rehabilitation program. If you were trying to lose weight and you decided to eat healthy only 1-2 days out of the week, you are unlikely to lose weight! Dogs with IVDD benefit from frequent and short bouts of targeted exercises (that we teach you how to provide) that improve their mobility and get them moving easier.

As we pointed out, underwater treadmill does not address the root cause of the problem, which is the communication from the spinal cord to the muscles. Without improving this communication and connection FIRST, the underwater treadmill will do little to help your pup.

Some dogs do benefit from the hydrotherapy, underwater treadmill, however in my experience, it is not the best way to help dogs help dogs with IVDD.

I hope this blog post helped to answer some of your questions about hydrotherapy, underwater treadmill and help you better decide if it’s the right treatment for your pet.