My mini daschund has recently lost partial usage of his back legs. He is dragging them and the vet says he was almost paralyzed with a herniated disc that could be very bad without extreme crating and anti-inflammatories.

I am a male police officer of 8 years and have seen scores horrific things but this has broken me down mentally; its the most traumatic thing I've ever been through. He is my best friend and it destroys me to see him in this condition. He is normally such a fun-loving fireball (which probably led him to this trouble).

My question is: the vet says it is a good sign that he wags his tail and still has sensation in his legs. Does anyone know the prognosis of this condition if he is meticulously crated, expressed, and medicated? I don't know what I'll do without my little man...

That really sucks, sorry to hear. It is a good sign to see movement in those areas for sure. Back problems are common in Dach's. Go with the meds and rest, its worth it.
In the future, keep the weight right down and set up his environment so he does not have to do any jumping up on stuff.
Keep him well exercised (when hes better) if his muscles are strong, they will do most of the work instead of his back.
MAybe the Vet could give you meds to chill the little guy out so healing is faster

Thank you so much...your comments really help me and Lou. This is such a hard thing to go thru...

Did the Vet offer surgery?

He said he wanted to try the medicine/extreme rest and crating first before surgery. I stopped home a couple times on patrol today and Lou stood up in his cage to greet me, back legs and all! He was wagging his tail very strongly too. I am so hopeful with this improvement but I know its going to be a long road to recovery and the heavy crating must go on. If he needs surgery he will get it, cost is not a worry for me. It sucks to shell out that kind of money, but I just want to see him happy and healthy again at any cost.

Sorry to hear about this, I know the heartache it causes you to see your dog like this. But on a good note- many years ago I took in a rescue Dachshund from a pet shop who kept their own supply of breeding dogs on hand and this particular girl was of no further use to them since they could no longer get pups from her because she had suffered a herniated disc and was now paralyzed from the waist down. (Sometimes it can be from the neck down). I took her to my vet right away and she was put on prednisone, I can't remember if she was prescribed anything else. I had to to keep her crated for 6 looooong weeks per vet's orders. I of course took her out to go outside to use the bathroom and I would allow her to lay on the couch beside me while watching tv in the evenings, with my hand on her back so she could not even attempt to go any place. I bought her the biggest wire crate made and I also bought the rubber coated rack to go in the bottom so that when she pee'd in her crate it would drain thru and she would not drag herself thru urine. She had a nice comfy bed in the back. We kept her crate out in the living room area with us so she never felt separated from the rest of us. It finally paid off. She started out slowly though. One day she could balance herself on her legs momentarily, then one day she could stand on them good, then eventually she could take baby steps and then finally she could walk again. Never a perfect walk again, she would walk with a funny gait, but she could walk and run. She was enjoying her life and chasing squirrels and loving life. My dad had a Dachshund who suffered this and his recovered pretty good as well. Hang in there, there IS hope. It will take time though. As far as the surgery, it has to be done within a pretty small time frame of the injury to be successful.
Watch her feet because she will develop sores from dragging herself. We rigged something with socks to protect her skin and we used vet wrap also. Rinse her skin with warm water often because the urine that gets on her skin will cause burns. Good luck.

Thank you so much for your reply, that gives me a lot of hope. I understand it takes time, which I am willing to give. I'll give anything for this dog that gives so much to me

my mini"ralphie"has back problems and went thru the same thing u have however it got worse and he had to have surgery that was about 4 years ago and he is doing great i just dont let him jump as much and not high at all i made steps for the bed and the bench seat and so forth and he loves them and uses them with no problems i have him on a arthritis med cosiquin or somthing close to that and it helps as well so dont worry if he keeps wagging keep smiling

Hello Zolts!

I wanted you to know that your story has enlightned me and as well as the other great inspiring stories that the other owners shared with you! It also gave me hope that are little guys are going to be okay. My husband and I adopted, Rusty about a year and half ago from a family that neglected him (he's 5 years old now). He's been alot of work with potty training, his demanding ways, and etc. but it all makes up for his wonderful character that warms us with love everytime we walk in the room. Just a few weeks ago, Rusty was squeaking when we would pick him up and we knew right away there was something wrong. I took him to the vet and she gave us some pain relievers and told me to way limit his activity, especially going up and down stairs and furniture (which we tried to discourage it at all costs as it was)! He started to get better but just yesterday his back legs have become lame and has started to drag them. I panicked and called the vet but ofcourse they were closed for the day. I went on to the internet to do some research (since it's the only way not to feel so helpless at the time) and came across your story. It has given my hope and has been comforting to know that I am not alone (I wish I was in a way b/c it's such a poopy situation to go through)! I would love to be updated on your little buddy's progress. And the steps you have taken to get him better. It tears me up inside to see Rusty in such discomfort but still wags his tail in excitement. I have bought him a crate (a canvas tent like one) that zips open on the top and on the side. It has been great b/c I can just open the top and reach in and pick him up carefully from the crate. I don't have to reach in and try to pull him out of it which can be a bit challenging d/t the awkward position. AND NO ACTIVITY! NONE! Also giving him his pain relievers 2X a day. Also reduced his food a bit so he doesn't gain weight during this non active period. I massage his muscles along his spine and as well his little tiny legs. I felt like you were writing the story about Rusty when I read it! It touched my heart! As well it brought sadness and tears to me! I am a pretty strong person in general but I feel weak and depressed when I see him dragging his behind legs or when he squeaks/whimpers in pain. I am sending you both love and wellness all the way from Boson! Please keep me updated! Sincerely, Jackie

On Friday night, January 11, our Ernie (4 year old doxie) hurt his back. By 11 pm that evening we had him to an emergency vet clinic. Our regular vet was out of town. He was given a steroid shot and some anti-inflammatory pills. He could barely walk and was all humped up. I started looking up back injuries and surgery. Surgery would cost $2500 - $3000 no guarantees. My husband suggested that I look into acupuncture. He had a tennis buddy that injured his back and they wanted to do back surgery. The tennis buddy went for acupuncture and never had to have the surgery on his back. So I searched on line and found a vet that was about 40 miles from us. He is a traditional vet which special training in small animal acupuncture and Chinese herbal medication. We made the appointment and took Ernie in on January 18. Ernie was in a lot of pain and was finding it more and more difficult to walk. He was walking with his back legs as if he was very drunk and falling over. Talk about a heartbreak! Our appointment was for an hour. The vet watched him walk and checked him out and then did acupuncture. He put about 12 needles in his back. Ernie's injury is in the center of his back. He then ran electricity through the needles for 10 minutes. I know it felt good because about 1/2 way through I asked Ernie how he was doing and he wagged his tail! The vet then made up two prescriptions for homeopathic remedies. What he did next was take some of Ernie’s blood and mix it with the homeopathic remedies and then injected back into the acupuncture points in his back. What that does is the red blood cells communicate to the homeopathic remedies what is wrong. The acupuncture stimulated and opened the nerves and tissue to begin the healing process and receive the healing properties of the remedies. He also told us that Ernie’s four-year-old skeleton was aging before its time. So we took home a supplement that will help his spine heal and his skeleton become healthier. You just had to see for yourself! Right after the first treatment Ernie was walking better and his back was straighter. On the way home he was so very calm and relaxed. He restfully slept in my lap. You could just tell he felt so much better. Ernie is on complete cage rest for 6 weeks. We took him back ten days later. The vet checked him over and gave him the shot with his blood/remedies in his back again. He gave us another supplement to add to his food and a special vitamin. So far, so good. Ernie is out of most of his pain. He is starting to walk stronger but at times it is like one step forward two steps back. Breaks my heart because this is my walking buddy! We will walk 4 miles a day about 4 times a week. We take him back in three weeks for another recheck. His home care includes giving him .3m of his drops, one is for once a day and one we give 4 times a day. He gets his skeleton supplement twice a day along with his special vitamin twice a day. He gets his calcium supplement once a day. I see light at the end of the tunnel. So far all this has cost us around $600 and it looks very promising.

The desire to thrive is a magnificent thing. Do not count him out. He is fighting for himself and YOU:))

I have never been on this site before, but I registered so I can reply to this topic. I too have a mini daschund, over this last summer she got the same back injury. She is 3 years old and had no feeling from her back down. She dragged herself around. We took her to a specialist who performs this type of surgery and he told us that there was only 10 percent chance of it working. After much thought and tears we decided to put her down. Well, on the day we were scheduled for "the" appointment I said that I wanted to give her 30 days on medicine therapy. Well, we gave her predisone for only 2 weeks and she started wagging her tail. Then we started her on water therapy (swimming and kicking her back legs). Now you would never know any such thing happened to her. It was a long and trying process, but when I think of how close we were to giving up, I just pick her up and hold her. She is now so much more spoiled then ever and loved too. Good luck to you and do not give up !!

Hi there, my mini daxi Brutus 3 yrs old and would play all day. Thursday wouldn't come down from upstairs. Picked him up he yelped. He could walk but would drag both his back legs abit. Tail still wagged and could do his business OK. Took him to my vet he said he had dodged a bullit and gave him prednisone told bring back in a week he should be alot better. After 2 days on meds he now has lost all use of his legs and tail just drags himself around by his front legs. Heartbreaking to see and worried he has got worse instead of better. Have put him in a cage to try to get him to rest and keeping up with the meds. Will phone the vet again tomorrow to see what he thinks...I feel so helpless

Is he urinating/defecating well? If he doesn't and also if he doesn't painfully reect if you strongly pinch him in betwwen his fingers then I would suggest you to go immediately to a neurologist/neurosurgeon and do a spinal decompression surgery!!!! Any day more without surgery if signs as above the more grave the prognosis is.
With the prompt surgery the prognoosis is good.
If it's just a first episode of pain and he is mildly ataxic u can be fine with strict cage rest and antiinflammatories. But if there's a paresis or paraysis (dragging hindlegs, sitting with hindlegs tucked underneth the body) and no control of micturition and defecation don't hesitate and go to a specialist. Don't go to regular vets since they have unfortunatelly any clue about how important is early decompression os spine.

I have a friend with a mini daschund that had the same symptoms two years ago. She woke up one morning and could no longer walk. They went to several vets and did a lot of research on the internet.

What they found was a drug called Adequin. You should talk to your vet about this drug as it certainly fixed Abby to 98%.

Good Luck!

my dashund has degenerated disc also the vet had me crate him for 2 months only to let him out to use the bathroom.and he was on very stong steroids for this time also.we saw very little improvement during this time after he finished the steroids we got some joint theropy vitamins from walmart with glucosamine he started walking again within a week.our vet did not exspect him to walk again without surgery.that goes to show you that natural vitamins do work no matter how much the vets want to push drugs.

I just had my mini daschund operated on today for the same problem. we went away and my mother watched my 2 dogs, other being a shih-tzu and when we got home on EASTER SUNDAY this was how she was. paralyzed. we immediatelty called emergency vet clinic and brought her there. after 1800.00 (YES) of care she did not get better (2 days). We then were referred to a neuro surgeon. she had the operation just a little bit ago and the doc just called and she did well. they had to remove a disc between 13th and 14 th vertebrae. with a lot of care and hope she should recover, but now is more likely to re-injure so great care has to be taken. and that operation was a small fortune. so good luck and hopefully by now your dog is better.

Hi there, he spent 5 days at the vets on bedrest with prednisone anti inflammatory. Got him home he was in a terrible state couldn't move back end at all. He did have control of bladder etc waits until taken outside.Vet has called and said go to neuro surgeon for back op $1800 for test and MRI and $4400 for op. Just to much at the moment.
Took your advise found one of the nutritional supplements we take Usana Procosa II has Glucosamine in as well as mangonese and silicon and Vit C, and can be used on dogs.
Second day on this took him out for wee in the garden and he stood up for a few seconds then sat down again. Then got up and started walking awkwardly with tail wagging OMG!! Then he spotted a squirrel and took off after it...he actually ran before coming a cropper and sitting again. Will keep him on this for a few days to see what will happen. Have a doxie cart coming from e-bay made to measure keeps back correct position and he can wee from it also use his back legs if they want to join in. Have hope at last will keep you posted....trent777

Hello, We have an 11 yo female doxie named Emma. She had the back surgery 3 years ago this month. Today she let out a blood curdling "scream" as if in pain. Her tail is down and as of late she has been limping a bit on the right leg. She has not flattened herself out as she did when she lost use of her back legs before. She is a rescue and we don't know a great deal about her history. Does anyone know how long the surgery lasts? We have moved 2 thousand miles away from her original surgeon. I am going to call the vet tomorrow here in Jackson, WY. Does anyone know where the closest orthopedic surgeon is to Jackson Hole? Has this happened to anyone else? I of course am thinking the worst it could be arthritis I suppose, her weight is perfect and has never been an issue. We keep all of our dogs exercised properly and at their ideal weight, not an easy task but we owe it to them. I am afraid to move or touch her, she has not moved for the past 3 hours, not unusual but she has only turned over once. Has anyone got any insight? Thanks

Brutus is now in week 4 of 8 week suggested cage rehab by the vet. He has finished the anti inflamatories and we just have him on Procosa now twice a day.
He is much better I take him out to feed him and let him do his business. He is walking almost normally now just looks a bit drunk in his back legs still. Main improvements recently he now lifts his leg a bit to wee now and when you scratch him on his doxie spot (on his chest) his back leg starts scratching like it used to. He wants to go further but we don't let him as complete rest was suggested for 8 weeks.
He,s a lot better and stands up normally in his cage whenever we come in and his tail wags crazily like it used to.
Time and persistance looks like its paying off for him this time...Rgds