FCE-Spinal stroke
 

This is my first time posting. Im trying to see if anyone else has had this issue with yorkies. Our 2 year old yorkie was playing one night and fell on his back which is not unusual for him...he jump hops and pounces all over the house. That night he had trouble jumping into bed,we figured he was just sleepy. The following night he started off with wobbling..we assumed it was his blood sugar and gave him some karo syrup. A few minutes later his back right leg went limp,he was dragging it but still playing. About 30 minutes later it was BOTH legs completely flaccid. We laid with him on the floor,planning to take him to the vet 1st thing in the morning. About 20 minutes later i was petting him and noticed his tail didnt respond to me while a patted his bottom. This alerted nerve damage to me so we took him to the 24 hour ER vet. They did xrays and blood work. Started iv steroids and pain meds thinking it was a bulging disk. He spent the night, and went straight to his primary vet that morning. He started the morning with deep pain reflexes,which means he recognizes the pain when the vet pinches or squeezes with alot of pressure. Within hours i recieved a phone call from our vet saying he is no longer recognizing the deep pain..which is NOT good.She immediately refferred us to an orthopedic surgeon an hour away. We got to the clinic and signed the papers to go for surgery. While waiting for the doc to call us to let us know how he did.....he called and stated he did NOT do surgery because the mylegram showed no bulging or ruptured disk. Our puppy was in no pain...just could not use his back legs or empty his own bladder. Usually with the disk being ruptured,pain is involved. This eased my mind since it requires no surgery but he is saying its basically a stroke to the spinal cord which is called FCE. The signs and symptoms fit...i just hope we made the right choice with not doing surgery. He assured us he saw nothing on xrays to actually go in and fix surgically. We meet with the vet tomorrow morning to discuss rehab at home until he starts using his legs, IF he does..then he will go to that clinic for more extensive rehab. Does anyone have any experience with this at all???? :aimeeyork

Just realized i posted under wrong section last night, can this be moved to the sick & injured, sorry.

i don't know the answer but Im giving this a Bump ans maybe someone with more knowledge can help you.. :)

Welcome to Yorkie Talk!!

Also try post in the sick and injured area right above this one... You may get more help there..

Im SOOO sorry about your sweetheart... Please keep us posted :)

Two years ago, this March, a dear friend of mine had a silkie terrier that had the same thing happen. He was 3 years old and weighted around 14 lbs . One minute he was running around playing, then he was dragging his back leg, then he couldn't walk and was taken to the emergency room. I am sorry to say that he was completely paralyzed within 48 hours had to be put down. It was an extremely traumatic experience for everyone who knew this special dog. The vet told my friend that this is not uncommon in large breed dogs between the ages of 3 - 6 years. But this little one was only 14 lbs. If the silkie had only lost the use of his back legs she would have gotten him one of those little "wheel chair" things. But it was not to be.

I am sorry that this has happened to your little one. We will say a prayer for him and hold a good thought for his recovery.

Just spoke with the vet and cobi has actually regained deep pain in both rear legs, more in the left and a delayed reaction in right. This is good news since he had no deep pain last night. They suggested leavin him again overnight and keeping him on steroids. He is still unable to urinate on his own and needs his bladder expressed. We have a long road of recovery but willing to do whatever it takes. I realize the FCE is extremly rare in yorkies so we are looking for anyone who knows of past cases and recovery results. Any advice for wheelchairs during recovery? Is it possible for a mod to move this to the correct injured section please.

Bump, please.

Any change today? I'm sorry you're lil one had this happen.

Coming home tomorrow
 

:aimeeyork Cobi comes home tomorrow morning. We bought him some boots thanks to Alldogboots.com to hopefully assist with some walking. He has done therapy today and we will start him on some serious therapy when he gets home along with a tapered down dose of steroids. We got him a fenced in area in the living room in front of the tv so he can still watch cartoons:). When we get him home and love on him we will post an update on his condition:animal-pa Thanks all for your concerns

I wish more forum people were able to give you advice or insight. What is the expected recovery? Should he gain full usage of his legs again?

Just seeing this. Layla's mom linz06 will have some great tips for you. I am going to pm her. In the meantime, I suggest you read the thread about Layla. I think you will find lots of great tips.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...out-layla.html

I am happy to hear that your baby has his deep pain reflexes back....that is encouraging. I am sure he will benefit greatly from physical therapy.

Here is another thread with where Abby and Kobi are going through degenerative myelopathy in Kobi's rear legs. While it is not quite the same as your story I imagine the therapy and treatment may be similar. http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...rear-legs.html

I have had quite a few pups go through physical therapy for various conditions and find it a pretty amazing thing to watch!
I just googled spinal stroke rehab in dogs and found the following links that are very interesting. It looks like the dog in the videos, Reba, is in worse shape than your Cobi, but it might be of interest to you.



Canine Stroke Rehabilitation: Part 1 - Veterinary Medicine Videos - The Doctor's Channel

Canine Stroke Rehabilitation: Part 2 - Veterinary Medicine Videos - The Doctor's Channel

Oh, and another link about spinal stroke:

Spinal Stroke in Canines | eHow.com

Did the Orthopeadic surgeon check him for AAI? That can also cause symptoms such as you are describing and unfortunately is becoming much more common in these litle guys......

I'm so sorry that you and your pup are going thru this. I have no advise to offer, only my prayers.

I am just seeing this now, thanks ladyjane for the PM!

I am so happy to hear you are bringing Cobi home and will be working to rehabilitate him. It is great news that he has regained deep pain sensation! My yorkie had a ruptured disc and we did surgery but she has not regained deep pain or any function in her back legs or bladder. But we love her just the same! She is no longer in any pain and is the same dog she has always been. No matter what happens or how far along Cobi gets in his recovery, remember he will always be the same dog on the inside :) Animals are amazing in the way they don't let these kinds of things get to them. So what if they can't walk, they will still do everything they did before! They never sit around thinking about the things they used to be able to do, they just figure out new ways to do things and enjoy every moment!

Has the vet given you a hands on demonstration on expressing? It can be frustrating at first but it does become pretty easy and goes pretty quickly when you get the hang of it. I'm sure you've already been told, but emptying the bladder completely is very important because leftover urine can build bacteria quickly in the bladder and an infection doesn't take long to spiral out of control. It might be helpful to practise expressing with the vet and have the vet try after you're done to make sure you got it all out. We still do checks like that every once in awhile with our vet.

If Kobi has been given instructions for crate rest or limited movement, I just wanted to share something that helped us a lot: a pet stroller! Layla was on crate rest during the spring and it really helped us out moving her from place to place and even taking her for walks and getting her mind engaged. We even took her out golfing while she was on crate rest :D

Layla had 8 weeks of crate rest (which we upped to 10 weeks to be on the safe side) and then we went ahead and ordered a cart (we chose Eddie's Wheels and are very happy with it!).

If you have any questions about anything, don't hesitate to ask. I don't know a lot about the condition causing his paralysis, but I do know a lot about caring for a paralyzed dog. I applaud you for keeping a level head and trying to stay positive! You are a great mommy!

Good luck to you and Cobi and we really hope he has a great recovery.

You might want to get a consult with a neurologist, to be on the safe side. I hope Cobi makes a full recovery. Your taking him to the ER vet was probably the wisest thing you could have done.

Cobi is home! Got some very good and shocking news this morning. It appears Cobi has already gained feeling in his left leg and bent it earlier and tried to push his rear up with it. And once i got home he was licking the leg which ive researched as a sign of tingling when feeling returns. Also moved tail a little. The tech cleaned up a puddle of pee so we were told to hold off on expressing fore a few hours to see if he will go on his own. My biggest concern is ensuring that its FCE since the treatments are different if its a disc problem. Physical therapy should start soon if its FCE, but if its a disc problem physical therapy will cause more damage. FCE will not get worse after 24 hours. Onlly way to know for sure is have a MRI done. The decision was based on a myelogram and a nerologist and radiologist who determined there was no serious compression or disc problem, just a slight area that was swollen which they believed to be the area which caused the FCE. Dr. Edwards at South Paws which is a Surgical Specialist in south Louisiana said there was no need for the MRI and he seems confident its an FCE since the myelogram ruled out disc problems and the signs of one leg being stronger than other, along with the opinions from the neurologist and radiogist which reviewed it. Should i take the experts word, or go ahead with the MRI? Its about 3 hours away and Cobi seems frustrated with all the running around we have done lately.

When one of my pups had disc surgery, both an MRI and myelogram were done prior to surgery to make sure that it was disc involvement. I am a bit confused about them doing only a myelogram and giving you a diagnosis; but saying it is not definitive without an MRI? Am I reading that correctly? I would think that a myelogram would show FCE alone, but if a board certified surgeon suggested MRI, I would certainly go ahead with it.
If they are suggesting MRI, I would definitely go ahead with it...this is serious stuff you are dealing with.

I would definitely get the MRI. Is this LSU you are referring to?

If they suggest an MRI you might want to go ahead. Layla had just a myelogram and it clearly showed spinal cord compression from a ruptured disc. We saw it ourselves after her surgery. Is the MRI to determine if it is FCE for sure?

Yes it would be at LSU, but with the holidays they said it wouldnt be until next week sometime. Not exactly sure of a number i can use to contact them, South Paws said they would refer us to them first thin gnext week. Unless anybody knows of someone else here on the coast that can do an MRI over the weekend?

A myelgram would not show an FCE, they diagnosed Cobi after ruling out the possibilty of compression and disc rupture which would clearly show up once the dye is injected for myelogram. FCE's are still being studied and from my understanding its diagnosed by symptoms and ruling out others. Its possible that an MRI may not even show the problem for sure but its the only other test left. But we do want the MRI done, we just dont know where to have it done.

I had a very positive experience at LSU when I had to take Max for neurological testing. My vet called to refer me. I then had to call LSU to make the appointment. The appointment was for about 5 days after the date I called. I asked for an earlier appointment and they said my vet had to call and say it was an emergency. The appointment was next day.

Are you just looking for a phone number for LSU Veterinary School?

I am quite sure they do them on holidays and weekends when it is an emergency!

I don't know much about FCE, but I do know about AAI (Atlanto-Axial Instability) as I have a female born with it, had surgery, and is healthy and happy today.

One of the signs of AAI is the coming and going of feeling in their back legs first as pressure is put on the nerves and they lose the feeling. AAI is typically found through a digital x-ray or an MRI. Because AAI wasn't very common (or not easily found) many vets are not familiar with it. It is something that you should consider too.

We also have a support group for AAI, if you are interested, please pm me!

I so hope you find the problem and are able to get a diagnosis and treatment quickly. I know how hard it is when something is wrong with your babies!

oh here we go again

the lurkers are diagnosing yet again :rolleyes:

OP: I strongly suggest you listen to your vet specialist...hopefully you are going to LSU. They do know all of the neurological conditions AND symptoms.

My guess is that they are on target since your pup did suffer a major fall prior to all of this.

Home
 

Cobi is home! He of course still is not moving his back legs. He is dribbling peepee when he walks and we are having to express his bladder to get all of the urine out. :( Its such a sad situation. He is in good spirits but its hurting us so much to see him like this! He is usually extremely active...now he is confined to a small pin and kennel. He has never even used a kennel! He usually sleeps with us on his very own pillow. So tonight is going to be a huge challenge for us as far as the sleeping arrangements. We are still not 100% comfortable with the diagnosis,I plan on calling his primary vet on monday to bring him in for further assessment and also request a referral MRI. Im glad hes home but its just not the same. We plan on doing all we can do for our little man...we are keeping positive:animal-pa


:yorkiesar

Thank you for supporting people lurk versus post.

Don't think I was trying to diagnose anything, was just sharing my experience. I went through four vet specialists before she was properly diagnosed. (In case, you are not aware Babybear jumped off Val's lap when his ordeal began.)

OP I agree you need to listen to your vet, you can also learn from other's experiences as well.