Spinal cord injury; Paralysis of both hind legs.

The saddest thing happened to my precious Bonni this past weekend. I woke up Fri morning to find she has no use of her 2 hind legs. Then rushing to the vet to find out she had a spinal cord injury requiring emergency surgery to prevent irreversible damage. The diagnosis is Intervertebral Disc Disease. Genetic they say. She was rushed in for emergency surgery and the findings were severe. Her spinal cord were pretty bruised up in multiple areas. She is post-op day day 3 now and is doing good. However, still no motor function of her legs and she still cannot urinate on her own- requiring a urine collection bag. =(
The next step is to send her to a physical therapist.
All this happened in South Florida (Miami) so Bonni is still down there and I am in Melbourne now. I feel so helpless. I am worried sick and is hoping she will pull through this.
Does anyone out there have experience in this?? I could use some advice from Corgi owners?
Will she walk again? Will she have back pain for life?
Thanks so much in advance.


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We're so sorry! Sending healing thoughts your way!
Ih my thoughts are with you.
Aber had the same surgery last November. He is pain free and happy, controls his bowels and bladder and is in every way himself, except he still hasn't gotten use of his legs back. I blame our vet hospital, but there's not a lot to be done about it---they never mentioned using anything more stable than a rolled up towel to get him around, no mention of wheelchairs, they sent him home less than 24 hours after surgery, and they went out of business about 3 weeks after his surgery, so he had no follow up care from a surgeon. Doing my own research, I learned that a chair can actually help a dog relearn to use his legs--it stabilizes the spine while allowing movement. We're hoping this is the case. He's lost muscle tone, so he's weak--if you stand him up he'll stand, but he can't pull himself up on his own or walk once he's up. He does really well in the water, so if you can find a place that does hydrotherapy or can do it yourself in a pool, lake, deep tub I highly recommend that.
I know this great website with a doxie who is paralyzed.
http://www.littlebluedog.org/

I am so sorry to hear about your baby. I hope this site helps.

Love and prayers to you and bonni.

pancake and mattea
Thank you everyone for all your kind words of encouragement and hope. I feel much better hearing this from fellow Corgi or just in general, dog owners who love their pets as much as their own children. Bonni has now been transferred to an animal rehabilitation facility where she is receiving all-day physical therapy with small meal breaks and potty breaks in between. She is working really hard and being a really good sport during her treatments (says the physical therapist). I am away from her at the moment and will be until she is ready to go home or finishes with her physical therapy. And yes, it will take at least 3-4 weeks. So far, she still cannot use her back legs, nor stand on them (which is expected at this point) considering her prognosis going into surgery. She does not have control of her bladder either, therefore she cannot go home yet. All we can do now is wait and pray during her recovery/healing stage and lots of physical therapy to help stimulate the nerves and spinal cord. The say that she is quite happy and is ready to run and play (so expected of Bonni), so her not being able to use her leg at this point can be a good thing since she needs to stay rather sedentary post-op to allow for healing. Once she can walk or stand on her own, they will help her regain strength in her left hind leg. She tore her cruciate ligament last summer, had a TTA (tibial tuberosity advancement) done... but since I was never told to do rehab, she has very significant atrophy on that leg. Which doesn't help with trying to stabilize her back.
But you guys are right... lots of time and patience, follow-up with vet care, and physical therapy will help Bonni get better.

Thank you so much again.
I will keep you posted on her recovery.

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