Help me please!!

Our shih tzu is a few years old, and he recently slipped a disk(sp?). We took him to the vet, and he improved slightly after medication, but he hasn't improved since then. His hind legs don't function. Now we have the option of taking him home and trying to care for him or putting him to sleep.

What would you recommend? Is there any hope? :cry:

 

do you have a vet in your area that does chiropractic work or acupuncture? Would be worth a try especially the chiropractic work

 

Well, the vet suggested a place that could do surgery, but it would cost $3-4K. I'm not sure if we can afford that much for one little dog. Plus, they said that even after the surgery, there was a good chance he might not get better.

 

There's always options like a doggy wheelchair to support his backend, and things like that. Is he in pain? That would be my biggest concern. If my dog was in pain and there wasn't a lot they could do, I would have to consider if putting him to sleep would be the most humane... but if he wasn't in pain, I would have to think long and hard about my options, and what's out there to give him quality of life..... pain free, quality of life is what it comes down to.

 

I don't know if he's in pain; I'm not the one who talked to the vet. If he's not, what are my options? Where could I find a doggy wheelchair? The vet said that sometimes in these cases, a dog coudl just get better on his own and start walking again. Has anyone ever heard of this happening? Thanks so much for the help!!

 

I would find a vet who does acupuncture and chiropractic and have the dog evaluated.

 

Yes, if it was my dog, and I was sure he wasn't in a lot of pain, I would want to be very careful and sure about my choices....and do a lot of research, asking questions, etc. I have heard of animals (and people for that matter) healing and recovering from things the experts said was hopeless....so, who knows. The chiropratic/accupuncture route is an option to check into, as well as giving him a little time if possible.
I had a cat when I was younger that was attacked by a St. Bernard that strayed into our yard. Her spine was crushed back by her tail, and she had to be in the hospital for several days and came home paralysed.... they had reccomended we put her down, but we decided to take her home and see how she was before we decided.
At first we had to carry her around....then she started sort of dragging her back end, then eventually a clumsy walk.... until eventually she was walking again. Soon she was back out to running around, chasing birds and mice like she always had. Only thing was that she wasn't able to twitch her tail like before (she was part bobtail manx)... just a few hairs by her butt just above where her spine had been injured would twitch!!
So.....you never know!

 

the thing you'll also have to be careful with once your dog is feeling better (and I'm hoping he does) is no stairs, no jumpint onto or off furniture - things like that. I have a friend with a shih tzu who has been having some back issues but she won't stop him from doing that stuff (that dog is so spoiled he bites her all the time)....but for smaller dogs those things can cause lots of back problems.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your shih tzu.

Here is a link to canine wheelchairs:
http://www.wheelchairsfordogs.com/

 

I talked to a guy at the doggie park a while ago. One of his dogs almost went blind, and a surgery was obviously necessary. His vet gave him a price estimate of $6000!!!. Through some friend of his, he got to know that UC-Davis does the same type of surgery for half the price. Universities that offer veterinary study usually provide services to the general public as these services are a great way for the students to study the real-life cases. If you determine that a surgery is necessary, you can probably call around and see which school does that kind of surgery.

I personally think that dogs have a very high survival will. A few of my other dogs in Asia got seriously injuried a few times, but they heal naturally after a period of time.

No matter whatever decision you make, the best heal to him is your love and care!