No pain like back pain

I have a very lucky Dachshund as a patient. A short time ago, Maggie was brought in by her parents because she was having difficulty moving her hind end. She had deep pain (could feel me pinching her hind toes) but no proprioception. Testing the proprioception is easy. You simply turn the foot over so the top of the foot is on the ground. If they can feel their foot, they put it back in the proper position. Maggie had very little control over her hind end.

After the physical exam we did a radiograph. The arrow is pointing at a normal intervertebral space. If you look between the vertebrae of L6 and L7 plus L7 and S1 you will see white spots. These are actually calcified discs that have moved upward and are pressing on the spinal cord. Since the signals are not getting through this area, Maggie couldn’t move her legs.

At this point, we have two options. One is to refer to a specialist for back surgery or medical support. Since she is ten years old, we decided to try aggressive medical support. This was possible as her owners are retired and could be at her beck and paw. They were to keep her quiet, make sure she got her anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants. They were very interested in alternative therapy and asked about chiropractic adjustments. As one wrong move would have our prognosis go from poor to none, they went to a veterinarian who does laser therapy and hydrotherapy.

Guess what, Maggie is doing fantastic! This is what it is all about!!!