No sensation in leg after surgery
Submitted by kikizoebear on May 29, 2012 - 4:42pmHi,
One of our bulldogs had surgery last week for pyometra infection. Were told all was alright, but when they went to release her she had no sensation in her leg. Her back leg seemed completely paralyzed. They did an x ray and said she has hip dysplasia. I've never been told she had this all her life and she was walking fine before surgery? Has anyone had this happen? Has anyone had their dog regain feeling in their leg after this? :( We are so sad, she is one of our children. We won't know if whatever meds they tried had any help until tomorrow.
Thank you!
How long did they keep her?
Was this closed Pyo? Did she rupture? Is there any possibility she ruptured and there is some internal infection? Where did they administer the pain shot? Was she like this when she woke up? Or just when you went to pick her up?
The hip dysplacia thing is crap. How do you know she has no sensation? What is she doing with that leg? Is she dragging it? What does she do when you toe touch it?
I would definitely take her to another vet for consultation. And I would be asking alot more questions.
A dog that goes into surgery walking on 4 legs for a spay should come out on 4 legs. Something is not right IMO.
Thank you for responding!
I was told it was open because she was leaking blood like fluid. ??? I think it was open. They said closed is worse.
They still have her. Surgery was friday. Called saturday and I was told I could pick her up. I haven't asked where the pain shot was administered...we go tomorrow since they've been closed with no phone calls or visits. I asked if she was walking after surgery and the doc said no, she was under meds and they prob just cleaned cage in response to how did she go to the restroom?
I was in the room after she couldn't walk as the doc consulted the surgeon and then left me waiting. Came back and the doc acted as if he was going to cut off her entire nail on that leg and she didn't flinch. He did it on the other foot and she kicked and moved and didn't like it. He also tried hitting her with those reflex hammers on her knee and then she didn't feel that either. She tries to take steps and its limp and dragging and bent and she sits back down.
They xrayed and then said she has hip dysplasia and this isn't something that occured the day before. They were going to try hormones and anti inflammatorries. I won't know how that all went until tomorrow or if she has gained any feeling.
I just wanted to see if this has ever happened to anyone. We've been going to our vet for years and they are bulldog specialists. :(
This is not normal
One of my girls had an emergency spay for closed pyometra and recovered very quickly with no side effects.
Your girl was obviously injured at the Vet's office. She may have fallen off the table or if she was in a stacked crate, she could have fallen out of that. This surgery should have been only a little more complicated than a routine spay. I believe she needs to see an orthopedic specialist immediately.
Should the vet be responsible
Should the vet be responsible for covering any addtional costs that we may incur because of all this? They just showed me her xray and said this is a condition she has had all her life and something the day before mustve triggered it. I dont like that answer, but I think they should do all they can in their power to have her back walking the way she was before she had the surgery. Is this unreasonable to expect?
Thank you again for responding. I appreciate the feedback.
I have a girl with hip dysphasia
In my experience HD is progressive and dogs with HD don't go from walking fine one day to having no feelings in a leg the next day.
If the dog was injured at the Vet's office then yes the Vet should be liable. Try to ask the Vet techs or office staff if the dog fell or had some type of accident while at the Vet's office. I would still take her to an ortho dr.
Thank you. Yes, it's the
Thank you. Yes, it's the first time we have ever been told she has hip dysplasia. Never even noticed hip problems. A couple weeks ago she limped a bit after waking up but was fine a couple hours later so we were never concerned. She is quite a regular there and has had plenty of X-rays taken and nobody has ever pointed this out. She had a stone removal surgery in December and also had an X-ray for her infection on May 7th. We noticed the meds didn't completely help so brought her back to be spayed. :(
Agree
I think they injured her in some way. Nothing to do with this surgery should have effected her hip, leg or spine.
Wow I'm so sorry.
Even if they say she had hip
Even if they say she had hip dysplasia visible in her X-rays that was never brought to our attention in almost 6+ years? It is not okay for them to blame this on that? They X-rayed her and said see this is not something that occurred yesterday. This is something that's been getting worse since she's been little. Does hip dysplasia completely paralyze a leg out of nowhere?
No I have never
heard of hip dysplasia paralyzing a dog overnight. There is something very fishy. Bulldogs are known for not having great hips. As they advance in age they may have athritis, but I haven't seen an old dog of any breed that didn't have some arthritis. No IMO it is definitely not OK for them to blame her paralysis on her hips. Like Jacinda said it gets worse overtime (lots of time) not overnight and to that drastic extreme. I would seriously question that she was accidently dropped off the table.
I would get her to a specialist.
There would be alot of screaming going on...in their clinic if this was my dog.
Why are they keeping her and what are they doing for her? Have they xrayed her spine?
I'm assuming she walked into the clinic on 4 legs when she went in for surgery. How long did they have her before they did the surgery. When did they notify you she was paralyzed? Immediatley after surgery? Who called you with this diagnosis?
I would be writing all the details down. From the minute you took her into the clinic.
She walked in perfectly fine
She walked in perfectly fine on four legs Friday. They had her a few hours before calling to say how surgery went. I called in the morning to make sure I could pick her up if I drove in and they confirmed. I asked to get her after I paid and had meds because she gets excited and breathes heavy if not. They sent back to release her to me and then the doc called me back and said the plan was to release her but he was concerned there seemed to be no sensation. I was confused and said maybe it was asleep and if they could walk her to see if it woke up. She's not used to being caged. Then they came to get me and asked if it was normal.
My husband said I may want to wait in the car because he's going to be screaming tomorrow.
I asked the tech helping me if she walked earlier to go to the restroom and he said he wasn't on on the morning shift. All the vet techs looked shocked and were staring as I was freaking out saying this was NOT normal when he asked if I'd ever seen her that way.
You need to get a statement from the techs that checked her in
I assume before the surgery you handed her over to a Vet tech and they took her back and crated her. That's the person you need to talk to. It's possible the Vet may not know if the dog was injured while at his office. It's possible she had an accident while in the care of a tech and they didn't report it.
Good Luck!
Well the vet saw her before
Well the vet saw her before her surgery when we had her there to tell him we thought the infection was still there and wed like to do the surgery. The vet tech picked her up and carried her.
They xrayed her while I was there waiting for them to figure out what was wrong with her and what would cause it. Maybe they are doing more advance tests after i left but they told me they'd be placing her on anti inflamattories and steroids? I think he said to see if that would bring back sensation. I assume they have limited staff with the holiday but they said no phone calls or visits because they'd be closed until Wednesday. I know they were doin c sections by appt only while closed.
Praying she's all back to normal when we go back tomorrow. We just want our baby back home and her sister is lonely :(