Stroke or temporary paralysis in a dog
Diagnoses | ![]() Report by: Esther S. |
|||||
The report is about | About a friend who wrote it | |||||
Gender | Female | |||||
Age | 14 years (at the time of the symptoms / disease) | |||||
Handedness | Unknown | |||||
Additional methods | ||||||
Categories | Observation of a single SBS run, e.g. one PCL phase (optionally with prediction of PCL duration) Small to medium (sore throat, lumbago, sudden hearing loss, allergies, ...) |
Description
“Oh shock”, our dog Luna recently lay paralyzed on the hallway floor. My first thought was “stroke”. I was totally worried and at first I wasn't really able to think rationally. What should I do? Luna is already 14 and an older dog girl. So I thought the stroke was caused by her age.
However, since I have been learning the GH for a long time, I started researching and asking the following information after this day:
One day after the stroke, she was drinking and eating. She had warm paws, but could no longer stand up but fell over. I couldn't find out quickly whether she was left- or right-pawed.
And this is how I noticed her physical behavior: At first I thought her left front paw was stiff, but she was bending to the right.
I was told that this curvature was an indication of the movement the dog wanted to make at the moment of the conflict but couldn't.
And that got me thinking. At first I thought it might have something to do with the puppy visit a few days before. But I couldn't come up with a sensible explanation. And then my daughter told me something that I had completely blocked out. She remembered that I had accidentally stepped on Luna's right hind paw in the hustle and bustle in the hallway. She had squeaked loudly and immediately looked around to the back on the right. That rang a bell inside me.
So I tried to put myself in Luna's shoes, get down to her eye level and empathize with her situation. And then came the realization: this situation, i.e. “not looking back to the right in time”, is exactly the posture that is now causing her movement paralysis. As a result, she falls over to the left, her left front paw is slightly stiff and her right rear paw is slightly outwards. After all, I stepped on this paw. The rest of her body is still in a state of shock.
All right, I'd say we've already found the conflict.
On with my thoughts:
On the same day there were almost no abnormalities, except for the fact that she no longer wanted to play. The whole thing happened in the hallway next to the keyboard and that's exactly where it started the next day. The solution has already been found, after all I'm no longer standing on my paw and she doesn't need to look backwards because of it. So it wouldn't be difficult to wait for the PCL phase. But does she know that?
If I were Luna, I would have to learn that it can't happen anymore. As a dog, I would probably be in a “beware” position until then, or in other words: in the “play dead” reflex!
With all these thoughts, I felt so sorry for her when I watched her struggle. She couldn't get up on her own. I was allowed to carry her into the garden to pee and support her. Afterwards she was always back in her basket.
But now let's move on, I can't ignore the subject of rails!
I stepped on her paw in the hallway when there were lots of feet around Luna. She probably didn't even see me as the culprit. Otherwise she would instinctively avoid me. The next day she ran back to the hallway and lay down there because she was waiting for us to get dressed for her walk. Then she couldn't stand up and was crooked.
So I think the hallway and lots of feet around her could be two tracks. Sure, now the penny dropped! Luna experienced a relapse with the hallway splint one day after “paw ouch”: “It could happen here again, even if walking is important!” And the day before she didn't want to play anymore. So it was already having an effect.
The feet thing was easy to avoid, the hallway thing was difficult. But we still tried to avoid the hallway as much as possible in future.
After this conflict, Luna spent most of the time lying in her basket, limp and asleep. Her best buddy Mitzi, our second dog, was always by her side. But after just two days, she was already running to the water bowl and slurping, and even went out into the garden to pee on her own, needing very little support. The next day she was already begging again - a good sign
Just eight days later, she was more active again, was happy and yodeled when she saw us and even walked up a few steps on her own again. I was soooo relieved, I can tell you.
Two weeks after the incident, there were only very few signs and now, four weeks after this conflict, Luna is romping around like she always has. I'm so glad that I know and am learning about the GH. I'm also now very careful never to step on her paws again.
Ramona, with a lively
Note: Have you also had exciting experiences with the 5BL? If so, it would be great if you could send us an anonymized report so that we can publish it in the archive and everyone can benefit from your experiences. Thank you very much!