Coon Dog Paralysis - update

TraditionsGSPs2010 · Post by **TraditionsGSPs2010** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 9:14 pm

There is long story and a short one... hopefully I can spit this out somewhere in the middle.

Our group headed out to SD on Friday morning to tackle the Fort Pierre National Grasslands for grouse and chickens. On he way up, I noticed my 8 year old GSP was having some trouble with her left rear leg. By the time we got the grasslands 14 hours later, she was having problems staying upright. This morning she can't go more than a couple of steps before her back end collapses and is now walking stiff legged in the front. Took her to the vet tonight and had blood work drawn and all came back fine. Doc says she has coon dog paralysis which is a virus that attacks the nervous system. Says she is going to lose all control of her legs for 3-6 weeks but has a good chance at a full recovery. If you could see her, you would find that very hard to believe. The dog can't squat to pee and can barely stand long enough to get a drink.

Has anyone every had a dog who got this and, if so, what advice can you lend me.

Thanks in advance.

CowboyBirdDogs · Post by **CowboyBirdDogs** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 9:46 pm

I've never even heard of that!! Sounds horrible. Thoughts and prayers with your pup. That's a tough pill to swallow right as the season begins. Hope she's a trooper and makes a full recovery ASAP.

Post by **kninebirddog** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 12:01 am

Polyradiculoneuritis (coonhound paralysis)
http://www.bobmckee.com/Client%20Info/N ... ritis.html

gsp-fan · Post by **gsp-fan** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 7:28 am

Yes I have a Bluetick that had this - it took us about 8 months to get her back to health.
Her immune system has never been the same but she keeps going she is almost 12 now.
She does still have shaking in the back legs because of it but has not slowed her down.
The link that was posted is the best one I found when doing research for it.

SubMariner · Post by **SubMariner** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 1:54 pm

So sorry to hear of your dog having to go through this... wishing her a swift & complete recovery!

Jager · Post by **Jager** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 6:13 pm

I'm sorry for the illness that you dog is having to endure. I read a book a while back by William Urseth: The Line. http://www.horseandhunt.com/book/author.html He had a dog that had that and it recovered after a long rehab time. A part of one of the chapters goes into the care that they did in order to get the dog back to 'normal'. If I remember correctly, they did a lot of massage on the dog which helped. It's available on Kindle. I don't know if you could get it and get some useful info regarding the disease/recovery. It's a great book regardless. Best wishes for a speady recovery. Keep us posted.

gsp-fan · Post by **gsp-fan** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 6:40 pm

Yes we did massage twice a day. We also have a pool and I would get in it holding her and let her move her limbs.

TraditionsGSPs2010 · Post by **TraditionsGSPs2010** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 8:10 pm

Thank you everyone for the well wishes and advice. Ole girl is drinking a bit but has lost almost all control of her limbs and is unable to walk at all at this point. The one bright spot is she's still wagging her tail. I am glad to here the long term prognosis is pretty good. 8 is entirely to soon to lose a dog... not that there is ever a good age.

Thanks again.

deseeker · Post by **deseeker** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 8:24 pm

One of my friends coon hounds had this. He rigged a sling off his basment rafters to support the dog in an upright position so he could move the dogs legs up, down, and back & forth. I know it was a fairly long recovery on his dog, but he was able to get it back where he could use it on coon.

mountaindogs · Post by **mountaindogs** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 3:29 pm

My vet always puts them on Doxycycline among the other treatments. Also be sure it's not tetenus (sp) as that would be high risk for your family.

Mosby · Post by **Mosby** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 6:59 pm

My 12 year old lab has these same symptoms. Weakness in the rear. Stiff legged in the front. Couldn't walk or stand to eat or pee. Our vet called it a Tick Paralysis. I don't know if they are the same thing or not but my wife is calling the vet tomorrow to discuss. We are trying to get her off steroids which is the only thing that allows her to stand up and walk at this point. We are trying physical therapy to get her legs moving again. It was great to hear that dogs can make a recovery. My dog isn't great but she is better than she was. We thought we might have to put her down for a while there.

V-John · Post by **V-John** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 7:12 am

Buddy has a mixed breed who is a farm dog and got into a scrap with a coon. The dog ended up with Coon Dog Paralysis. He had to pick up the dog and let it sit outside, and it would crap/pee or whatever and then drag itself away. I don't recall him doing any sort of physcial therapy with it. It slowly got better. Made a full recovery, had a brief relapse, and it is now fully recovered.

TraditionsGSPs2010 · Post by **TraditionsGSPs2010** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 10:48 am

Well, we are about to cross this 6 week mark since ole girl came down with this deal. She still can't move her legs and just kind of "inch worms" arcoss the yard when we put her out. The muscle atrophy is pretty severe at this point and I am not sure she could stand up even if she had full control. A couple of things we are seeing as positive signs are that her bowl movements have gone from every other day to every day. I am hoping this is a sign of increased control. Also, we put her in a bath tub last night and she voluntarily moved her front legs a bit. Her spirits don't seem diminished as she still wags her tail when I get home.

For anyone who has seen, dealt or heard of this: When the dog starts to move a bit, how long would you expect until they seem to have noticable control? Also, anyone who has dealt with severe muscle atrophy, how did you rehab the dog to improve strength?

Thanks!!!

Cajun Casey · Post by **Cajun Casey** » Wed Oct 24, 2012 11:29 am

Swimming would be the best therapy. Ask your vet about cold laser, choline chloride supplements and maybe a B12 supplement.

TraditionsGSPs2010 · Post by **TraditionsGSPs2010** » Mon Feb 18, 2013 12:57 pm

It's been 5 months since the onset of symptoms and I happy to report Cody is up and walking again. I wanted to provide a couple pieces of information provided to us by the University of Missouri Vet School just in case anyone ever runs into this:

* The paralysis typically comes on about 10 days after exposure to a raccoon though there are documented cases where there was no possibility of contact with a raccoon
* Duration of the paralysis has been documented to last between 5-205 days with the average being 75 days. The vet reference books state 3-6 weeks which is outdated according to MU and is not accurate
* Dogs that lose their ability to breath on their own and have to be intubated have an very low survival rate.
* Dogs typically maintain bowl control as well as control of their heads and tails.
* Dogs maintain feeling in their legs but have no motion control.
* They believe what happens is the raccoom passes some foreign substanse from its mouth to the blood stream. That foreign substance looks much like the nerve endings which control the limbs. The dogs own antibodies attack the nerves and, depending on the severity of each case, can completely destroy the nerve endings. The length of recovery depends on how badly the nerves are affected.
* The number one limiting factor in recovery is the owner not waiting long enough for recovery to take place.
* Recovery can be full or partial depending on the dog and severity of the case.
* Treatment is limited to range of motion exercises. Steroids have been found to worsen the condition.
* Dogs can contract the disease multilple times.
* It is not contagious between dogs.

I can tell you that it took 3 months for Cody to start moving her legs voluntarily again, another month until she could stand unsupported and in the last month she has just started walking again. I am not sure how full her recovery might be because she is still recovering the muscle loss.

I certainly hope none of you ever has to go through this but just in case you do, I hope this helps.

deseeker · Post by **deseeker** » Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:34 pm

I'm glad the dog is coming around & I hope you get a full recovery

. Also thanks for the information--I hope I never need to use it

HDAU · Post by **HDAU** » Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:17 pm

Glad to hear that Cody is on the mend. As you said, I hope to never need the information, but I am glad I have it just in case.

Rdfhunter · Post by **Rdfhunter** » Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:53 pm

Hats off to you my friend. So many ppl would never had fought along with their dog.

Tyler S · Post by **Tyler S** » Mon Feb 18, 2013 4:21 pm

Rdfhunter wrote:Hats off to you my friend. So many ppl would never had fought along with their dog.

X1000

Thanks for all the excellent info as well!

Fester · Post by **Fester** » Mon Feb 18, 2013 6:33 pm

Man what a story, I am so glad things are looking up, hope you have many more good years of hunting with

Deuce · Post by **Deuce** » Mon Feb 18, 2013 6:50 pm

So glad to hear this update! Too bad you were unable to make the fun hunt, hope to catch you at the next training day.

SubMariner · Post by **SubMariner** » Tue Feb 19, 2013 8:09 am

Good news on the journey of your dog. We are all thankful that he is recovering.

Meanwhile, I hope the Vet school can eventually give us a little more information. It's pretty sketchy right now...

cptn · Post by **cptn** » Tue Feb 19, 2013 10:54 pm

Relieved your dog is okay. : ]

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