Henry takes it one step at a time. Photo: Geoff Robinson Photography
As first reported by Ananova, six-year-old Henry lost the use of his legs last November, after rupturing discs in his spine. Henry had surgery to ease the pressure on his backbone, but the operation didn't restore his ability to walk. His owner, Sarah Beech, heard about a new therapy for spinal cord injuries being tested at Cambridge, and signed him up. A month later, Henry took his first small step, reports the Telegraph.
Clearly, curing paralysis would be a very big deal indeed, but it's definitely too early to start wagging tails, says Nick Jeffery, a professor of veterinary clinical studies at Cambridge Veterinary School and a co-leader of the study Henry is enrolled in. "We've just started a clinical trial, and there are no results yet," he tells Paw Nation.
The therapy being tested involves removing cells from the junction between the nose and the brain, Jeffery explains. Those cells support the growth of new nerves. "The idea is, you transplant those cells into the spinal cord, and [they will] help the damaged nerve fibers to grow," Jeffrey tells Paw Nation.
Read more about Henry and the study he participated in on the next page.
Now for the caveats. Only half the dogs in the study will receive the new therapy; the rest will get an injection of growth-promoting proteins instead. Therefore neither Henry's owner nor the vets working directly with the dog know whether he actually received the nose-cell therapy or the control treatment, Jeffery cautions. An added twist: It's possible for some paralyzed dogs to recover stepping motion on their own, without any treatment at all. "The dog [couldn't] move its legs, and now it does. It may be that the intervention has made that happen, but we can't say yet," Jeffery tells Paw Nation.
Jeffrey and his colleagues are planning to recruit 50 dogs for the study over the next three years. Similar treatments have already been proven effective in rats. Although the official canine results won't be in for a while, the scientists are optimistic that this therapy might help paralyzed dogs -- and perhaps people too.
Beech isn't waiting for the study results to start celebrating. "It is incredible, I didn't think Henry would ever walk again, but over the last few months he has been wagging his tail and taking steps," she told the Telegraph. We can all wag to that.
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I have a Dachund that had the same surgery in 9/02 and Idid therapy at home and she has walked since. She was 4 at the time.
our doxy was 2 when he ruptured his disk - walked again after surgery and then had an accident at 16 - broken his pelvis and leg - after surgery and water therapy (on an underwater treadmill) walked again as well - he passed away last year at 20 yrs old!
Arthea, that is wonderful. Your baby is very fortunate.
We took in a 5 month old male hound dog that had been hit by a car and left on the side of the road. He could not walk as his vertabrae was fractured. He dragged both legs, a rather pathetic sight to see. So, with research I gave him 1,000mg of Vitamin C (Ester C) everyday for a month (no more than a month), TONS of Vitamin B12 (for nerve regeneration), accupuncture (for nerve regeneration), dog vitamins (for bone/body growth), and did gentle range of motion on his legs and paws so that the paws would stop curling under (bear claw). We are at almost one month now with him and his left leg is normal. The right leg is not quite there but he can walk, run and stand on it. The paw also stopped curling under just a few days ago and the Vet expected it could take months for this condition to fix itself. He does have the advantage of YOUTH and so he mended far faster than an older dog.
I do think that LARGE amounts of Vitamin B12 (Methyl) was the most helpful for him. You must give large amounts of B12 since very little makes it through the stomach and into the system.
Just an FYI on a dog that 3 1/2 weeks ago could only drag his legs behind him...Now is walking, running and standing with just a few more weeks to go before we believe both legs will be normal or near normal.
Hi Sharon,
I am sooo happy you posted your medication info ....my poor little Girl Chihuahua is paralized from the shoulders down.....:( I have taken her to 3 vets ...one said to put her down...i walked right out...the other two vets said wait 4 weeks and the other advised 3 months,....it has been two weeks since the accident and she is already doing slightly better...she has started to move her back leg and has more control of her lower back....the vet has her on cortizone....she is only 4pds ....what would you suggest the amount of of vitamin c and b12 I should give her??? Do they come in liquid form????
Any advise I can get from you would be appreciated.......thank you!!!
Sharon,
thank you for your comments. My Dachshund, DiOGie, age 6, had surgery on 01/02/09 and hasn't been able to walk since. I had him in therapy classes for 3 months and I did see some improvement. He has custom wheels that he uses on occassion. Other than that, he scoots himself around, but is VERY happy! I will try giving him Vitamin C and B12. I pray some day he will walk again...he is my little love bug~
thanks again for the information!
Sylvia: Never give up! They were going to put this dog down one hour before we ran to get him.
I can't tell you how much Vitamin B12 we give as it is the Human stuff. But I give it several times a day, crushed up and mixed with the contents of fish oil (He loves fish oil). I give SOURCE NATURALS METHYLCOBALAMIN (5MG). He gets about three of those small pills in the AM with the other vitamins and then another 3 or so at night. It says that for people we would get 83,333% RDA per pill. It is a sublinqual but I crush it up and give it to him. USE the METHYL type of B12!!!
Fish oil as well. Vitamin C but only for one month as dog's make their own C and don't need that extra Vita C. I also give him dog vitamins twice a day.
I would NOT WAIT to start on accupuncture, gentle movement by you on the dog, water therapy, vitamins, etc. Start as soon as the dog is out of intense pain, don't wait. Don't listen to the Vets, they don't know for sure how things will go. Gently rub the dog and try to get things moving - you do the body part moving -- JUST be careful that you do NOT do more damage to the dog. Understand where/what has been damaged. I stay away from his spine since that's where the damage is, the legs and paws I work on gently.
There are also dog carts (k-nine carts, google carts for dogs) and I was going to use them for him if he didn't show big progress. Keep the dog OUT OF PAIN!!!!! Not fair if they are in pain.
Stay in the game. Don't give up. We moved out with him quickly and he has shown remarkable progress, my vets all agree. He is also quite young (5 months) so youth is on his side. Progress may be slower in an older dog. Research on your own as well. That's what I did, out of shear desperation. After you research, ask the Vets if what you want to do is dangerous. If they say it's not but may not help, then do it anyway. Don't give up!!!!!!!!!!
Encouraging article - we own a dog that became paralyzed overnight, took her to vet which then sent us to a specialist. She had 4 slipped discs and two blood clots. We had surgery on her even against the advice of everyone because we love her. It is a long process for recovery with our vet only giving us 20% hope, but she is part of our family. It has been almost 3 months. She has made improvements, hopefully with more to come. She now has bladder and bowel control which is a small blessing. She can now stand and she does try to take steps. We are taking it one day at a time and praying more miracles will happen.
If i new then what i know now i would of never taken the advice of the Vet on call at the animal hospital. our 3yr old dachshund Kady became paralyzed with in 45 min and lost bladder control. The Vet said she had no deep muscle sensation at all. he gave us less than 20% chance surgery would work so we thought about the quality of life she wouldnt have and we had her put down. It was the worst decision i have ever made in my life. She was the daughter my husband and i never had. its been 6 months and i still cry and miss her dearly. even though we have 5 more babies at home it isn't the same without her. I never wanna go through that again it was like loosing a child. My prayers go out to all the hurt little babies and i hope they have a great recovery. REST IN PEACE KADY "BUG" love your mommy and daddy!!!!
Hang in there, your pup may yet walk again on its own. Had a "client" once who did not bring in their dachshund immediately after the dog "went down" from disc rupture. The dog was paralyzed (could not only NOT use the back legs, but felt nothing on them either). The husband felt so bad and guilty (because he was the one that didn't want to bring the dog in initially), that even though it was NOT recommended by the specialist (to whom we referred the owners to) to do the back surgery, he elected for the surgery for the dog anyway. It took months, but that dog walked again, and I'm not sure who was the happiest - the owners, the vets, or the dog.
Hi,
We also have a dachshund, Sam our four year old standard, he got out of his bed eight days ago and was in obvous pain when he tried to walk. we immediately took him to our vet and then onto a specialist who operated that afternoon. Like your little pal he had a ruptured disc and has been left paralysed in his hind legs and bladder and bowel incontinent. We have to go see the specialist next week to have his staples removed and discuss his future, we do not want to give up on him and are willing to give him all the help we can. Can anybody tell me if their dachie was left with no deep pain perception below his waist, which is Sams case, and if so is there any hope of him regaining any feeling.
I know it's really early days yet and we are coping very well with catheters and other thing but can anybody shine a light into ths dark place we find ourselves
I too had a doxy who walked after surgery and at home therapy. It was back-breaking work for me, but truly worth the effort to see that little friend walk again. The day his legs started the walking motion I literally shouted for joy.
just cull out the dogs with bad backs, only breed dogs with good backs and you wouldnt have this problem, linebreed and cull ruthlessly with healthy dogs
I'm sorry Rob, but you are not right. I have bred long-backed dogs for years (47) and have not had a problem with the ones that stayed here as family pets. However, I have sold a couple that later developed a back problem. Why? For one thing, I don't know how they were cared for. Were they allowed to get too fat - a problem with many dachsies? People think these long, sleek dogs are not in good health unless they let them blow up like blimps! They also let them do things they shouldn't as far as jumping off from a height. And there are some that are just pre-destined to have bad backs. I think it is not just in the bloodline, because show dogs are the fittest you can ask for. If they don't "move" well, have a good topline, carry the right amount of weight, etc. they will not make it being shown, so we keep them in optimum condition. And. show people would have no advantage to breeding dogs with such a weakness. So often they sell a good puppy to a prospective show home, and nothing would be sadder than getting a dog back with such a major problem or refunding the price of the dog. As for out-crossing as opposed to in-breeding, just remember that the more genes you add in to the gene pool, the more things they may carry. The best breeders know the dogs in their lines and what their weaknesses and strengths are and breed them wisely. The puppy mills or the people who love their little dogs but know nothing about breeding will breed to the dog down the street and who knows what his bloodline carries? It's better to buy a puppy from a good dog breeder who shows and has a reputation for quality, even though that puppy is more expensive, because most of them have contracts that cover anything of a hereditary nature. But they also have spay/neuter clauses so if you are planning to have a few litters and "make some money", just go to any old ad or miller and get one, because the best won't be available to you. This is our way of curbing pet-overpopulation.
@ Kelly... I'm so very sorry for the loss of your Kady. Even though there are a few pets that somehow recover enough to walk again after a spinal injury, the majority do not. You may very well have had to euthanize your beloved pet anyway had you elected to do the surgery and the outcome was not positive. Please do not bash yourself over the decision that you made. Only hind sight has perfect vision, but we still cannot tell the future.
10/14/09
'Hot Dog' is really a little winner. Thanks for the successful
treatment and the compassionate veterinarians who worked on
him. I love the stories of our animal friends being saved and
cared for; they deserve it. We are the caretakers and have a
responsibility for everything around us, thanks to all who
understand stewardship.
Sharon you are a wonderful person to have rescued that poor puppy. Others would have driven right by and never stop to even check the dog out. The person who hit it should rot in hell for not stopping and seeking aid for the poor creature. Thank you for being so kind. I believe that people like you will be rewarded some way some how.
We have a Lhaso Apso that ruptuerd his disc and had surgery and is now paralyzed from the middle of his back down. It seems like he gets better and better every day and it is very encouraging hearing all of your success stories. My heart goes out to Kady's parents, may she rest in peace. My Hershey is starting therapy on Saturday and I am hoping he will up and walking again real soon.
thats great the doggie is going great! now they should do that to humans.i know how you can love your pet you'd do any thing for them , they are family after all.
Reading all of the comments posted here reminds me why I chose to have back surgery done on my pekignese/poodle mix Duchess 10 years ago. She was almost 4 at the time her back legs went out. While the sugery did not make her walk again, she has doggie wheels that help her get around. She will be 14 years old in December, and many never expected her to make it this long. She has been such a wonderful addition to my family. Her love and resilience despite her issues could teach humans a lot! This research is very great news. Thanks for sharing all of your stories. God bless you all!