If you will have a Dachshund, it’s likely you will have heard how common Dachshund back injuries are.
Roughly one in 4, or 25%, of Dachshunds will experience a back injury of their lifetime.
Since you won’t ensure your Dachshund has the disease until an injury occurs, the very best thing you’ll be able to do is commit the warning signs of a back injury to memory and get your dog treatment immediately if you happen to see them.
Photo Credit: Depositphotos/FotoParaTi
To be clear, I’m NOT A VETERINARIAN. I can speak from my very own experience, knowledge, and stories I’ve heard from others but on no account does my “advice” replace that of a professional veterinarian.
How a Dachshund Can Injure Their Back
A Dachshund can develop a back injury in a single two scenarios – acute injury or from slow disk degeneration.
An example of an acute injury could be a automobile accident or falling several feet to the bottom and could be easily identifiable since you saw a definite injury occur.
Disk generation – when the spinal disks get brittle and dry over time – happens slowly over time and might’t be seen.
The delicate disks can fully or partially rupture, putting pressure on spinal nerves and causing pain and paralysis.
When this happens in a young Dachshund between 4 and seven years old, which is commonest, the premature aging of the disks is brought on by Hansen’s Type I Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD).
This genetic disease is expounded to the gene that creates the Dachshund’s long and low shape – the dwarfism, or chondrodystrophic, gene.
The reality is, in case your Dachshund has the gene that caused IVDD, you’ll be able to’t completely eliminate the prospect of your dog suffering a back injury.
In reality, dogs which have the disease will often hurt their backs doing normal things like playing or getting up from their bed.
In other words, there was not a definite outward cause for the injury.
At all times Watch Out For the Signs of a Dachshund Back Injury
I had studied the IVDD disease for years, and was keenly aware of the signs and symptoms of a Dachshund back injury, by the point it happened to my dog.
The minute myy miniature Dachshund Gretel began acting “off”, I rushed her to the emergency vet.
Gretel had the mildest type of injury that may be detected and our veterinarian said an enormous contributing factor to that’s how early I caught the signs.
My veterinarian said too many individuals miss the early signs and don’t realize their Dachshund needs medical attention until the spinal injury has advanced.
Often, a Dachshund owner might briefly notice something that provides them pause but they brush it off as a fluke, or think they imagined it, when the sign or symptom appears to go away.
But sometimes the primary sign is essentially the most extreme after which the affects fade over time (in other cases, the signs start out mild and worsen).
Dachshund owners absolutely must pay attention to the warning signs to look at for and make note of any unusual behavior, even when it seems small.
Sometimes the signs and symptoms of a Dachshund back injury are usually not obvious but, as a substitute, it’s a set of small indicators taken together that indicate something is seriously improper.
20 Signs Your Dachshund May Have a Back Injury
In case your Dachshund displays any of those signs or symptoms, please take her or him to the vet immediately to get tested for a possible IVDD related back injury.
These signs and symptoms may be divided into two principal categories – pain and neurological symptoms (because of compromised nerves).
Signs and symptoms that indicate back pain:
Unfortunately, your Dachshund can’t inform you once they are in pain.
Luckily, there are behaviors, or lack thereof, that may indicate your Dachshund is in pain.
1) Shivering or shaking
Dachshunds tend to shiver or shake even under normal circumstances.
But shivering or shaking together with any of the opposite signs or symptoms below can indicate your dog is in pain.
2) Lack of Appetite
Most Dachshunds I’ve met are obsessive about food.
In case your Dachshund is in pain – which is a sort or severe stress on the body – they could refuse to eat food or treats.
If that is unusual in your Dachshund, take note.
3) Tense abdomen/belly
Your Dachshund’s muscles may tighten from stress or as their body’s attempts to supply support for an injured spine.
4) Standing with their back hunched
In case your Dachshund’s back is injured, they could stand in a way that helps to alleviate this pain.
Mostly, a Dachshund who suffered a mid or low back injury will stand in a hunched position.
5) Holding the pinnacle down or at an angle
Most IVDD related back injuries in Dachshunds occur within the lower or mid back. But some occur within the neck area.
As with the above, your Dachshund may stand in a way that helps relieve pain.
If the spinal injury occurs within the neck, a Dachshund will often hold their head down or at an angle.
Sometimes, Dachshunds with a back injury will do that too though.
6) Reluctance to walk
Your dog’s spine supports all of their movements.
In case your Dachshund’s back is injured, moving in any respect can put pressure on, or tweak, the injured area.
For that reason, many Dachshunds experiencing a back injury will refuse to walk or will only make very minimal, crucial movements.
7) Yelping or crying out if you happen to try to choose them up
As you will have probably gathered from the descriptions of the signs and symptoms to date, if a Dachshund has a back injury, they may do every little thing they will to stop pressure and movement of the spine.
It will probably be painful if you happen to try to choose your dog up so that they may wince, cry, or yelp once you do.
8) Rapid or shallow respiratory
Pain causes stress on the body, which might manifest as rapid and shallow respiratory.
9) Hiding in a corner or den
Perhaps to avoid being touched by people, to stop movement, or because they’re scared, a Dachshund in pain will often hide.
They are going to normally hide of their dog crate if you happen to use one or your dog may hide in a corner or under furniture.
10) Aggressive reactions
A dog in pain will often act aggressively once you try to the touch or handle them.
11) Doesn’t need to go up stairs or jump on furniture
A dog in pain will attempt to self limit their movements.
In case your dog normally jumps up or down from furniture, uses stairs in or across the house, or uses a dog ramp, and refuses to go up or down like they normally do, this likely indicates pain.
12) Looks more anxious than normal
Some Dachshunds are naturally more anxious than others.
In case your Dachshund looks more anxious than whatever their normal is, it could indicate pain.
13) Not going potty for a very long time (too painful)
This was a brand new one to me that I noticed during my Dahcshund’s most up-to-date IVDD back flare up.
She normally goes potty on demand after I ask her to but she refused to go potty for over 6 hours.
I finally found out, after I gave her pain medicine, that she wasn’t going since it hurt an excessive amount of to crouch to go potty.
Signs and symptoms that would indicate a pinched or compressed nerve:
When a spinal disk bulges or ruptures, it puts pressure on the encircling nerves.
These nerves control many muscle movements so if the nerve is compressed or damaged, you’re more likely to notice some neurological symptoms.
14) Limping
There may be other causes when your dog limps or skips a leg once they walk, but either are definitely also signs of a possible back injury.
15) Walking wobbly or “drunk”
The subsequent step up from merely limping in severity is the lack of your Dachshund to have full use of their legs.
This may often manifest as walking in a wobbly fashion, sometimes described as walking drunk.
16) Unable to arise
In case your Dachshund’s legs aren’t working properly and are lacking strength, they will likely be unable to arise.
Or at the very least they may struggle to do it.
A movement from sitting to standing can even cause pain so it might be more of a pain indicator than one in every of neurological symptoms.
17) Dragging back legs
In case your Dachshund can arise with their front end but their back legs can’t move, they could walk with their back legs dragging.
18) Unable to wag their tail
In case your Dachshund’s spine is broken, their brain may not have the opportunity to send a signal to their tail to wag.
19) Not going potty for a chronic time frame (inability to precise themselves)
Your Dachshund not going potty for a very long time is on the list again because there could also be multiple case.
Along with the pain cause listed within the section above, it might be that your dog can’t go potty since the nerves are so compressed or damaged they will’t command their bowels or bladder to contract and empty.
20) Lack of bladder or bowel control (incontinence)
One other symptom of the brain’s inability to properly regulate nerve signals and muscle control is incontinence.
This principally implies that poo or pee may come out at random times and without your Dachshund realizing they’re going potty.
In case you notice any of those signs and symptoms, especially in case your dog is displaying greater than 3 at the identical time, contact your veterinarian immediately.
What to Tell Your Vet If You Suspect IVDD
It’s most helpful if you happen to can list the entire symptoms your dog is displaying to your veterinarian.
I do know it may possibly be really stressful when your Dachshund is in pain.
It’s also scary if you happen to think your dog is suffering an IVDD related back injury.
If you’re stressed and scared, it may possibly be difficult to maintain your thoughts straight.
So that you just don’t forget to say a relevant sign or symptom of IVDD back injury to your vet, I created the below checklist for you.
Check off the symptoms you see immediately but additionally proceed to ascertain off recent ones if you happen to notice them between the initial incident and once you contact your vet.
Remember, nothing is just too small to notice. In case you think you see one in every of this stuff for even a second, put a check mark next to it.
If you’re scared your dog could have IVDD, your brain may begin to play tricks on you.
It could attempt to persuade you that you just didn’t see an indication or symptom once you did.
CLICK FOR A PRITABLE VERSION OF THE CHECKLIST
You may also need to let your vet know:
- The time and date you noticed the primary symptom
- What happened right before you noticed the sign or symptom (circumstances) – do not forget that is normal for nothing unusual to occur before a disk ruptures
- Actions Taken (see below)
I suggest printing this checklist and hanging it where the entire family can see just like the refrigerator or family message board within the hallway.
Actions to Take If You Suspect Your Dachshund Has a Back Injury
If you see any of the above signs and symptoms and suspect your Dachshund has a back injury, please take immediate motion.
The degree of your dog’s IVDD injury (Stage 1-5), and your Dachshund’s recovery, could depend upon it!
First, keep your Dachshund from moving around as much as possible.
The “gold standard” for that is confining your dog to a small dog crate to stop them from movng around much.
But in case your Dachshund will not be comfortable resting in a dog crate, restricting movement any way you’ll be able to is best than nothing.
Another kinds of enclosures that may help restrict movement are:
- A dog playpen stuffed with blankets
- A laundry basket stuffed with blankets
- A dog stroller
Read this text for more recommendations on care in your Dachshund immediately after you believe you studied a back injury.
Once you will have immobilized your Dachshund to the very best of your ability, call your regular veterinarian or take your dog to a 24-hour emergency clinic for assessment and initial treatment.
