Registered: Nov 2015
Location: Western North Carolina
Posts: 84

Our Nugget has been down the past few days and the vets have finally ruled it down to two things, one being CP. He's now showing more symptoms of that than actual nervous system failure, so they're beginning to lean more and more towards Coonhound Paralysis.
That said, I'm completely in the dark on the subject. I've heard about it before and have been trying to read up on it now but it seems like there's so little information/knowledge on the subject that I have virtually no idea what to do. I was hoping some of you could shed light on the situation? I've had my share of sick/injured dogs but this takes the cake. There's nothing worse than your dog being fine one minute and then the next it trying to drag itself towards you unable to stand.
He has complete feeling of all four legs and can move them, but he can't control them. He can move them just enough to scoot himself around if he wants but otherwise, nothing. He's otherwise fine, his mental state has cleared, he gained his appetite. I've been having to force fluids into him but he was never a big drinker to begin with. He'll wag his tail at me, roll around on his back, and of course he'll work his "help me, I'm sick" eyes while I'm in the kitchen cooking. Aside from being frustrated and a little scared (and of course the obvious paralysis) he's same old Nugget.
I've been giving him antibiotics (an article I read talked about it being or possibly being bacterial) and some Pedialyte, he's been eating his standard raw chicken and some canned food mixed with the Pedialyte. I've been regularly massaging out his legs and flipping him over, his legs aren't staying as cold. When I made him sit up, he was able to hold it for about 30 seconds which was an improvement from initially toppling over the second I let him go.
I would love to hear about anyone elses experience with Coonhound Paralysis, good or bad. I don't really know what to expect or how long to expect it. I am aware that putting him down is a looming threat, but if there's anything I can do to help his healing process along to where that isn't a solution, I'm all ears!

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My dog got bite by a coon last night of season a few days later was same way !I had him it basement in a crate till may. He lost his voice , couldn't walk, had to hand feed him and water him!it will get worse before it gets better u will feel like its most human thing to do please wait only one thing u can hope for that it doesn't effect his diafram and he can't breath mine is just now getting completely over it and its been 3 years I just made a Nitech he's not as a good as he was but close!! If you have any? My number is 1-330-440-1306

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quote:

---

Originally posted by damon shivers
My dog got bite by a coon last night of season a few days later was same way !I had him it basement in a crate till may. He lost his voice , couldn't walk, had to hand feed him and water him!it will get worse before it gets better u will feel like its most human thing to do please wait only one thing u can hope for that it doesn't effect his diafram and he can't breath mine is just now getting completely over it and its been 3 years I just made a Nitech he's not as a good as he was but close!! If you have any? My number is 1-330-440-1306

---

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What is your vet doing? Does he offer a treatment plan?

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quote:

---

Originally posted by croatankid
What is your vet doing? Does he offer a treatment plan?

---

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I've had two dogs have it. It effected both a little differently. Both got over it but it took them about 3 months. It's not bacterial its virul so there is no cure. You have to let it run its course.

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Been years since i had a dog come down with this. What i do remember is the Vet put him on steroids and high protien foods. Took a month or so but he eventually came out of it.

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Can people get coon paralysis? A virus like that could be deadly to a human.

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I had a female get it years ago.It took her around three months to get over it.Imade a box about three feet square and filled it with soft prairie hay for her to lay in.I was lucky as i got her into Iowa State Unniversity,they were very knowlegable about it.They gave her some meds,unfortuanately i dont remember what the treatment was but there is treatment for it if you can find someone familiar with it.If you want to talk about itmy number is 309-797-2023.Going out of town this weekend but will be back sunday.

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If your willing to put the time in the dog should make a complete recovery. Mine never seemed to regain complete strength in her back legs but she was also 9-10 years old. You can usually make food appealing enough they will eat but mine wasn't gettin enough water intake on her own and we pretty much poured it into her. Other then that biggest prob will be to keep Rollin the dog to a dif position often enough to minimize the pressure sores. Mine was down couple months and rehab to get her strength back maybe 6 months. Long road ahead either way wish ya the best. If it helps mine recovered and at age 10 won ten casts in a row !

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It's called idiopathic polyradiculoneuritis if that helps you find more information.

The only treatment is supportive care (which you seem to be doing a great job with!) unless he develops respiratory paralysis, at which point he would require a ventilator. Not sure what they gave you antibiotics for, but if he got bit by a raccoon it can't hurt, but won't affect the course of the paralysis.

Basically, coming off your spinal cord you have two nerve roots - we'll call them "top" and "bottom" for the sake of argument. "Top" is what lets you feel stuff (like if you poke him in the leg), "bottom" lets you respond (if he were to pull his leg away). CP affects "bottom", which is why he can feel, he just can't get up. It's an autoimmune thing where the nerve roots demyelinate - the protective sheath gets eaten up and it affects conduction.

Rage was down for ~6 weeks, never had a respiratory issue, and we just made sure to keep her eating/drinking and try to keep her happy. It's been ~6 years and she's doing extremely well, no lasting effects.

Croatankid - google Guillain-Barre syndrome in humans, it's what CP has been compared to.

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He is already on high protein food and when he gets his appetite back for food that isn't coated in goodies (more like if), but I will definitely consider a steroid.
He's in a little better spirits today, I rigged him a way to be able to 'stand' up outside and he loved that. I've been massaging his legs to keep circulation going and I noticed that they've not been getting and staying as cold. He laid back up on his own today and I finally won the water battle and now he'll drink it just for the sake of not wanting me to force it in him lol.
I know we have a long road to recovery ahead but I'm willing to do whatever it takes for him.
Thank you so much Katie, that would yield more/better results in research I'm sure! And thank you for breaking it down and explaining it.
And thank you everyone else for your response, I've gotten a lot of good advice/tips on here and anything I can do to help my Nugget, I'm on it!

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Please keep us posted on nugget's progress.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by croatankid
Please keep us posted on nugget's progress.

---

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Registered: Dec 2003
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Time is the only cure. It can be fatal.
Keep the dog comfortable, clean and feed high protein food.

I used an air mattress for the dog to lie on. You can hose it off easily. It also seemed to make him more comfortable.

I feed and watered mine with a large turkey baister.

Be very careful. Dogs that have had it are more prone to get it again or so my vet said.

Good luck and I hope your hound makes a speedy recovery.

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From Dr. William Thomas at Univ of Tennessee School of Veterinary Medicine Neurology Dept.:

"Coon hound paralysis is an immune-mediated disease triggered by exposure to raccoon saliva in a sensitized dog. So once they develop an episode, relapse is expected if they are once again exposed to raccoon saliva. Relapses are common in coon hunting dogs, less common in other dogs because they are less likely to encounter raccoons.

Acute idiopathic polyradiculoneuritis is a similar syndrome in which the immune response is triggered by something other than a virus. This includes vaccines, infectious agents and in many cases we don't identify the inciting antigen. Relapse is not common but is possible if the dog is exposed to the particular antigen.

The term "coonhound paralysis" was first used by Kingma and Catcott in 1954, who recognized the importance of a racoon bite. Cummings et al in a series of publications starting in 1966 provided detailed clinical, laboratory and pathologic descriptions, confirmed the role of a raccoon bite and pointed out the similarity to Guillain-Barré syndrome in people.

In 1981, Northington et al reported 10 dogs with similar clinical features and no exposure to raccoons. They recognized the similarities to coonhound paralysis and GBS and called their syndrome acute idiopathic polyneuropathy.

How you divide this up is mostly semantics. Braund's book lists them as seperate diseases under the broad category "Polyradiculoneuritis", which also includes chronic forms. De Lahunta lists them as the same disease. Dewey's text states something like: coonhound paralysis refers to cases linked to raccon bite, acute idioapthic polyradiculneuritis refers to other cases.

The main practical significance is that if is due to a raccoon bite, raccoon expsoure should be avoided. If it's a hunting dog, it should probably be retired."

Here are some things to keep in mind when treating Coonhound Paralysis:
1. There is nothing that will change the course of this disease other than time. The use of steroids do not help change the course of disease.

2. Pain can be treated with NSAIDS such as Rimadyl, Previcox, Deramaxx, Metacam if needed but again will not change of the course of the disease.

3. Treatment is focused on Management and Supportive Care. Antibiotics may help prevent secondary infections such as bladder infections, and pneumonia due to aspiration. Clindamycin and Doxycycline are commonly prescribed.

4. Keep the patient sternal when feeding to avoid aspiration pneumonia. YOu can place sand bags on each side to support the patient while eating. Water beds and air mattresses, egg mattresses, and thick layer of straw all work well for bedding. Keep it dry and clean. Be sure to rotate the patient from side to side frequently through the day.

5. Keep the patient clean and dry. Use baby wipes to clean the skin from urine and feces twice daily or more often if needed. Treat any irritated skin with skin salves and cleanse with saline solutions.

6. Watch for urination problems and constipation. Canned pumpkin given twice daily at 1 tablespoon per 50 pounds works well. There are other products like Lactulose that can be given orally that helps soften the stool. Be sure there is fresh water available at all times and feed soft food with water added to increase hydration of the intestines/colon. If the dog isn't able to express her or his bladder then there are medications that can be given to help with bladder tone and you can learn how to manually express the bladder. It's not that difficult.

7. Monitor the dogs temp daily and notify your veterinarian if the temp is 103F or higher. This can be a sign of pneumonia or other infection.

8. Physical Therapy: Move the legs through flexion and extension many times through the day. When the dog is able to move the legs a little, then start swim therapy sessions. YOu can do this yourself by getting a life preserver for the dog and using a swimming pool or pond/lake daily. This really helps to speed up recovery.

9. Expect a 14 day to 1 month battle at minimum and possibly a multi month battle before seeing signs of improvement.

10. Feed good quality feeds with high quality proteins. I like the Victor Grain Free diets with Salmon or the Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach with Salmon. Eukanuba Performance and Pro Plan Sport Performance Salmon are good too. Just add water to soften the food and make it easier to swallow and add hydration.

Good luck!

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So far all is going as smoothly as I could ask for!
He made an effort today to actually move his back legs when I had him 'standing up'. I pad a short chair down with pillows and lay him over it so that he can touch all his feet to the ground without having to put pressure on them. He had no strength but he got both back feet under him and pushed around a little. It wasn't much but it's the most effort he's made yet!
He was a lot happier tonight, he even rolled up on his stomach and started howling at the sirens on TV (he used to run around his kennel like a whirlwind howling at sirens, it was a game for him) and that was a welcomed sight. Though I have to say he didn't have quite his usual voice and it made for awesome entertainment.
I have a vintage curved bench that I can turn upside down and it's great to put a thick blanket over and lay him on, he can 'stand up' with it too I have it set where he can watch out over the road/fields. He felt good enough to bark at a squirrel down in the road and then sass me when I told him to hush.

And he was actually happy to see and 'play' with Khaleesi also, even though it mostly consisted of her rolling around like a fool and him watching her trying to figure it out lol.

This was earlier this afternoon when I first put him on the chair. I started pinching his toes and he finally kicked his leg out, then it dawned on him that he could move his back legs freely and I caught his reaction.

He's maintained his humor, he pretends to roll over and stretch like he's slick or something, but nothing can disguise the fact that he only does it when someone goes into the kitchen and nothing can mask the feeling of eyes boring through you when the fridge door opens.

And also, he won the pity party and has successfully gathered blankets and pillows from the whole family. Some of which he doesn't even use but you know, 'just in case'.


Regardless of how well he recovers, this probably spells retirement for him. Dad and I actually talked about it last night since we co-own him together. Of course he'll pleasure hunt him every now and then if that's in the cards, but it won't be near as often. Like Allen Hallada said, if they get it once they're more likely to get it again and there's no way I could put Nugget through this again. I have recently talked to someone who went through this with their dog and ultimately finished it out to GRWCH and GRFCH so there are other options for him. He's FCH pointed so hopefully in the future he gets to finish it out. As far as nite hunts, he never finished to NITECH but we have hunt trophies from all over thanks to him and irreplaceable memories. We only got a year to campaign him but in that year he did so much more than we expected. His last major show before this happened was down at the Winter Classic - I spent all of 2015 just trying to keep him in the UKC Show Dog Top Ten and I did and I got to take him to the finals. It was an awesome feeling to even be there but he made some serious memories when he beat three other Top Ten dogs (including the 2015 World Show Champion) for the title of 2015 UKC Top Ten Overall American Leopard Hound. Looking back, that was the best 'farewell show' I could've ever asked for.
His competition days may be over but his life appears far from it! I know it's still early, but his breathing has stayed regular, pneumonia hasn't set in, he's kept an alert and clear mind. We're taking it one day at a time and so far so good! I'll breathe a lot easier when he starts taking his own steps but for now I'm a lot more relieved with all the replies everywhere I've posted and ongoing support. Having this happen with zero knowledge of the subject was beyond scary but I now feel a lot better and I can't possibly thank everyone enough!

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quote:

---

Originally posted by ahallada

1. There is nothing that will change the course of this disease other than time. The use of steroids do not help change the course of disease.

2. Pain can be treated with NSAIDS such as Rimadyl, Previcox, Deramaxx, Metacam if needed but again will not change of the course of the disease.

3. Treatment is focused on Management and Supportive Care. Antibiotics may help prevent secondary infections such as bladder infections, and pneumonia due to aspiration. Clindamycin and Doxycycline are commonly prescribed.

4. Keep the patient sternal when feeding to avoid aspiration pneumonia. YOu can place sand bags on each side to support the patient while eating. Water beds and air mattresses, egg mattresses, and thick layer of straw all work well for bedding. Keep it dry and clean. Be sure to rotate the patient from side to side frequently through the day.

5. Keep the patient clean and dry. Use baby wipes to clean the skin from urine and feces twice daily or more often if needed. Treat any irritated skin with skin salves and cleanse with saline solutions.

6. Watch for urination problems and constipation. Canned pumpkin given twice daily at 1 tablespoon per 50 pounds works well. There are other products like Lactulose that can be given orally that helps soften the stool. Be sure there is fresh water available at all times and feed soft food with water added to increase hydration of the intestines/colon. If the dog isn't able to express her or his bladder then there are medications that can be given to help with bladder tone and you can learn how to manually express the bladder. It's not that difficult.

7. Monitor the dogs temp daily and notify your veterinarian if the temp is 103F or higher. This can be a sign of pneumonia or other infection.

8. Physical Therapy: Move the legs through flexion and extension many times through the day. When the dog is able to move the legs a little, then start swim therapy sessions. YOu can do this yourself by getting a life preserver for the dog and using a swimming pool or pond/lake daily. This really helps to speed up recovery.

9. Expect a 14 day to 1 month battle at minimum and possibly a multi month battle before seeing signs of improvement.

10. Feed good quality feeds with high quality proteins. I like the Victor Grain Free diets with Salmon or the Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach with Salmon. Eukanuba Performance and Pro Plan Sport Performance Salmon are good too. Just add water to soften the food and make it easier to swallow and add hydration.

Good luck!

---

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Your dog is so fortunate to have a caring person like you. You are setting a great example for other coonhound owners. This reminds me of how hard I worked to care for my dog in her last days. The pumpkin is good. I gave it to my dog and now I give it to my other four dogs. I also give them yogert to aid their digestive tract. I'm looking forward to your next updates. Good luck to you and your dog. Yes, I prayed for the two of you.

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I agree, sounds like you are all over it. Will take a while but she should be fine.

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It got worse before it started getting better, there were a few days where putting him down seemed like the only thing we could do. For almost a week he got to where he could only move his tail or tilt his head, but couldn't even lift it. And today I'm proud to say that he's spent the past almost two weeks walking without assistance and has gotten to the point where he can climb up hills a short distance, up 3-4 stairs, and I've even caught him trotting a few strides! He's still very far from recovered, but he's gained some weight back and just a small bit of muscle tone. He's still got one squirrely back leg but its improving daily and he's learned how far he can and can't push himself. He still goes crazy when he sees the bench, if I pull it out I have to put him on it before I can even think about starting to work with the other dogs. He can hold a stack for about 5 seconds and looks so proud of it afterwards. But I guess since showing was as much a part of his life as hunting, being able to (kind of) do that again must feel like he's getting back to his normal. Its just such a relief to look out and see him milling about in the yard or digging around on his porch bed. Little things you never even noticed before become like the greatest milestones! I wouldn't ever wish this on anyone else.

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https://youtu.be/LVbGBG3iu78

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Glad ur dog is improving. Never heard of CP until one night I told a co-worker that had Walkers that r dogs caught a coon on the ground and killed it. I was worried they might get it, but they were fine.
We have my son's dog because she ran into a tree and hurt her back. She wasn't allowed up for a month so.we had to express her urine and do physical therapy. We used the egg shell mattress cover but she still got bedsores. I used gall salve, Nu stock and some other meds I have here for horses. She stiill doesn't have complete function of her back legs and can't pick up her tail, but she's a happy dog and smiles all the time ...even chases a deer now and then and comes home with her belly all scraped up. Swimming is one of her greatest pleasures. If you have a pond close by u might want to see if it helps Nugget. Hope he gets well.

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Location: Rocky Mount, NC
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I just went through this with my dog and he lost the battle. He actually got CP twice this hunting season. The first time he recovered in about 3 weeks, but it wasn't diagnosed as CP, and was in hunting shape by the end of the season. Carried him hunting the last night and he got tangled up with one. 11 days later he started showing signs of being stiff legged. The next morning he was paralyzed in his back end. Took him to the vet and they poked and prodded and finally decided that he had CP and this is what he had had earlier in the year.
I read that once they have it the first time is could be worse the second time around. And it was. I noticed the stiff legs on a Tuesday evening, paralysis started Wednesday and he died at about 8 pm Sunday. The second go around he was completely paralyzed from his head to his tail. He couldn't move anything but his eyes and tongue. He stopped eating and drinking on Saturday afternoon and his breathing and heart rate were getting very irregular.
I put him in a kiddie pool with straw in it but had a large absorbent pad under the straw to soak up the urine so it didn't burn him. I kept him turned every 2-4 hours and massaged his legs. Extremely difficult to watch a 70lb 4 year old male not be able to do a thing.
The turkey baster suggestion is a good one because when mine stopped drinking I tried to pour water in his mouth but I was worried about him aspirating the water. He would bite at the water bottle like he was pissed at it.
I will never intentionally let any dog of mine get a hold of a coon that is still alive. Sometimes it will happen, but I will do my best to shoot them out dead or finish them off before I let the dogs get some fur. I don't ever want to have to see a dog suffer like mine did.

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One item not mentioned yet, the predisposition towards CP is genetic.

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