recovery from head trauma

Question
My dog was in a car accident three days ago. She sustained a head injury following which her pupil response was abnormal, one leg was stiff and her left side (the trauma was on the right side of her head) was flacid. She has been treated with steroids and is on a drip for fluids. In the first 48 hours her general appearance and pupil reflex improved and movement in her left side also improved. However, she is still unable to stand up and has made little improvement in the last 24 hours. We anticipate that she will come home in two days to be cared for by us. Is there anything we can do to help her and to increase the likelihood or her recovering sufficient movement to be able to stand unsupported and walk?

Answer
Hi Trish,

Thank you for writing to me regarding your dog's injuries after her car accident.  It is obvious that she is in a state of shock and was seriously injured, possibly with a concussion and some brain/nerve damage.  Depending on her age and health, recovery will take time, how much, is unclear at this early stage.  If she doesn't regain movement in her leg, you will want to either buy or build her a doggie wheelchair to help her navigate and have a quality of life.  There is also a Hock Splint that can give support to her leg.  Here is just one of the websites that offer medical appliances to help injured dogs.     http://handicappedpets.com/www/index.php/leg-splints.html/    If you search on google, a lot more will come up for your consideration.

I would make sure that she gets a lot of fluids and some high quality human grade food.  I prefer real foods, like grass fed beef, free range chicken, grass fed lamb which you should have easy access to in your country...but be sure to remove as much of the fat as you can, lots of fresh veggies also (no onions or avocados.  

There are also suppliments that are helpful in traumatic brain injury recovery.  Here are some sites for your consideration:

http://www.proceraavh.com/

http://www.herbalhealer.com/brain.html  (NEURORECOVERY)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11079535

I would also recommend acupuncture.  Since there appears to be nerve damage, the sooner you take her for acupuncture, the better chance of restoration to her brain and body.  Time is of the essence.

She is going to need a lot of quiet music (I would recommend playing Mozart very softly) and gentle stroking to calm her nervous system.  I would give her some calcium every day to help calm her and some Rescue Remedy.   If you look at the Bach Flower remedies on their website you can find some remedies that pertain to her situation and administer them to her.

I hope that she has a speedy recovery.  Best of luck to both of you.

Warm Regards,
Shelley Davis

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