Recovery from Fibrocartilaginous embolism of the spine, one year later, 11 year old German Shepherd

If you have a dog with FCE, please read this.

Videos are from beginning of recovery and one year post FCE.

On Thanksgiving Day in 2023, my sweet baby Jane was fine in the morning before Thanksgiving preparations, and then after dinner, I found her completely down in the rear, unable to get up at all. A trip to the vet determined the likely diagnosis was FCE (fibrocartilaginous embolism). She had positive antibodies for Lyme disease, meaning she had at least been exposed. However, the vet did not believe Lyme was the cause of the rear paralysis due to the sudden onset.

I was sure I would have to put her down. Jane is over 90 lb, so because of my bad back, I could not lift her many times a day to help her outside. My friend Stan was at the vet with me as I tried to decide what to do. After talking to the vet, he said he’d stay with me and help. He said she had too much life left in her to not give her a chance. I remain eternally grateful to him for his help.

Here is what we did, which I believe allowed for her recovery:

The vet prescribed doxycycline to treat the Lyme disease, if she indeed had it. She also prescribed steroids just in case they might help. Generally, according to my vet, there is no treatment for FCE, just supportive care. She said some dogs recover partially or fully, and some dogs just don’t recover.

We did not do any scans or MRIs, just x-rays which showed a normal spine. X-rays cannot diagnose FCE. FCE was a diagnosis by default based on clinical signs.

Here is a link to a description of FCE: https://www.fitzpatrickreferrals.co.uk/neurology/fibrocartilaginous-embolism-fce/

At first, Jane could not move at all in her rear. She tried very little to get up because she knew she could not. I petted her a lot and just sat with her. I combed her because she likes to be groomed. After a couple of weeks, I noticed that her legs moved slightly, as if involuntarily, when I ran a comb or brush across them. If I trimmed her toenails, sometimes she slightly jerked them away, just like most dogs do. This gave me hope: she was getting a little bit of movement back, and she might recover.

In the first couple of weeks, she developed ulcerations on her hind legs. This was from where they pressed together as she was lying down all the time. She developed bloody sores on the tops of her hind feet from where she would drag them. We put straw all over the backyard where she went out to do her business so she did not drag her toes on rocks, despite our efforts to elevate her rear.

For many months, using a sling, Stan took Jane outside four times a day. For some strange reason, she retained bowel and bladder control. As she gradually regained strength, and was able to bear some weight on her hind legs, I was able to start taking her out. Eventually, she started moving her legs as if she were walking even though the sling supported her weight.

We tried to keep her hind feet completely off the ground at first. But as she started trying to use them, we tried to let them touch the ground so she could attempt to bear weight. If we held them up too high, she didn’t have a chance to use them, but at least the tops of her feet did not get bloody. But if we held them down too far, she dragged her feet and got the sores. So it was a very small window of holding the sling just right. Not easy with a heavy dog during a muddy winter. I don’t think Stan ever fell down in the mud, but I did.

We noticed right away that when she had to pee or poop she could separate her hind legs a little bit. So we would lower her to the ground and position her legs for her a bit so she could pee or poop while we held most of her weight with the sling. I really don’t know how she did it. There was a great amount of pressure on her pelvis from the sling, yet she still managed to control her bowel and bladder. And she never peed or pooped on herself or even stepped in it. I have no idea how she managed to do this. Gradually she was able to separate her legs more and more. For some reason, these muscles worked better than the muscles that moved her legs forward and back. Throughout all this she was completely cooperative and seemed to understand that we were trying to help her and that we were a team.

At first, I hand fed Jane. She could get her front up on her chest in a sternal position, but no more than that. Later, as she regained strength, she tried desperately to stand to eat by herself. At first, we supported her totally with the sling. Gradually, she was able to stand with less support. Many times, she would sway to the side and almost fall. And we would steady her to help her stand and finish her food.

Here she is, one of the first times she was able to remain standing to drink water:

We had to frequently place her feet correctly on the floor/ground as she would try to stand on the tops of her toes with them knuckled under as if she could not feel their position. Lifting up on the sling and setting her feet gently back down also allowed them to go into the correct position.

After about two and a half months, Jane plateaued and did not seem to be getting any better. I tried a product called Myos. It is a product that is supposed to build muscle in senior pets. (It is also used in some bodybuilding formulas for humans, under the name fortetropin.) The damage to Jane’s spine damaged her nerves, not her muscles directly. But her muscles did atrophy due to the nerve damage. I believe this product helped her regain some muscle. Her muscles are obviously not as strong as they used to be, but I do believe they are improved because of this product. I have kept her on it for almost the whole year. I tried to take her off of it for a while (because I wasn’t sure it was helping and it’s very expensive), but she regressed a bit, so I immediately put her back on it.

Here is a link to where to buy Myos Canine Muscle Formula:

https://myos.pet/3Wstf1A

Also, I think Jane responded to the love and care she got from me and Stan. And, she’s a very smart dog. She knew to cooperate with us and that we were trying to help her. I don’t know if she was aware of the fact that she was very slowly getting better, although sometimes it seemed like just my imagination! Many times, she seemed impatient to get back to her normal self. She always wanted to pick things up and carry them and play fetch, her favorite thing. So she certainly did not lose her zest for life at any point.

I kept her separate from my other dogs at first because I was afraid they would knock her over. Eventually I let her back in with her brother, Johnny, who lets her boss him around. He is the other dog you see in the videos. He is also 11 (Jane’s littermate).

I have steps in my backyard, and Jane was used to going up and down the steps. So naturally, she tried to do this again, but we didn’t let her. But because her front had gotten so strong to compensate from her weak rear, she was able to go up the steps way before she could go down the steps. She still has trouble going down the steps, and as recently as a few weeks ago, I saw her twist to the side and go down onto her hip on the last step. So, I still discourage her from using the steps to go down. But she does a great job going up the steps, as you can see in the videos. I do not allow her to have access to the full flight of steps inside that goes to my upper floor. I am terrified that she would just fall all the way down the steps.

Enjoy the videos. It makes me cry to see how far she has come.

I hope this post helps someone decide to give their dog the chance to recover. It’s a lot of hard work, but so rewarding. I think if the tables had been turned, Jane would have done the same for me.

I am giving thanks this Thanksgiving Day for my sweet baby Jane.