partial facial paralysis.. how can i help my dog blink - Pet forum for dogs cats and humans

babyrocky1 · #1 December 19th, 2014, 06:46 PM

Hi everyone, It's Debbie From the Ontario "Pit Bull" Co-op, my little staffy Pearl has developed paralysis on one side of her face...... this happened on December 1st...... since then she has had emergency surgery to pul a k9 tooth. today when i took her back to the vet, he said that her eye paralysis would be permanent and despite keeping her eye lubricated, without the ability to blink she will have to have her eye removed.
HOWEVER..... the internet says that it's not considered permanent unti after six months.... i have exhausted my emergency funds with the two surgeries... and obviously do NOT want her to lose her eye!
I have just heard from someone whose dog went through this and after a few months the dog was able to blink again..... has anyone experienced this? I am told it's common and is there any vitamins or therapy that could help her? For instance, an exercise i could help do with her to help her get more movement in her eye.... her eye still focuses but she can barely blink and doesn't completely close her eye when sleeping. It's only been twenty days and a surgery in the last week. I would assume being under anesthetic for the other surgery, espcially on a tooth so close to those nerves would delay her progress.

Barkingdog · #2 December 19th, 2014, 07:47 PM

You could check into acupuncture treatments but you need to be careful and made sure the person know how to treat animals

MaxaLisa · #3 December 19th, 2014, 08:21 PM

Acupuncture would be a great idea!! I would also consider a chiropractor, since the neck/jaw might have been manipulated in a funny way while under anesthesia and may now be misaligned. I have to see a chiro after each and every dentist appointment, and it takes me several appointments before my head is back on straight! www.avcadoctors.com

Personally, I would consider some doxycycline in case there is a latent tick infection, since lyme is one of the top reasons for Bell's palsy. It can also reduce inflammation that might be caused by anything viral, which, in humans, is a common cause of problems.

Vit C, alpha lipoic acid might help.

babyrocky1 · #4 December 28th, 2014, 08:21 PM

thanks so much, I asked about lyme disease, he said it isn't.... she was protected every month other than November as that was the month she had the first surgery and i was concerned about too much "stuff" in her system.

Barkingdog · #5 December 28th, 2014, 11:16 PM

Did the vet test your dog for Lyme disease? My dog got it and I was using ticks and fleas drops on him.

babyrocky1 · #6 December 29th, 2014, 10:07 AM

hi didn't test but said it was not Lyme disease. Pearl was given Advantage for the summer, i stopped in November when she had her first surgery.

Barkingdog · #7 December 29th, 2014, 12:46 PM

I would find another vet if they would not test give my dog a test I wanted it to have.

Longblades · #8 December 29th, 2014, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by babyrocky1

hi didn't test but said it was not Lyme disease. Pearl was given Advantage for the summer, i stopped in November when she had her first surgery.

Advantage only combats fleas. It does nothing to ward off ticks and Lyme Disease is spread by a tick bite.

No med. is 100% effective for all dogs anyway so she could still have flea bites or tick bites even if treated.

The linked article below says Lymes IS a cause of facial paralysis in humans but it's not proven to be a cause in dogs, yet. YET, meaning that's not known for sure yet. From this article it seems at the very least a full blood profile should be done.

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/...esis?page=show