The deus ex machina failed to appear today. I really had hopes that we would get exceptionally good news today, but alas, such was not the case. We loaded Murray up in half of his airline crate (so he was well-contained in the car, not sloshing around), and took him a couple municipalities over to meet with a neurologist. After seeing the X-rays at his new permanent vet, and watching him twitch his legs and seem to want to move them as if he had control over them, I was building up a good head of steam, thinking that we'd be sent along to physical therapy where, with work, he'd get up on three legs regularly, and gain independence that he has never known before. However, the neurologist had a less favorable view of his capacity for muscle mastery. Yes, Murray can move his legs, but while the twitches seem to be voluntary from the outside, they really aren't that well controlled, and he has greatly diminished capacity for deep pain, or it is lacking entirely. We watched him pinch all along Murray's feet with blunt forceps, and he withdrew his legs, but never once yelped like he actually felt pain. This is a bad indicator of nerve communication up along the spinal column. There were no obvious breaks or malformed vertebrae on his X-rays, but that medium can't tell the whole story. To know whether there is a mass, or some other sort of soft tissue defect (congenital or formed by infection), we would have to get an MRI. That next step would cost us $2000, just for the imaging. No idea how much surgery would cost, if it were even indicated as promising. I asked about physical therapy, and he said it might do some good, over many visits with lots of work, and lots of money. I might be running in to that whole surgeon versus physical therapist turf war, but I didn't pursue it enough to tick the guy off this morning.
So now we are back at square one, with a dog who is growing into his adult body and adult weight, who needs to be hauled around to get in and out of his wheelchair several times a day, and who urinates wildly in any direction when he is lifted. I spent the entire drive home deep in thought about the concept of doggie diapers, and how to make them stay put and effective. There are websites where diaper wraps for male dogs are sold, but most of those seem to be nothing more than a wide, elasticized cummerbund. Murray has more issues than that, particularly the sores created by his wheelchair harness rubbing against the side of his leg, and the callus formed by a year of dragging and bouncing along on his "sit bones." Online, they sell a kind of harness that is like shorts for a dog, that leaves his drippy bits exposed, but puts a handle on the hips/base of tail, for dogs who need just a little boost to get around (or those who need to be carried like a suitcase, like this one). It is possible that if I looked long enough, I would find a product that combines my two needs, but as it is, these individual products are already fairly spendy. Something so specialized, if it exists, is probably more than I want to spend on something that will be peed on every day. Also, it turns out that I'm clever and have over 30 years of clothing design experience (I started very young). I spent a couple hours wandering through the fabric store (five weeks before Christmas -- the line for fabric cutting was LONG), picking out some fabrics for Murray's shorts, that will combine hip padding, a back handle, and a spot to secure some sort of disposable liner for pee. I picked out three to start with, in durable fabrics, with little patterned accents to make them fashionable, and a soft muslin liner so they don't chafe him. I assume three is enough to start, so there's always a clean one while the others are in the wash. I haven't done any cutting yet. Once I have a prototype made, I'll show it off.
Now I just need to get the nerve to go to the grocery store and buy some Poise pads. Maybe I'll wear a sign around my neck that says, "They're for my dog! I am fully continent."
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