Mastiff just diagnosed with Discospondylitis

Species: Dog

Age: 3

Sex/Neuter status: Male, Neutered

Breed: Brazilian Mastiff (rescued)

Body weight: 118lbs (altho he's underweight right now)

Your general location: Pensacola, FL

Recovery Google Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ce2yimnCLM6Dc1hBA

Our Mastiff Angus, was just diagnosed with Discospondylitis Wednesday after his MRI.

He had a double rear leg TPLO surgery Mar 18 and had been recovering awfully. He started losing bowel control and his tail became flacid. As well as knuckling his back legs.

He would scream out in pain while walking and getting up, but we attributed everything to just an unlucky and awful recovery from TPLO.

We finally got him the MRI when we realized it wasn't that he couldn't stand long enough/wasn't strong enough due to muscle atrophy to poop, like we originally thought, but his anal tone was unresponsive (wouldn't clench or pucker at all).

The MRI definitively revealed severe Discospondylitis is his lower spine L7-S1 and surgery was deemed to risky to spread infection and potentially make it worse. So we are on an aggressive antibiotics regime, while we await all the blood, urine and spinal fluid cultures to come back and narrow down what kind of infection (fungal vs bacterial, Brucella, etc).

Baytril and Clavamox for antibiotics, Gabapentin and Acetamenaphin + Codeine for pain.

If he hadn't been in TPLO recovery, we would have done diagnostics so much sooner. But we had xrays and ultrasoinds done after TPLO that were all clear! It wasn't until the loss of anal tone and flacid tail that we got the MRI and I feel awful that we waited so long not realizing how much pain he was in, just thinking he was being dramatic after his TPLO surgery which xrays showed healed just fine.

I just wanted to see what experiences you all have had with it to help guide how hopeful I should be. Right now, I feel like I've lost hope of him regaining bowel control which is a huge quality of life factor for him.

I joined a few Facebook groups for TPLO recovery, paralyzed dogs and the one and only Facebook group for Discospondylitis in Dogs and a few other dog owners had dogs with it, and one great dane regained the ability to urinate on its own after 3 weeks of antibiotics.

Im just so heartbroken as he is only 3 years old and what should have been just a normal orthapedic surgery has turned into the worst luck ever and he has a spine infection now.