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GYPSY Gypsy first indicated she was in pain on February 2, 2003. She was initially undergoing crate rest but still ruptured a disk. She subsequently lost the ability to walk, and she underwent surgery on February 20th. She returned home on the 24th, still unable to walk. After two weeks of physical therapy, she started acupuncture treatments and supplements of Ester C and Vitamin E. She started moving and using her legs after the first treatment. By the fourth treatment she was walking. She has now had five treatments and she is able to run. |
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OSCAR Well Oscar is just over 5 years old now. My husband
brought me home my little bundle of joy on my birthday almost 5 years
ago. He has always been an active dog and if only I had known that
his everyday activity of jumping on and off the bed would end up causing
him to eventually rupture a disc in his back I would have never allowed
it. He had his surgery February of this year because that was his
only alternative. I could not see him going through such horrible
pain so we did what was recommended. Oscar was lucky in that he never
lost feeling in his hind quarters and even walked into the surgeons
office the day of his surgery. They operated on him to remove the
calcified disc material and fenestrated the other discs that are known
to be susceptible to injury. He also walked out after his surgery
which was a blessing to us all. He was already trying to be his old
self just 4 days after his surgery which scared me to death. Thank
heavens the big cone on his head hindered his ability to jaunt around
like a crazy dog. A month has passed now and Oscar only has the scars
and the missing hair that show he had surgery but you would never
guess it. Oh and by the way we have added a new furnishing to the
house, a doggy ramp! I was surprised but they really seem to accept
it as being there to help. I think Oscar has already reached the
end of his road to recovery at least that is what he thinks. It is
now just making sure that he nor his doxie buddy Skeeter ever have
an incident like this happen ever again.
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MEGHAN Do not adjust your monitor! No, Meghan is not a Dachshund. She is a six year old Pemboke Welsh Corgi -- another breed with a higher incidence of disk disease. When she suddenly developed an extremely painful neck in early December 2002, I began searching the 'net for information on canine intervertebral disk disease and found the wonderful members of Dodgerslist. They provided information, advice and support through the weeks of crate rest as Meghan recovered. She now seems to be back to 100% and we're keeping fingers and paws crossed that she stays that way! |
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TEENIE Teenie first started having problems in March 2003. After consulting several vets disc disease was diagnosed. He recommended crate rest for 2-4 weeks and continue with the Prednisone. He also prescribed Cimetidine to prevent stomach ulcers from the Prednisone. I took Teenie home and kept her crated for the next 5 days just taking her out to go the the bathroom. I took her back to the vet and there was some improvement. We continued with the crate rest and the Prednisone for the next 4 weeks. Teenie has made significant progress. She continues to have some weakness in her back legs but is now running around the yard when I let her out. I am very thankful for Dodgerslist. If I had not gotten some advice from this group I might have not taken Teenie to another vet for a second opinion and we might have been sent to another state for surgery. I am hopeful for continued improvement with Teenie, but am now much more educated in Dachshunds and Disc Disease. All we have to work on now is getting rid of the excess weight! |
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PRISSY Greetings to all. This is Miss Prissy. She
is my baby...One day Prissy was acting funny and couldn't walk. We
took her to the vet .He told us she was paralyzed and had severe disc
problems Gave us a choice of getting surgery for Prissy which he said she
had a 10% chance of walking again or put her to sleep .We waited patiently
and paid the Vet took Prissy home and I searched online for help. Someone
told me to get in touch with Linda and her group. I did...This is
Prissy today. She can walk and is so happy runs and plays like before...I
am so thankful for each and everyone of you for helping us...Peace and
blessings Raja and Prissy |
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Hannibal
Janet Kubalak
Hannibal is an 8 1/2 year old standard
longhair. He's a big boy, currently weighing about 32 lbs., although his
proper weight is about 27-28 lbs. He suffered a mild case of IVD at about
5 yrs. He recovered fully with crate rest and prednisone. About a year
or so later he suffered a much more severe bout of IVD -- he was crossing
the street, stopped to shake himself, and went down. Rushed him to the
vet and they monitored his neuro response. After a day or so he was
improving and once again he was put on crate rest and steroids, although
this time surgery was mentioned as an alternative. I decided against the
surgery primarily because of the risk. He seemed to recover fully. On
January 10, 2003 Hannibal suddenly went down again. This time it was
obviously very severe. I rushed him to SouthPaws Veterinary Referral in
Springfield, VA and they treated for pain, monitored neurological
responses, and when those continued to decline, Dr. Dan Brehm performed a
hemilaminectomy on L1-L2 and fenestrated the disc ahead of those.
Hannibal had no bladder or bowel control for the first few weeks and
almost no motor control of his back legs, tail, etc for a few weeks after
that. After the stitches were removed I started him at the Veterinary
Holistic and Rehab. Center in Vienna, VA where he works on an underwater
treadmill and receives acupuncture twice a week. He is now walking,
although with an awkward gait, and while he stumbles occasionally and does
not have complete proprioception of his back paws, he gets around pretty
well. He is also (once again) a happy boy and clearly enjoys life. He
continues to gain strength, practice walking, and is hoping to chase
squirrels again soon. |
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GRACIE Hello my name is Gracie. Back in Oct. when I got sick my mom knew something wasn't right so she took me to see the vet. First they told me I had a bad case of gas so they sent me home. A couple of days later I was getting worse. At this point I was dragging my rear legs. We went back to see the vet and when we arrived they ran xrays. The results come back normal. The vet advised my mom to put me on complete crate rest for 8 weeks. The following week I started my acupuncture. The first three showed no results. By this time my mom was getting really upset seeing me in my condition. At this point my mom started doing research and came across this group that helped kids like me. She was advised to continue the acupuncture, which she did. Between the acupuncture and my cart, I started showing signs of improvement. At first I took small steps and worked my way up. I gave my mom the best present she could have ask for. On Christmas Eve I started walking. Even though I was walking at this point I wasn't allowed to play. I was still confined for my 8 week period. The great news is five months later I am back to my normal and old self. If it hadn't been from the support of Linda and the rest of the group I don't know what I would have done with my mom. My mom typed this for me being I am not able to type. I couldn't ask for a better mom. She loves me so much. To the group I send Gracie kisses to everyone.
To all the other kids don't give up it can be done. I am
proof.
Dodgerslist would like to thank Drs, Betz, Clark and Nunn in Kingsland, GA for helping Gracie to recover. |
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GRETCHEN Gretchen got sick the end of Dec. David was walking her
and she just laid down and wouldn't get up. Well we took her to see the
doctor he said we would try pills and Linda from the group said get her
crate rest. Within a month or so we were given a name of a specialist in
Santa Cruz, He wanted to do surgery but we didn't have the money so we
went home and Dr. Ponder started giving her acupuncture and her med's. Now
its April and she is doing good. She plays and goes for a ride in
her stroller and loves it. Thanks to God, Dr. Ponder and this group
Gretchen is doing so good. |
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OLIVE Olive is our beautiful 4 year old little girl. She had a severe rupture at T12-13 on 8/31/02 and had surgery within 2 hours. Her prognosis was not very good during the first 4 months, but we continued to do intense physical therapy every day and even tried some experimental medicine.
Then a Christmas miracle happened. On Christmas
Eve morning, Olive got up and walked for the first time. She has walked
a little each day since and continues to get stronger. We've never
given up hope that she would walk again some day. We are so proud of
her and love her so much!
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