[alyssaabeeee]

Hello all,

I am new to this dog forum, and am looking forward to reading all of your experiences and advice!

I just found out today that my wonderful little dog, Sophie (3 years old) needs surgery to repair a ruptured disc in her spine. This all happened over night and she is only continuing to lose more feeling in her hind legs.

Without the surgery, Sophie will never be able to walk again and will have to be put to sleep. Has anybody else experienced something like this? Where the only thing stopping you from saving your pet is money? How do you deal with the emotions and guilt?

Any advice and personal experience would be much appreciated.

Thank you all!

 

[SandyR]

Please go to dodgerslist.com !! You are dealing with Ivdd! They are the experts!! I put my 4 year old dachshund to sleep due to the same issue you are dealing with! I was NOT educated, and NOT a day goes by that I do NOT regret that decision!! There are OPTIONS besides surgery... Some dogs RECOVER with STRICT crate rest and meds... And even if they do not regain use of their legs they can go on and live happy lives!! Ivdd does NOT have to be a death sentence, please do NOT make the same mistake I made... I REGRET it EVERYDAY!!??

 

[alyssaabeeee]

Thank you for your reply! I sorry I haven't been on here that much with all that's going on with Sophie! She saw a neurologist yesterday and he recommended dodgerslist.com as a resource too. I had tried to educate myself on this matter and reached out to my friends on social media to hear about their experiences. It's so important nowadays to take advantage of our smartphones and computers to learn about issues we are unfamiliar with. It helps avoid us and our loved ones being taken advantage of or being experimented on. Sophie was at the most severe level of IVDD. She had lost sensation and reflexes in her back legs. Surgery was her only real hope of recovery. We took her to an emergency clinic last night and this morning she received an MRI and is currently in surgery. Let's hope she is able to recover from the surgery and can go back to being my happy and silly little girl!

I am so so sorry to hear about the loss of your little one. I am disappointed to hear that the doctors did not offer you any alternative forms of treatment.

 

[SandyR]

I was not given much optimism from the vet, she just pointed out all the negatives to the situation! But I totally pin the blame on MYSELF as a pet owner, and especially as a Dachshund owner, I should have been aware of the breeds issues, SOONER rather than later!!

I hope things go well with Sophie, and her recovery is speedy and uneventful!!! If you are on InstaGram it's an AWESOME place for support! The Doxie community is pretty tight knit group willing to answer questions and support!!Good Luck!

 

[alyssaabeeee]

I will look into it! Any specific profiles on Instagram I should follow or look at?

 

[SandyR]

Some awesome go to people would be darlathedachshund or prinss_lilo_weenie Both have dogs that have gone thru surgery for Ivdd... Both are in wheelchairs but a GREAT example of how dogs DONT care about the use/no use of their back legs! Also if you searched Ivdd on Instagram, find many dogs at different stages of recovery... Good support system, and not that you want others to be in the same boat, sometimes it's just nice to know your NOT alone!! Good Luck!!

How is Sophie??!

 

[alyssaabeeee]

Thank you!

Sophie came out of surgery okay. They're trying to switch her to oral pain meds and seeing how well they can express her urine manually after they take her catheter out. Still no sensation or reflexes in those legs, but the doc said that's normal and they don't expect to see any change for awhile. We are just taking it day by day and staying positive!