Thursday, July 1, 2010
Its getting better all the time!
Every day Duke has been getting better and better! He is trying to move around more, but is still dragging his legs. His balance has been getting better every day and he is trying really hard to stand on his left leg. This is a great sign that he wants to get up and move!
Monday, June 28, 2010
A 5am wake up call
Duke has been sleeping downstairs in his kennel because it is too big to bring upstairs. This morning at 5am I heard him barking. Usually he is quiet all night so I decided to check on him and find out why he was barking. He had pooped in his bed and was trying to let me know to clean him up. I swear he's like a baby! I cleaned him up and cleaned up his bed and switched it out with his clean pillow and was ready to go back to bed. I guess he thought it was time to get up because he continued barking until I came downstairs to sleep. So slept on the couch for a few more hours to keep him company. I hope that he realizes what a spoiled and well taken care of dog he is. His pooping is good news though, because he has not pooped since he came home on friday. I gave him some canned pumpkin to help with his constipation and I'm thinking it worked, LOL.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
The tinniest bits count!
Duke stretched out today and he moved his back legs slightly. It could have been a spasm, but I'll take any good news! He also urinated on his own again today! Hooray for progress!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Get to know Duke!
Duke is a 4 year old black and white doxie. He was diagnosed with Intervertebral Disk Disease or IVDD in March 2010. This is common in doxies and other dogs with longer backs, but may occur in doxies and other longer bodied dogs earlier in life. We always knew that Duke could suffer from paralysis from IVDD but we never imagined that it would be so soon after diagnoses. This blog is to document Dukes recovery from spine surgery and (hopefully) the eventual use of his back legs again.
Dukes vet Dr. Cook from Veterinary Surgical Care has given Duke an 80-90% chance of being able to use his legs again.
Duke is our only child and is very dear to us. We got him less than a year after being married at 13 weeks. He has been with us through so much and is always there for us when we need him, now it is our turn to be there for him.
**Thank you to Animal Medical Clinic Goose Creek, Veterinary Emergency Care, and Veterinary Surgical Care for the wonderful care and support you have show our family during our time of need**
Dukes vet Dr. Cook from Veterinary Surgical Care has given Duke an 80-90% chance of being able to use his legs again.
Duke is our only child and is very dear to us. We got him less than a year after being married at 13 weeks. He has been with us through so much and is always there for us when we need him, now it is our turn to be there for him.
**Thank you to Animal Medical Clinic Goose Creek, Veterinary Emergency Care, and Veterinary Surgical Care for the wonderful care and support you have show our family during our time of need**
Dukes surgery
On Tuesday June 22, 2010 I got a frantic phone call from my sister. She was crying hysterically and told me that there was something wrong with Duke. I rushed home and discovered that he was paralyzed in his back legs. He was in tremendous pain and needed to be rushed to the vet right away. I took him in and they whisked him away to the back and did a neurological exam on him. He was so tense and in so much pain that they thought maybe his neck was hurt as well as his back. After multiple x-rays and exams it was discovered that Duke had herniated a disk in his back. We were sent to an animal surgeon across town.
They admited him to the animal hospital and did a contrast x-ray and a cat scan. The doctor explained that Duke had a herniated disk between his 2nd and 3rd lumbar. He needed emergency surgery to give his spinal cord room to move and to remove the pieces of herniated disk. This all happened on Tuesday between 1130 am and 5 pm.
Duke was in the hospital from Tuesday until Friday afternoon. He has multiple staples in his back and was sent home with a catheter in but he pulled it out on Friday after he got home. The vet gave me the green light to just leave the cath out and express his bladder manually. The first time I took him out to go potty though, he urinated on his own!
Everyday since his surgery he has gotten a little more alert and has had less pain. He still has no use of his back legs, but does have some sensation in them. The Doctor has put him on mandatory crate-rest for a few weeks before starting to use his legs again. The entire family anticipates a fully recovery. We also thank everyone who sent positive thoughts and prayers our way because we know that this helped Duke!
They admited him to the animal hospital and did a contrast x-ray and a cat scan. The doctor explained that Duke had a herniated disk between his 2nd and 3rd lumbar. He needed emergency surgery to give his spinal cord room to move and to remove the pieces of herniated disk. This all happened on Tuesday between 1130 am and 5 pm.
Duke was in the hospital from Tuesday until Friday afternoon. He has multiple staples in his back and was sent home with a catheter in but he pulled it out on Friday after he got home. The vet gave me the green light to just leave the cath out and express his bladder manually. The first time I took him out to go potty though, he urinated on his own!
Everyday since his surgery he has gotten a little more alert and has had less pain. He still has no use of his back legs, but does have some sensation in them. The Doctor has put him on mandatory crate-rest for a few weeks before starting to use his legs again. The entire family anticipates a fully recovery. We also thank everyone who sent positive thoughts and prayers our way because we know that this helped Duke!
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