Rusty Update

Well, Rusty seems to be showing some improvements. First, for a few days in a row when you go to feed him, he stands all the way up from a rear sitting position. Also, for the last 2 days wheen we take him out to express him, we stand him up and say, "go potty." He pees some on his own, then we go in to express the rest. All good sighs. He may never truly walk again but he def. may have a life of being able to stand up, take a few steps (lets hope) and go potty on his own. On a funny note, he will give me mini-kisses now, where he has NEVER kissed anybody.

Adjusting to the bad news

Well, It's week 3 and it doesn't look like Rusty will walk again. Even more upsetting was the incident a few days back where his entire back claws started disappearing. Yes, that's right, he was eating them off (all of them on one of his paws). The vet said it could be nerve misfiring. She told us to continue his current med and see if we saw a difference. Well, we haven't so she gave us a stronger drug (the strongest there is) to try. She said it takes a week or two to build up in his system, but I am hoping and praying that it works. Right now, he has a collar on almost all day unless we can closely supervise to make sure he isn't at his foot. We take him out 3-4 times a day to express his bladder. I am getting quite good at it. Here is a picture of Rusty in his sling. A temporary walking device until we get his cart.

Bad News

Well Rusty came home tonight. He was not responsive to the meds they gave him yesterday and still has not regained the deep pain sensation. They feel he slipped another disk over the weekend and feel surgery even if we could afford another round, would probably do nothing.

So Rusty is home and most likely will be paralyzed the rest of his life. I need to express his bladder and hope and pray he lets me as he was so resistant all last week even with a trained vet.

They said he needs to continue crate rest for at least another 2 weeks to let his muscles heal and then if all is going well with expressing we can get him fitted for a cart.

Any advice on avoiding further injuries? They said if he injures above his current injury/injuries it would be bad for him. I don't want him to have to life his life in a crate. I understand rest is required over the next few weeks, but I want him to able to interact with his doggie friends and be able to roam around the house and yard, go on walks again.

Please pray for me tonight that I can express successfully. They were not very optimistic about the expressing since they saw he tough he was for them. They alluded to putting him down which I cannot think of yet

Day 11 Bad News

Well, we took Rusty in to get his catheter removed today. After him being in the back for about 30 min. another vet surgeon appeared (different that the one who had performed the surgery) and told us Rusty now had no deep pain sensation in either back leg. After a lengthy conversation, Rusty is at the hospital for the night on medication to bring down the swelling if swelling is indeed the cause of the problem.

The vet said there was no way to know for sure the cause if we didn't do a mylegram (sp). This procedure would have been another $800 which we can't afford. He said it would have shown whether it was swelling or perhaps another slipped disc or disc problem. Yes, he said if it's swelling, rest and meds should do the trick, but a disc problem means another operation and another 3-4k which we can't afford.

I am very depressed about my dog. We have already spent 3,700 dollars only to hear he is "neurologically worse" than on Friday when we brought him home. I am prepared to have Rusty in a cart and care for him. However, now I am worried if he will ever come home.

We have to call the vet tomorrow to check in on him. I will post an update when I have some news.

Day 10

Well, it's Day 10 post op....

Rusty is home on a catheter and living in a pack and play. His Elizabethan Collar is so big, he couldn't fit in our small crate, so he has made the pack and play his new home. We take him out 4-5 times a day for stretching and to walk in a sling. He has wagged his tail a few times and can support his back end for 2-3 seconds before he sits down. He will walk around the house in the sling for a few minutes and then he wants to go back to bed.

He seems happy to be home. He is still ornery, but less than at the vet. Tomorrow we need to go back and have him reassess for neuro. function and get his catheter removed. I am praying his bladder will function, but am feeling it will not. Expressing him as they call it is very difficult. You can read all about expressing a dog at www.dodgerslist.com. He tenses his muscles so hard that even the vet has difficulty.

I will try to get a shot of him later making his rounds so you can see what a sling looks like. If you are out there and have a dachshund that "just went down" I hope this blog inspires you and please check out www.dodgerlist.com - I can't recommend it enough!

Day 1

Poor Rusty. Eric called me at work on Thursday morning. I was in a team meeting when they buzzed Eric into my teacher friend's phone. Eric was crying and I couldn't understand him. He said Rusty had been paralyzed and that Rusty couldn't move his back half. I left work and we took Rusty to the vet. They confirmed it was probably a spinal injury (dachshunds spines can become injured very easily.). They told us we had to get him into surgery ASAP or he would become permanently paralyzed. With surgery comes no guarantees and the cost of the procedure is a minuscule 3,000. Well, what could we have done. Our dog is looking into our eyes and begging us to help him. We take him in for the surgery (which is at a different location). Yesterday, we went to visit him. They had shaved his whole back and he had a Frankenstein looking suture up his spine. Our poor dog. We still don't know if he will recover. They told us there are many options if he doesn't. One to put him on a cart and they can train us to manage his bladder. Some might say, hey it's just a dog..... This dog is a part of our family who has been with us longer than our children. Yes, there would have come a point financially where an attempt to save him would have not been an option. Luckily, the cost was not at that point. Now it is just a waiting game. If you read this and can say a prayer for our dog, thank you in advance.