A Heartbreak
Posted by Unknown , Sunday, August 21, 2011 10:09 PM
Over a week ago, I came home from work to find my favorite dog Cody limping. By midnight, he was completely paralyzed in both legs. I took him to the vet at dawn after a long night of worry and speculation as to what was going on. The vet diagnosed in five minutes, IVDD. Disc disease, calcified discs, the back problem lots of dachshunds have. They admitted Cody and started steroid treatments. No change. Stress, tears, kids terrified of losing their dog, hearing surgery will cost $6,000 to $8,000 dollars, and all treatments are time sensitive. We opted against surgery, it doesn't always work, and I don't have that kind of money. They said he could live a long healthy life with a little help and a doggy wheelchair. We grew hopeful and brought him home Friday. Reality set in.
Cody can't urinate on his own, he can't walk, he needs to stay still for at least a month with the hope that the steroids will work and he'll gain some mobility, or at least the ability to go to the bathroom on his own. Right now, we are having to express his bladder, it's so difficult to do. We are beyond stressed. We have to bring him in to the vet every day to have it done if we can't do it. We have only succeeded once. He also has no bowel control, but at least it happens on it's own! Brett is concerned we can't manage this change in our life. I don't know. It's so hard, Cody is only four, it's so sad to watch him scoot and cry because he's not able to do the things he needs to. We are praying for a resolution that will have a happy ending, but it's hard to see how that can happen.
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