I so now how you feel with your dog. Last year our dog went paralyzed and we were not able to do back surgery. It is not available in our area plus money. But he actually did recover and he is doing fairly well. He's not the same but he's okay. The one thing that really really helped him is that we took him to a vet that does pet acupuncture. What a difference. My thoughts & prayers are with ya.
Riggs I hope your dog gets better! They have a lot of other options. My friend has a dog who is paralyzed and they got him one of those carts that attach to his back legs. He gets around just about anywhere!
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Sometimes, when i'm lonely... i crawl into a laundry basket and tickle my ears. But, Some times I don't...
It really has been hard. She had a back problem last May that we took care of with steroids, but in December when she became paralyzed we did the surgery and you're so right about the cost, in the end it was nearly 3k.
Now only two months later we're back at square one, and financially surgery just isn't an option, but I felt I had to give her every opportunity, so I went with the steroid injectioins because they're only about half the price of a surgery (actually a little less than half).
What makes it so hard is that she's normal in every way other than her back legs, and she's not in pain, so the idea of putting her to sleep is very painful to me, because it's not really to ease her pain.
I've had several dogs in my life, but I've never had one that had as much personality as Ellie, and because I've worked at home for the entire four years she's been alive the attachment to her is tremendous.
A cart is more than likely the route I'll end up going if she doesn't improve.
The only thing that was making me think I was going to have to put her down was that she hasn't been able to urinate.
That means I have to excise her bladder, which can be painful for the dog and I've heard horror stories about people who have had their dogs bladder burst months or even years after the surgery because ONE TIME they forgot or didn't get home in time to take care of it for them. Or you can try to excise the bladder, but not be successful, and think there's nothing to come out, but it may have simply shifted in her body. It's just not a pleasant thing.
So, if it came to that we would probably put her to sleep, but the doctors say the bladder control often comes back even if the legs do not, so I'm hoping and praying.
