Yesterday, we took our Miniature Daschund Odie to see his Surgeon, Dr. Ian G. Holsworth for his three-month and final after surgery checkup. Odie, like all dogs like to ride and he was very happy to get into the car, but as soon as we got onto the freeway, Odie knew that we weren’t going to the market.
Every time we go for a “long ride,” Odie associates this with going to the Hospital where he had a lot of pain and Mommy and Daddy left him there alone for a week. But this time it was a short trip to see how he’s doing.
When Odie ruptured his disk three months ago, he became paralyzed within a few days. Ultimately back surgery and a lot of prayers saved his life. I don’t know how many said a prayer for Odie but we are grateful for the prayers.
The first week after surgery, I could see that Odie was slowly recovering, gaining strength and re-learning the connections to his hindquarters. After three weeks, Odie was mobile and able to get around on his own. This was a “big step” for the little Dachshund since I was helping him balance and holding him up when he had to pee and poop.
Odie’s strength and coordination started returning to normal. By Odie’s first post-op checkup you could see how well he had recovered. We were especially proud of our Doxie when Dr. Holsworth gave him an excellent recovery for this stage.
Over the next two months, walks with Odie helped improve his stamina and coordination. He would miss a step once and a while, but you could see it in his gait that he was on his way to full recovery.
I knew that this final checkup, Odie would get an excellent recovery from Dr. Holsworth. My eyes started tearing up seeing Dr. Holsworth walking Odie back to us.
Ki, it sounds like the nerve damage is starting to heal and you need to exercise him as much as possible to get his strength back to his legs. I don’t know how big your kennel is, but we got Odie a 4′ x 4′ pen so he could walk around during the day. I also worked nearby and was able to take him out for a walk during lunch time.
You can also use a belly sling to support him while he’s retraining his legs.
Hi, I’m glad Odie recovered well from his surgery. My doxie Noname, just had her surgery last sunday. I brought her home yesterday. She can stand on her back legs for maybe 30 seconds. I really would like to know more on the length of time it took Odie to recover. I would gladly give you my e mail or phone number so I could get some quick answers. I hate seeing her like this and would like more information on the rehab techniques you used. Hope to hear back from you soon. Thanks. Kurt
My mini, Miika had back surgery on Tuesday evening. We are uncertain of the cause of the injury, needless to say the injury was extremely bad! The day after surgery she was responding to pain and the next morning we got our update and they were concerned with her being non-responsive, and recommended doing a CT Scan and possible second surgery. With out a job….I was not finacially able to afford another one. So today we brought her home and are praying for the best. I was wondering if anyone could offer any advise to helping her recovery, or any experience to give me hope. Thank you, Neely
Our mini had 2 back surgeries when he was 4. He is now 7-1/2 and doing great. We attribute part of his full recovery to his surgeon but he did have to go back for a 2nd surgery a couple of months after the first so I cannot give the surgeon full credit. I had read an article on the internet about a dachshund named Daisy whose owner had given her glucosamine in her drinking water to help with her back problems and it seemed to help her. So we decided to try it — and we have been giving it to our Marley for almost 4 years now and you cannot tell he ever had back problems. He also gets a daily massage when he gets out of his kennel in the mornings to help relieve any aches or pains and to stimulate the blood flow. Anyway — we purchase from Walgreen’s Glucosamine Chondroitin Doble Srength by Finest Nature. We buy it when it goes on sale BOGO free so it’s not too costly. We put 1/2 capsule in a regular water bottle and then use that for his drinking water. You can reuse the bottle for a week or two but I suggest replacing it every 2-3 weeks. You can also purchase glucosamine from your vetinarian. When we told the sugeon about glucosamine he blew it off. I guess because he prefers to do surgeries. I hope you can try the glucosamine and that it helps your mini. Also — we started the daily massages as soon as he had the surgeries and we paid special attention to the muscles of his back legs. Good luck!
My littl doxie Chloe just had disc surgery on Saturday May 22, 2010 at Virginia Tech. in Virginia. This is Monday May 24, 2010 and she has not started urinating on her own yet and has still not had any movement of her back legs. Is this normal? I’ll admit I’m worried.
Teresa, I’m sorry to hear about Chloe. Our Surgeon mentioned that sometimes urinating and bowel movements take awhile to return due to the pain medication and the stress of surgery. But I’ll have to admit that I was more worried about Odie than remembering all the details.
Usually they’ll look for Chloe’s tail wagging first before any leg movement to determine if the surgery was successful. But, please check with your Vet or Surgeon if you have specific medical questions or concerns.
Teresa I hope little Chloe is doing better My little boy Noodle just had his operation 48 hours ago Still not had any movements of his back legs,not started urinating on his own.I’m so worried.