Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Update on our dog Duke

Our wire haired dachshund, Duke, aka Maurice, (Duke, given name from his previous owners, and Maurice, given name by the current owner, Kayla) was paralyzed on his back legs when his back gave out due to interverbral disc disease that dachsunds are common to. Our friendly neighborhood vet put a catheter in to help him empty out his bladder (thats why that big thing is on his collar to keep him from picking at it in the picture) - but even through all that, he managed to push the catheter out two days before his surgery. His muscles were strong enough to push out the catheter, probably was very uncomfortable for him and who could blame the poor creature. He'd still drag his back legs to get to places (sniff out by the table for droppings from the kids at meal time, get to his food bowl, or go to his usual place by the patio doors.)
Stephen flew him down to Anchorage to get his back surgery on Monday, and at the clinic he was sniffing out markings and making his own markings from the scent of the other animals. A good sign, that he still had muscle control. The surgery was done and they cleared out one disc, which was "cottage cheese-y", all broken down and calsified, not 2 like the x-ray showed (I think, hmmmmm, makes me wonder now .....)
He was back to his old self again the next day (today). The clinic said, of all the dachshunds they performed surgeries on that day, he was the only one to eat and was back to his old dachshundy self again after the surgery.
He will have to go through physical therapy to help out his back muscles, and the doctor said he had a very good chance of recovering. We're hoping to get him back on Thursday. More updates to come....

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