Fused Disk

When we took Sophie in to have her stitches removed we also spent some time with the surgeon discussing the severe limp Sophie presented the day of surgery. We had some x-rays taken while she was under for her surgery so we had the opportunity to review them.

Sophie has two disks in her spine that have fused together. It is not that uncommon in an older, very athletic dog. We had already seen signs of it in that she had stopped holding her tail up high, had a slight arch in her back and showed some sporadic weakness in her rear legs. The vet said that since she responded so well while on Rimadyl, she felt that was the best coarse of action and did not recommend surgery - though it is a possibility.

Last Tuesday, Sophie couldn't walk. She completely lost the ability to use her hind legs. She could not stand herself up, she couldn't stay standing when we got her up and she couldn't walk. We got her to the vet who did a quick examination and felt that there was significant enough swelling around her fused disk to cause the symptoms we were witnessing. She recommended we treat Sophie aggressively with steroids before talking about MRIs and other options. Sophie stayed with them for two days.

She responded well to the steroids. The next day she was able to hobble around with the assistance of a sling. She was carried outside for bathroom breaks, but once outside she could walk a little. Thursday, she walked herself outside - still using a sling. We visited on Wednesday, hand fed her (she had not been eating) and told her how much we love her. We saw the vet a briefly and she reiterated that she was pleased with Sophie's response.

We were able to bring her home Thursday evening. We were given a new pile of medicines, a pamphlet for Scout's House and the OK for 3 minutes of therapeutic swimming a day.

She has not done as well at home as we would have liked. We hoped that she would continue to improve slowly each day, but she has taken a step backwards and has stayed there. Friday she slept all day and barely ate. Today she has had bad pain and has eaten less. She seems to enjoy her walks out to relieve herself and when we opened the pool she was very interested. As you can see, she paddled around - for ONLY 90 SECONDS (if our vet is watching in on us).

We will see what tomorrow will bring for our little Rock Star Sophie. We are hopeful it involves eating, walking and a wee bit of swimming.