First off, I can’t tell you how moved we all are at the outpouring of prayers, positive thoughts, and support we received from everyone. You all mean so much to us and it really helped to feel that support. The pet blogging community is the best in the world. 🙂
I don’t know which of our lovely blog buddies told POTP about Daisy’s injury, but some wonderful person did and they put her up on their site. Whoever you are, we send you lots of love and thanks for being so thoughtful. We met some beautiful new friends through POTP, and we visit the site every day to give back the strength and love we received. If you haven’t been to POTP (Power Of The Paw), you can click the link to get there and help other pets and pet parents through difficult times.
Well, we have good news, okay news, and not-so-great (but not terrible!) news from the follow-up visit with our vet.
The good news: Daisy is out of the woods with the paralysis risk. However, if this happens again, she’ll face the same risk. The vet said he looks for any signs of forward movement and no signs of worsening, and he was pleased that she looked slightly improved and definitely not worse, but not enough to make him smile (that’s his tell!) except when he was sweet-talking her. Also, her attitude is much improved and she doesn’t look scared all the time – only when she feels pain. She’s taking an interest again and actually chewed her Nylabone today! She was also able to eat by herself from her food bowl instead of having to be hand-fed. 🙂
I couldn’t take a picture of Daisy when she was at her worst because I don’t want to remember her that way. But here she is yesterday – still not her little sprightly Daisy face, but better than before. This is one of her long lie-down breaks she takes when she goes for a quick “taking care of business” trip outside.
The okay news: She has a slipped disc that’s causing most of the back pain. She’s walking better but still taking very tentative steps and can’t roll onto her back – sometimes she can lie on her side, other times she can’t. When DD or DH come into the house and she gets excited, I have to hold her back but she still starts yiping. I think her muscles must tense with excitement and that causes her pain.
“I remember the good ol’ days when I could romp over grass tufts…”
The not-so-great (but not terrible!) news: She will have this problem for the rest of her life, and it is considered a degenerative condition. She’s not allowed to do any more jumping – since her leg injury, we’ve only let her jump up onto things and not down specifically because we wanted to prevent back injury from the impact of jumping down. Guess that strategy didn’t work! So DH is building another ramp for her (he already built one for the car) to get up and down off the couch, and we’ll be watching her closely. We’ve had our couches barricaded since her ACL/meniscus tear anyway, so eventually we’ll just open up one small spot and put the ramp there when we allow her up with us. But that won’t be for quite a while.
We will be checking into acupuncture to see if that will help. I’m just hoping that after this has passed, she’s not left with any pain and can run like a nut again. 🙂
Our next follow-up vet appointment is in two weeks, and we’re hoping for a big smile from him then. Thank you all again for your prayers, kind messages and good wishes, we’re sure they helped Daisy improve, and they definitely helped us!
Everyday Adventures in Havachon Heaven 
That is good news. I have a wiggle less back brace for Roxy too. She isn’t a huge fan of it, but it helps her back quite a bit when she is having a flare up.
Oh that’s something we can look into for the rest of the healing phase at least – thanks for mentioning it, Mary.
that is good news!!!! Dogs have an amazing way of adapting. Praying that acupuncture will help should you decide to go that route.
DakotasDen
Thanks Dakota and family! Yes they really do, and they also have an amazing ability to let us know how they’re feeling. We may not know why, but we know when something’s wrong!
I’m so glad that you got good news today… and I’m happy with you that she chewed on her nyla bone. that are such small things but they give so much hope… I still cross my paws and I hope the POTP will chase that pains away from you Daisy
Thank you Easy! Yes those small things like taking an interest in my toys and wagging my tail all mean good things and make everyone here smile. Thanks for the continued POTP too! 🙂
I read this post with my breath held. Glad I (more importantly, you!) can exhale a bit now that the situation is manageable. Here’s hoping the recovery goes well. Did the vet recommend any fish oil/glucosamine type supplement that might help?
Thanks, Will. It’s definitely much more manageable now. No the vet didn’t suggest fish oil, but thanks so much for mentioning it. I hadn’t thought of fish oil for dogs, and I’m going to ask him about that when we go back in two weeks.
YEA!!!! That is good news indeed!! I am sendin’ lots of POTP your way, so you can heal faster and feel tons better real soon! You are such a cutie patootie!!! Your pics make Ma smile! (okays, it’s either that, or the margaritas…not sure yet…BOL!!!! )
Kisses,
Ruby ♥
Thank you Ruby! I know your POTP is powerfully strong and I can feel it all the way over here! 🙂 I don’t know what mar-gar-itas are, but my mom agrees that they make smiles happen. 😉
I am so happy there was good news and no terrible news for your beautiful pup 🙂
Still sending you all love, and our dogs send nose sniffs and tail wags xxx
Thank you so much! We’re breathing a cautious sigh of relief and we so appreciate all your kind wishes. 🙂
You’re looking good, little D. That was some pretty good news overall, and not having to go back to the vet for 2 weeks means you’re doing better. It sounds like you’re in good hands over there! Stay strong! xoxo
Love and licks,
Cupcake
Heehee my family loves the name “little D”!! 😀 I’ll do my best to get all better (though I do still tend to cause a little mischief that makes me yipe, but hey, it keeps my family on the ball! 😉 ).
That is such good news for Daisy, and a relief for you and the family too. I hope the acupuncture will improve her back even more; anything is worth a try to relieve any kind of pain. We are still keeping her in our prayers. Give her a scratch behind the ear from me and Poppy sends a nose rub! xx
Thank you Barb and Poppy! I’ve heard some incredibly positive stories about acupuncture with dogs, so it’s worth a try. Thanks for keeping Daisy in your prayers, it all helps. 🙂
We’re so glad to hear that Daisy is making progress, and that the prognosis is not all bad. We will continue to send our well wishes and hope that next appointment goes even better.
We just got a similar good news/bad news/not so bad news with our beagle Cricket, and part of it is a ligament/meniscus tear so I was interested to read about Daisy’s history with that.
I’m so sorry to hear Cricket has an ACL/meniscus tear too! That was a much tougher recovery than this is, although the surgeon told us that larger dogs handle it better – I hope Cricket is one of those dogs. Daisy is extremely sensitive to pain, which is what made it so difficult. Once recovered, her leg was back to normal, so there’s good news ahead! 🙂 Thanks so much for your well wishes.
Glad to hear the news was ok. Hoping Daisy continues to make progress.
Thank you! I’m sure she will – we’re keeping an eagle eye on her!
We are so glad the news is good..not terrible but still a worry…maybe ask the vet about some sort of vest like a thundershirt for added support maybe..Doc had a knee reco many years ago and as a fox terrier keeping him from running etc is hard…even at nearly 13…we find swimming is good for exercise and non weight bearing…still sending our POTP and glad Daisy is feeling better Loves Fozziemum xxx
Thanks so much Fozziemum! We’re making a list of all the great advice our blogging friends are suggesting and I’m going to ask the vet about all of them. I can imagine how hard it would be to keep a fox terrier from running! Our friends had a Jack Russell and no one could hold that big boy down! 🙂
Indeed..after his knee of 5 years ago the vet was laughing as he said keep him still for 6 weeks..not a problem if he was a basset hound 🙂 🙂 we are sure you will find a way to keep Daisy comfy 🙂 🙂 they are a worry! Xxx
That’s such good news – I’m glad Daisy is feeling better! I can just imagine how scary it would have been for you and your family. Will continue to send lots of positive thoughts and keep Daisy in our prayers. Hopefully your next appointment all goes smoothly and that acupuncture (should you decide to follow that path) will give Daisy some relief x
Thanks so much for your continued good wishes, it helps us all a lot. Yes we’re hoping for major improvements over the next two weeks, even though the total healing time is two months. Still, I think we should see even more good signs in that time. 🙂
It is so good to hear that Daisy is at least out of crisis. I had to really smile at the idea of DH building ramps. Isn’t this just the proof of Daisy’s place in your family and in each of your hearts! I was reminded of a device my grandfather built to get their dachshund around, kind of a front-law driven chariot, after Tina lost the use of her hind legs entirely. It was really incredibly inconvenient and I can remember others who thought my grandparents should “just” put her down! But she wasn’t in pain and the only real inconvenience was to them and 30 years later we still talk about it! When these little creatures take over our hearts there isn’t anything like it! And I just know that Daisy is going to be okay because of the total love and way that care is lavished on her. I read the post on POTP, and I’m really glad to know of this site. I will share it with a few of my friends who in all reality prefer their pets to people. LOL! They’ll be thrilled to know they can give that support where needed. And we will all be here to send our love to Miss Daisy, too! For now, I think you all need to get a good rest. This week must have been overwhelming. ox
Thank you so much, Debra, your constant support and love helps us all so much, and I firmly believe that all these good wishes from so many kind and caring people have helped her. That was a really sweet thing your grandparents did for their dachshund – now it’s being marketed! But I’m sure at that time it was unusual to see. It’s so wonderful to hear of people who care so much for their animals that they’ll do whatever it takes to make them comfortable and keep them healthy. I’m so impressed by the POTP site, it’s such a wonderful way to focus positive thoughts for pets in crisis. Such wonderful people to do something like that!
Me and my humans are pulling and praying for you Daisy!
Thank you Sandy!! We appreciate the love. 🙂
I am so happy she is feeling better. I have heard very good things about acupuncture helping in cases like this.
Thanks Linda, I’m hoping it’s an option for Daisy (and for our pocketbooks).
I will add Daisy to my prayer list. I want to thank you for visiting us and offering kind thoughts for Lucy.
You’re most welcome, we’re so concerned for Lucy and you. Thanks so much for taking time to visit us during your own difficult time.
I’m really glad you got mostly good news from the vet and there’s no risk of paralysis right now. I’m anxious to hear more after Daisy has the acupuncture treatment. I can’t imagine how scary that must have been for you and your husband. Sending lots of good thoughts and prayers for all of you tonight.
Thank you for visiting my blog and offering words of comfort on the loss of our Lucy. I will be praying for Daisy to feel better.
Thank you so much. It’s so kind of you to visit us during such a difficult time.
Glad to hear things have improved. We have ramps at our house for the pugs. A ramp up to the bed, a ramp off our deck to the yard. We too would be interested in the acupuncture. hope it is helpful
hugs
Mr Bailey, Hazel & mabel
Wish we’d known about the risk of jumping before Daisy got hurt – we thought it was good exercise for her legs! I’m anxious for her to reach the point where she’s off the meds and we can try acupuncture.
So glad to hear she’s on the mend. So sorry she’ll have to live with this condition. But you guys are doing everything you can; she has such wonderful pet parents who will make sure she stays happy and healthy and enjoys her doggy life! Yay Daisy! You go, girl!
–Wags (and purrs) from Life with Dogs and Cats
Thank you Susan! Yes we’ll exhaust every avenue to make sure she has a full, pain-free life. We’ve decided she must live to 100 because we can’t imagine our home without her. So that’s a done deal.
I am so so sorry…I had no idea sweet little one was facing this…We will be praying for an awesome follow up visit and pray for great news…Those pics of Daisy are just beyond adorable…Live that sweet face!!!! Hugs to all of you!!!!
Thank you so much, we really appreciate your support and prayers. Tomorrow is the second vet follow-up, and I have high hopes that he’ll give us even better news.
The very best of wishes for sweet little Daisy!!
Thank you Meg!
I’m so behind visiting everyone I didn’t know if poor Daisy’s woes. Sending her and you all lots of love and hugs xx
Thanks so much, Misaki.