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--Success Story--
Logan
by
Lori and Jack Todd
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Logan had been having back trouble all
summer and we knew it was getting worse. Logan had just gone on
Prednisone and a muscle relaxer a few days prior to becoming paralyzed,
but it didn't seem to be working. We also were keeping him crated
about 90% of the time, but with 2 other dogs in the house you
could tell he felt really lonely and sad. Our lab even brought
him toys and dropped them outside the cage and Logan's best buddy
Mazzy (our other dachshund) wouldn't even look at him. |
On July 3, 2009 he lost complete
control of his back legs around 4:00pm that evening. My husband is
a firefighter and was on a 24 hour shift that day, I spent most of
the day crying, well bawling really and trying to keep Logan comfortable.
Logan couldn't be moved without him screaming in pain. I mentally
tried to prepare myself that we may have to put him down, but wanted
my husband to see him for the last time. I even went as far as taking
photos of him in case they were our last photos. Eventually, Logan
ended up sleeping the rest of the day in his crate and I spent the
night on the living room floor next to it with him. He made very little
movements or sounds through the night.
The next morning my husband came
home and went to work. We spent a lot of time on the internet doing
research and called the emergency vet--who was no help. Surgery was
not an option for us. Our immediate concern was that he hadn't gone
potty since the day before and we knew we had to get him to go. We
turned to many websites to help and u tube ended up providing us some
instructional videos on how to express his bladder. My husband put
on some gloves and went to work! Success! That was our first milestone.
You could tell Logan was extremely uncomfortable about peeing in the
house, so after a few times of going potty on the tile, we were able
to move him outside in his crate and express his bladder in the yard.
You could tell he felt much better about that!
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I read and read online and the success
stories really helped us stay positive. We did everything...changed
his diet to not include wheat (which we continue today), finished
his prednisone, he was crated for 6 weeks. After crate rest
put him in our spa tube for water therpy. We even began to look
for wheelchair options. My husband also took Logan to an alternative
healer. The healer specialized in energy healing. During the
treatment, Logan showed signs of movement and even wagged his
tail!
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From then on we continued to see improvement, he began eating his
food again and also showed movement in his back legs when his paws
were touched. Logan even played on his bed with his toys and chewed
his bone. He had great quality of life even without the use of his
back legs.
Slowly, Logan began to move again and one day was able to walk (about
8 weeks after going paralyzed). Now--he doesn't walk perfect and his
back end sometimes loses control and spins out, but he can walk! Most
people can't tell anything is even wrong until we point it out to
them. He doesn't jump, and doesn't go on walks with other dogs, but
is perfectly happy and enjoying life.
We wanted to post this because there is hope and Dodgerslist really
helped us get through. Logan is a wonderful dog and our lives wouldn't
be complete without him in it. Logan turns 8 years old in September
and we know he has many great years ahead of him!
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