Donna's Jack 2015 conservative— Cavalier mix- Australia

I am Donna from Australia and this is my story about Jack....a King Charles Cavalier/Maltese Mix. He is 7 years old and my husband and I got him from a home where he was terribly neglected.  In May of 2015 we brought him home. He hadn't been groomed in years and was walking on his fur which led to an arched back. After grooming, getting his teeth cleaned and getting him out on walks with our other boy he had an IVDD episode while we were vacationing on September 2, 2015.  One morning he awoke crying and lost the use of his back legs.  At that time we thought he had been bit by a tick but unfortunately it was this terrible collapse of the spine.  We considered euthanizing as we had no idea what the vet was even talking about and the sound of the costs involved were extremely high.....we decided to leave him at the vet and make more serious decisions at a later date.  As we couldn't afford the high costs involved in the surgery it was really our only option.  After two weeks the vet told us the chances of Jack every walking again were slim as he had no deep pain feeling in his back legs and feet.  During the two weeks Jack was at the vet I did some research about IVDD and read about conservative treatment.  When we found out that Jack was pain free and seemed content with his situation we picked him up and brought him home.  It wasn't long after we brought him home that he started to have movement in his feet.  We didn't have to do much about keeping him crated as he was quiet most of the time and happy to remain curled up in his bed.  I gently touched his toes, moved his legs and gave him lots of kisses on a regular basis and he began showing signs of improvement after about eight to ten weeks.  He had no interest in towel walking only tail walking.  We eventually decided to buy him a wheelchair which he rarely used.  The day finally came where he would stand to eat his food but found it difficult to turn.  On another note the therapist that sold us the wheelchair gave us a great tip to use an electric toothbrush under his feet before putting him in the wheelchair for walks as this encouraged him to push his feet to the ground.  Jack finally became interested in socializing with other dogs which was what actually gave him the incentive to try walking on his own on a lead which he began to [walk] do in about the 6th month.  During these 6 months I continued to gently massage his legs, feet and back and continued to touch his feet and lightly pinch them as well as using the electric toothbrush under and around his feet and legs.  This stimulation did wonders.  I eventually realized that Jack would walk on his own time and there was nothing I could do to make this happen any faster.  I took him for acupuncture on 6 or 7 occasions which I believe did help give him a kick start but I also saw that rest was very important for the healing process and minimal exercise but enough to keep him active.  To date, and it has been almost a year now, Jack is walking around the house on his own and going outside to do his business.  Even though I still want to help him he shows his independent side when he doesn't want the help.  He cannot walk up any stairs at this point but works hard at getting up onto the sidewalks and such.  I don't really care if he ever gets up the stairs because he is content and happy walking around.  He still drags himself around at times but shows signs of continued improvement daily.  The only issue he has other than getting up the stairs is that he drags his right foot when he walks.  We were told that it will likely take a little longer for this to straighten out but it is not hurting him regardless.  I keep the hair on his feet longer so he won't scrape his feet which he hasn't done.  On another note during Jack's recovery period he did struggle with illnesses that dealt with upper respiratory and skin related problems.  All of which were treated and have resolved as the nerves healed.  There were many people including family members that were negative about Jack every walking again.  I myself always believed he would and that was mainly because I read the success stories on the Dogerslist and kept reading them when I got down about Jack's progress.  This healing time in Jack's case is still taking place and he will always be jeopardized I am sure and I can see he still stands with an arch but he is very happy and I can't stress that this is what is most important for his quality of life.