Hank has had a long history of health problems since he was just 6 months old. He just recently turned 1 years old.
Back in August of 2020 his health journey started. He had problems walking, and appeared to be having seizures. We later found out those might have been focal tremors that appeared as a seizure.
After countless trips to our local vet and a neurologist who was located out of town, hank got diagnosed with a couple different diseases that they thought it might be. They are myasthenia gravis, spinal meningitis, and tetraparesis.
He was on a steroid for about 5 months, and it significantly changed his mannerisms. He was almost a different dog. We didn’t mind it since it was masking the pain as we dug deeper into what was wrong with him.
Skip forward to December 2020, we leaned him off of all his medication and just continued to give him enzymes to help build his strength back up. They seemed to think he was just weak limbed and was always going to be a little weak. This has been what we’ve been doing since late December and he hasn’t had any problems what so ever. He’s been playing and acting almost normal. The most normal we’ve seen yet. He was and still is a slow walker, and seems like he needed to think before he moved any limbs. Nothing terribly wrong and definitely not in any pain.
Now here in February 2021 he woke up one morning unable to walk one again. It looks different than the original episode back in 2020. It looks like it’s his entire right side of his body (legs, possibly back).
We immediately took him to our neurologist and spend just about the entire day there for things to be inconclusive. He was screaming yelping in pain, which we’ve never seen. It was breaking our hearts. He needs an MRI and more extensive testing which the hospital here couldn’t do.
We drove through the night to UC Davis, and admitted him last night after transferring from our neurologist. They are doing more tests and and an MRI with possible a CT. We got a nearby hotel, and are awaiting results. The staff here seems excellent, and we feel very hopeful about the future here. As you can imagine it has not been the cheapest journey, we like to call Hank our “Million Dollar Boy”. His medical bills have been overwhelming especially during this hard time in the world. They’re well over 15k. Anything helps ❤️
Our poor little baby has been through so much and more. Our family could really use any help. Any kind words are appreciated as well as prayers ❤️ Thank you so much. Updates to come soon.
Back in August of 2020 his health journey started. He had problems walking, and appeared to be having seizures. We later found out those might have been focal tremors that appeared as a seizure.
After countless trips to our local vet and a neurologist who was located out of town, hank got diagnosed with a couple different diseases that they thought it might be. They are myasthenia gravis, spinal meningitis, and tetraparesis.
He was on a steroid for about 5 months, and it significantly changed his mannerisms. He was almost a different dog. We didn’t mind it since it was masking the pain as we dug deeper into what was wrong with him.
Skip forward to December 2020, we leaned him off of all his medication and just continued to give him enzymes to help build his strength back up. They seemed to think he was just weak limbed and was always going to be a little weak. This has been what we’ve been doing since late December and he hasn’t had any problems what so ever. He’s been playing and acting almost normal. The most normal we’ve seen yet. He was and still is a slow walker, and seems like he needed to think before he moved any limbs. Nothing terribly wrong and definitely not in any pain.
Now here in February 2021 he woke up one morning unable to walk one again. It looks different than the original episode back in 2020. It looks like it’s his entire right side of his body (legs, possibly back).
We immediately took him to our neurologist and spend just about the entire day there for things to be inconclusive. He was screaming yelping in pain, which we’ve never seen. It was breaking our hearts. He needs an MRI and more extensive testing which the hospital here couldn’t do.
We drove through the night to UC Davis, and admitted him last night after transferring from our neurologist. They are doing more tests and and an MRI with possible a CT. We got a nearby hotel, and are awaiting results. The staff here seems excellent, and we feel very hopeful about the future here. As you can imagine it has not been the cheapest journey, we like to call Hank our “Million Dollar Boy”. His medical bills have been overwhelming especially during this hard time in the world. They’re well over 15k. Anything helps ❤️
Our poor little baby has been through so much and more. Our family could really use any help. Any kind words are appreciated as well as prayers ❤️ Thank you so much. Updates to come soon.
Organizer
Taylor Richins
Organizer
Brentwood, CA