On the night of February 5th, 2025, Turbo began to lose mobility in his back legs. The following morning, he was paralyzed.

Turbo was taken promptly to a neurology specialist under emergency care, who diagnosed him with IVDD. He needed immediate surgery (costing $12k or more) to give him a chance to walk again and to continue to live his happy long life.

Turbo is a young male dachshund (turning only 6 years old in June). He is a very big part of our little family. He was originally trained to be my service dog, though he failed public access training, he still assists me at home with panic attacks and anxiety I experience with my CPTSD and ADHD. He has honestly made a huge impact on all of our lives with tons of joy and comfort.

Earlier in the week, Turbo began acting just a little bit different. He didn't want to try to hop up on anything (mind you, we do have ramps but this little rambunctious and rebellious dachshund will avoid using them when not looking!). After watching him, we noticed he had gotten bit by a fire ant on his paw and kept licking his foot. The next day he was back to normal, so we thought nothing further of it.

Last night, February 5th, upon returning home from a meeting, my husband stated there was something wrong with Turbo. I was concerned as he had walked up to me, unsteadily and seeming like his right back leg was giving him trouble. When I touched his side, he yelped loudly. My heart sank as one of my biggest fears was IVDD...

I just didn't want to believe it. We had just celebrated his one-year anniversary of being completely healed from his last issue (deformed anal glands, which had to be removed because he was getting an infection, suffering severely, twice a month. This was a $6k+ surgery that required a long healing process). How could my poor dog be suffering again? We took him to an emergency room late that night which ruled out other possible factors. He was put on a steroid and painkiller to get him through the night, so I could take him to a specialist first thing in the morning. I did not sleep that night, and neither did Turbo. It was heartbreaking.

February 6th, 2025, Turbo was no longer able to lift his back end by himself. He stayed in his bed. I found and took Turbo to a specialist first thing. They saw him as an emergency and immediately felt it was IVDD. Admittedly, this felt like one of the longest days of my life as I awaited to find out what was happening and what needed to be done. They did various testing and decided to confirm it with an MRI. The result was, Turbo had IVDD, and it was to the point where any further progression would mean he would be permanently paralyzed in the back end. They asked if they could immediately begin surgery, and of course, I said yes.

Turbo is my world. He is out of surgery now. The herniated disc area was larger than they thought, but they were able to remove it and he had no further complications. Now all we can do is wait. The specialist says that it is an 80% chance that he will be able to walk again - we are really praying for it. Regardless of what happens, we are ready to make sure Turbo lives the best life he can live. Turbo currently is in ICU and may remain there for a few days to make sure that he is healing properly. When they decide to release him, he will be under constant watch and strict bed rest for at least an entire month. If anything goes wrong (such as moving the wrong way), he will need to go back to emergency surgery.

The cost is going to be upwards of $12k, unless something else goes wrong, then it could be more. He will need lots of medication and consistent rechecks until they feel he is healed enough to be set on his way. Technically, we can afford this if we try hard enough, but it does hurt tremendously and it is very unexpected. I am currently working on selling my motorcycle to help cover a portion of the costs. We don't ever do this (in fact, we absolutely hate doing this) - please do NOT donate towards this if you find yourself in a hard time as well. If you want to be a part of Turbo's healing journey, it would be greatly appreciated.

IVDD is a very sudden, absolutely heartbreaking occurrence that happens... especially in dachshunds. I never thought it would happen to us, but here we are. I am battling with blaming myself. Maybe I could have been more strict, maybe I could have prevented it - but the truth is, as the specialist says, it's in the genetics. The only thing I can do now is be strong and deal with the healing process and do my best to make sure Turbo can have a chance at living a somewhat normal life again.

My advice to anyone worried is PLEASE... if you see your dog acting a little bit strange, and you have that little worry... bring your dog to the vet. It's better safe than sorry. The earlier you catch it, the better the chances are of healing it.