At 7:30am on March 11th, Maisy Roo woke up her mom with some general soreness in her neck. She had an arched back and had difficulty lifting her head. But that didn't stop her from having a great time in the yard for her morning potty break! It was clear that she wasn't feeling herself, as she wasn't wagging her tail and wasn't interested in her toys like normal. She also didn't do her characteristic "Awooo" like every morning. She was taken to her primary vet, where she perked up! Her favorite people were there and she even got some yummy snacks. She got full body X-rays and blood work, but everything was normal. She went home with some meds and seemed sore but okay. Once home, things worsened quickly. She collapsed on the way into the house. She was still able to get her paws under her, but had a hard time supporting herself. Once in her bed, within 2 hours she became unable to lift herself out of bed, unable to eat or drink, and only able to move her head. She was then rushed back to the ER.

At the emergency vet, she was quickly attended by an amazing team and was able to get some medications to help her with pain, fluids and HBOT! She stayed the night there, as she needed a consult with the neurologist. But they wouldn't be able to get her in until the next morning. She stayed with the team over night, attended by one of her friends that she knows through Hippo Academy! Come 3am though, she began having respiratory distress and was placed in an oxygen kennel where she stayed until the following morning.

The morning of March 12th, Maisy was oxygen dependant but needed transport to the neurologist. With a team of people that showed so much love, she was loaded up for transport with oxygen. When asked if the clinic offered oxygen transport, the answer was "No, but we do for this patient!" The community that came to her aide helped save her life.

With a speedy driver Maisy made it to the neurologist! She was quickly triaged and attended by an amazing surgeon who stayed with her throughout her time there. She was getting an MRI within 20 minutes of her arrival, then immediately went to surgery.

After 4 hours of surgery, she was finally in recovery! She was diagnosed with disc extrusion of her cervical vertebrae. She was given a good prognosis with proper follow up care and an estimated 8 week recovery time with an expected 1 year to fully regain neurological function and mobility, with the chance that full function may never return.

After she woke up from surgery, she was no longer in respiratory distress! She was then transfered to Arise for critical care overnight. Her amazing surgeon personally monitored her during the 45 minute transfer and greeted us when we arrived at the next clinic. Arise has a ventilator so in case of emergency - if she is unable to breathe well on her own - it is available.

There, in the ICU of Arise is where she is spending the next few nights until she is deemed stable to go home. Her family cannot wait to bring her home and are incredibly relieved that she is on the mend.

The community and loved ones truly came together to give her best chance at survival. Without every person - her doctors, techs, transport teams and all the support sent her way she would not be with us.

The speed in which she declined is truly astonishing. We are all at a loss as to what could have caused this. Was she playing too hard? Land too roughly after playing fetch? We are continuing to question what could have caused this.

Maisy Roo is an incredibly loved dog. By her friends and family, and by those she has helped to teach. Over the past 3 years she has been the teachers assistant and helped train new veterinary staff the essential hands on skills needed to succeed. As of now she has helped train over 150 staff members. She is a trick dog, an agility dog, a frisbee fanatic, a cheese gremlin and is truly one of a kind.