Spinal Surgery for Gatsby

One week we were celebrating Gatsby's 8th birthday with homemade healthy pupcakes (Gatsby disapproving of my need to capture the moment, as seen in the photo above), and the next week we were rushing to Tacoma because he couldn't use his back legs...

Saturday, May 2, I woke up to my corgi, Gatsby, acting strange. He wasn't wanting to follow me around or greet me with his usual morning stretches, growls, and immediate need to play ball. Within 2 hours of waking up, he was completely unable to use his back legs.  I immediately called my boyfriend, followed by our vet, who sent us to Olympia Veterinary Specialists. They took Gatsby inside without us due to COVID-19, and within 4 minutes they loaded him back up in the car and urged us to go see a neurologist in Tacoma. 


The neurologist at Summit Veterinary Referral Clinic examined Gat and reported that he had lost all function of his lower body. *cue me freaking out* The good news was he still had sensitivity in his toes, meaning he wasn't paralyzed. We went ahead with an MRI, and the results were worse than they thought... a disk in his mid/low back (right beneath his ribs) had ruptured, bruised his spine and caused internal bleeding. *cue my next freak out* At this point, Nick and I had the option of going the natural route with physical therapy/acupuncture at another clinic that was almost 2 hours from home OR paying a steep fee for surgery on his spine. We learned that the outcome without surgery would quite possibly result in a lesser quality of life, so despite the cost, we sent him straight to surgery.

At that point, we had been in the car for almost 8 hours, so we headed back to Olympia knowing that we wouldn't be able to see Gatsby again until he was released from the hospital.

Later that evening we got the post-surgery call from the neurologist and found out his insides were kind of a mess. She ended up making 2 incisions and needing to stretch a nerve to fully repair the internal bleeding, meaning a longer recovery. BUT she was very optimistic and confident in saying that he had a 90% chance of full recovery! She estimated 3 nights in the hospital before he could come back home.

I got a call the morning after surgery with positive news – Gat was already trying to walk and use his back legs again! He was keeping fluids down and ate his breakfast with no hesitation (no surprise there!). Since he was already showing so many signs of recovery, we found out he would most likely only have to stay one more night before coming home. We couldn't wait to see him!

Fast-forward 30 hours and Nick and I were attempting to wait patiently in the parking lot to see our little guy! During Gatsby's discharge, we found out that he also had some bladder stones. The doctors weren't overly concerned, but prescribed and highly recommended a special urinary diet to avoid any future hospital visits.


The first night home with Gatsby was a piece of cake, thanks to the drugs! He hadn't slept in a kennel for over 7 years, so I had no idea how he would react to having to be confined since he will be unable to walk on his own for 3-4 weeks. We bought a sling (like the picture above) to help stabilize Gat when we take him outside to use the bathroom. He's only allowed to be moving around during those 5-10 minute time frames.


Night 2 was a completely different story. Nick volunteered to stay over and we took turns sleeping on the floor next to his kennel, but he cried non-stop for 4-5 hours. At this point he was also needing to go out to use the bathroom every 3-4 hours thanks to all the drugs he was on. The whole potty process is quite the scene: carrying him in a special way, leashing and slinging him, supporting him as he searches for the perfect place...all while making sure he doesn't pee all over himself.

Fast forward a couple more days and Nick and I are very sleep deprived, but grateful to see Gatsby returning to himself. Too much himself, actually. He started thinking he was healed and invincible, and all he wanted to do was P-L-A-Y. Resting was 100% out of the question, so we had to revisit the vet for more meds to help keep him calm while he recovers. (see drugged up corgi below)



All this to say that it's obvious how much we love this little guy. He is our family, and it was hard to even think about giving him less than the best treatment because we weren't willing to spend the money. I've worked really hard the past few month to get out of debt, which became funny because I'm now right back where I started! Friends and family brought up the idea of a Gofundme, so here we are. We have already been blessed by friend, and also received a refund from the vet, lowering our original deposit. The remaining bill is $6500, which doesn't even include his new diet (~50/month). The bill has to be paid in full within 6 months.

If you ended up on this page, and read any or all of this, Nick and I just want to say thank you! If you feel led to give, we also want to say thank you in advance! We can't image life without our dogs, and will do everything we can to make theirs the fullest!