Last weekend, Capa injured his back. Within two days, his back legs became paralyzed, and he couldn’t walk.
Tl;dr: He needs physical therapy, and I’m pretty broke right now. I’m hoping to raise some funds so I can pay for at least a few appointments to give him a better chance of recovery.
The longer story:
I don’t know how Capa hurt himself. He was okay until Friday night when he came out of my bedroom dragging his hind legs. By Sunday, he couldn’t move them at all.
We went to the urgent care vet twice over the weekend and to his regular vet a couple days later. His injury is most likely due to a condition called IVDD (intravertebral disc disease). In other words, a slipped disc in his spine.
At the urgent care vet, he’d lost all sensation in one leg and had very little in the other. It was bad enough that I wasn’t sure if I’d have to make the decision to let him go. He couldn’t walk, couldn’t go to the bathroom by himself, and I was carrying him around in a makeshift sling (an old scarf I’d crocheted).
Everyone at the vet was incredibly kind to us, even while giving me really shitty news. In the end, I decided to try and help him recover and see how things went.
When we visited his regular vet, she said, “If he were my dog, I wouldn’t give up on him yet.”
So I’m not giving up on him yet.
The good news: He’s already starting to recover! Here’s what’s happened in the last week:
- He’s regained the ability to go to the bathroom on his own. Which is great because before, we were spending 20 minutes out in the snow with me trying to squeeze his bladder so he could pee. A bad time for both of us.
- We’ve been doing physical therapy a few times a day, and he’s gotten a lot of feeling back in his legs. He’s figured out I’m the jerk who keeps pinching his toes.
- He’s starting to walk again and his balance has improved. He’s walking along while supported with the new padded sling we got, and he can now stand on his own, walk several (sloppy) unsupported steps, and sit like a normal dog (read: not slouchy and without just flopping onto the ground).
Right now, he’s comfortable (thanks in no small part to the pain meds he’s on) and he’s been in better spirits than me this whole time. He’s acting like his happy self, and he wants to play, even though he can’t yet. He also longs for his favorite chair and has had to settle for crate rest and soft blankets.
The vet said he has a better chance of recovery if he gets some professional physical therapy. We’re talking things like aqua therapy, laser therapy, and acupuncture.
I’m doing as much as I can at home with the physical movement portion of PT, and he’s doing great. Everyone is already shocked that he’s on his feet again when a week ago he couldn’t even feel one of them. But I’m very limited with what I can do with him, and I want to give him the best chance of recovery possible.
I’d love to get him the full course of physical therapy. But even if I can raise $1,000, that would get him the initial assessment (~$300) and 2-3 appointments (~$140-$200 each), which is better than nothing.
The full $3,000 would let me get him 6-8 weeks of biweekly physical therapy, laser therapy, and acupuncture sessions, plus the assessments the facility does to check his progress. But honestly, anything helps. I hate asking for money, but this is urgent, and I can’t think of a way I can get this much together quickly without asking for help.
Capa isn’t my first dog, but he’s the first dog I chose and named and am fully, solely responsible for. He’s a senior, but he’s only 10 and still a little baby to me (and to himself). I want him to stick around longer and be comfortable and happy and mobile for as long as possible.
If you’re able to give anything or share this, thank you. Seriously, it means a lot to me and Capa.