Help for Oscar's IVDD Surgery Fund
Donation protected
Oscar is a 7 year old dachshund and former racing champion. He has won 9 out of 12 races over the last 5 years, including being the two time National Dachshund Races champion, as well as the two time Kennywood Wiener 100 grand champion.
In August, he began experiencing back pain from what we believed (and hoped) was a pulled muscle from a walk. Initially the emergency vets said he had a sprained spine and that it would heal within 4-6 weeks. We took him to 2 follow ups at his vet since he didn't appear to be improving. In early October his vet took X-rays and told us that he believed he had IVDD with vertebrae 12 and 13 as the problem areas and highly recommended that he retire from racing.
We had hoped that with rest, his condition would improve, but if he indeed needed surgery we planned to wait until the new year. Sadly, Oscar had a setback on November 6th and could hardly walk and whimpered the whole day. The next day we rushed him to PVSEC emergency vets and they kept him overnight for pain management. CT scans and an MRI revealed that he had a badly herniated disc and surgery was performed immediately to clean the area and was released 2 days later. His prognosis is good- he walked out of his crate the next morning and is able to go to the bathroom on his own. Unfortunately his neurologist thinks Oscar has degenerative disc issues and he may need surgery again in the future.
This has been a very emotional and stressful time for our family. In addition, Oscar's care has not been cheap. The total for everything including his overnight stay, the CT scans, surgery and meds was over $5200, which will probably more than double with credit card interest. I don't ask for help much, but I am reaching out in an effort to help my family pay pack his medical bills. Every little bit helps. My family and Oscar thanks and appreciates you in advance!!
Oscar during his racing heyday at the 2015 National Dachshund Races.
Walking 2 days after surgery.
In August, he began experiencing back pain from what we believed (and hoped) was a pulled muscle from a walk. Initially the emergency vets said he had a sprained spine and that it would heal within 4-6 weeks. We took him to 2 follow ups at his vet since he didn't appear to be improving. In early October his vet took X-rays and told us that he believed he had IVDD with vertebrae 12 and 13 as the problem areas and highly recommended that he retire from racing.
We had hoped that with rest, his condition would improve, but if he indeed needed surgery we planned to wait until the new year. Sadly, Oscar had a setback on November 6th and could hardly walk and whimpered the whole day. The next day we rushed him to PVSEC emergency vets and they kept him overnight for pain management. CT scans and an MRI revealed that he had a badly herniated disc and surgery was performed immediately to clean the area and was released 2 days later. His prognosis is good- he walked out of his crate the next morning and is able to go to the bathroom on his own. Unfortunately his neurologist thinks Oscar has degenerative disc issues and he may need surgery again in the future.
This has been a very emotional and stressful time for our family. In addition, Oscar's care has not been cheap. The total for everything including his overnight stay, the CT scans, surgery and meds was over $5200, which will probably more than double with credit card interest. I don't ask for help much, but I am reaching out in an effort to help my family pay pack his medical bills. Every little bit helps. My family and Oscar thanks and appreciates you in advance!!
Oscar during his racing heyday at the 2015 National Dachshund Races.
Walking 2 days after surgery.
Organizer and beneficiary
Kelly Marie
Organizer
Pittsburgh, PA
Lois Ackerman
Beneficiary