Guppy is a 1 1/2-year-old rescue Frenchie who we adopted in October 2024. He's an absolute character, full of life, love, and mischief. In the early morning hours of January 14th, he began exhibiting signs of IVDD (intervertebral disc disease), with lameness in his hind legs, muscle spasms, an inability to get comfortable, and difficulty walking. After an evaluation by the emergency vet, we were advised to keep him on crate rest and use anti-inflammatories and gabapentin in the hopes that he would improve on his own. Unfortunately, he took a turn for the worse, and the following morning he was completely unable to walk or use the bathroom on his own.
An MRI revealed a herniated disc between L4-L5. The herniation was putting significant pressure on his spinal cord, which resulted in paralysis, incontinence, and severe pain. The neurologist recommended immediate surgery to relieve the pressure and give him a fighting chance of gaining his mobility back. Without surgery, he was given only a 50% chance of recovering. We elected to proceed with the surgery, a hemilaminectomy, to preserve his quality of life and (hopefully) get him back on his feet. He spent a day in ICU and came home with us in good spirits. However, he is on 7 different medications, needs round-the-clock care, and still has no control over his bladder or bowels. He will be on crate rest for at least the next 8 weeks, at which point we will start physiotherapy.
As you can imagine, this was a massive, unexpected financial hit. We will still have to continue to pay for post-op care materials (pee pads, special food, supplements, physical therapy) so the bills are piling up. I've just returned to school full-time and am not currently working, so it is going to take a very long time to financially recover from this. It has been a scary and overwhelming experience, but we are so fortunate that we were able to provide him with the care he needed and prevent a total disaster. We aren't out of the woods yet, but with the love and support of friends and family, we're hopeful he'll make a full recovery.
