Help Needed for Slinky's 2nd Spinal Surgery in 3 Years

Hi friends, my name is Jeremy. In college my roommates and I got a dachshund puppy and we named him Slinky. We all love Slinky to death and I’m honestly not sure what we would do without him. He’s such a fun little guy. He loves to play, he has a great memory & loves seeing all of his friends from OU & CLE. Slinky is now my dog and has lived with me since I graduated from OU in 2015.

Over the course of the last 3 years, Slinky has had some issues with IVDD. The first issue was mostly a scare and with a month of crate rest, he got back to his normal self. In August of 2021, he suddenly became paralyzed in his hind legs and ended up needing to have surgery to remove material from a ruptured disc in his back that was causing compression on his spine. The MRI, hospital fees & medications were all very expensive ($6,000). I was able to cover it with the help of my parents and a family member. Slinky bounced back amazingly and was back to his normal self in just a few months. Almost like it never happened and we were all so happy that he was back to his normal self. He just had his 11th birthday in June and he’s been doing really well.

Unfortunately, Slinky had another disc rupture suddenly in his back on Friday & he was immediately paralyzed in his hind legs again. I called the specialist who did his surgery 3 years ago and took him straight to the ER because they needed to get a look at him to confirm what I already knew was the problem. He had another MRI which confirmed another ruptured disc was causing compression on his spine. I struggled with the decision to go through with the surgery again, but in the end, I opted for the surgery because he did so well the last time and I needed to try. They immediately got him into surgery and removed the ruptured disc material. He is recovering from surgery and only time will tell how his recovery will go this time.

It’s hard for me to ask this, but I am in need of financial assistance for Slinky’s vet bills. The vet bill for MRI, surgery, meds and the hospital stay this time is $8500 and I do not have that kind of money right now. I was able to charge a credit card for him to get the care he needs, but I’m already strapped for cash with the way that everything has gotten more expensive over the last few years. Anything and everything will help.

Slinky will need months of rest & recovery once he is home from the vet hospital. I am hopeful that he’s going to push through and get back to his normal self, but it’s not going to be as easy as it was last time. Luckily, Slinky is a fighter and he’s very strong-willed.

Thank you to all of my friends and family that have donated so far! ❤️ I am blown away by the number of people who have love for Slinky. I just wanted to give you all a quick little update…Slinky came home from the vet hospital yesterday afternoon. He is comfortable and resting. The recovery from this surgery and spinal injury is going to be a much more challenging endeavor than the first surgery. He has some slight feeling in his left hind paw/leg but almost no feeling in his right hind paw/leg. He needs help to go pee and he cannot stand on his own hind legs. I’ve read that the swelling of the spine could be inhibiting his ability to feel his bladder and I’m hopeful that in time he will regain that ability to go on his own. For now he is going to spend the next month or so in his crate, only really coming out to try to go potty and get his spine/incision iced and I’ll also be doing some light range of motion exercises with him on those hind legs.