UPDATE Monday, November 17, 2025:

From Sophie’s mom, Dee Dee…

Sophie is still doing quite well. It’s amazing to carry her out to potty with NO pain shaking or tight legs just relaxed puppy, her tail is higher too! She's on pretty heavy meds which is good as it keeps her still which she has to be to heal. After Wednesday there will be 5 more weeks of strict crate rest. Being so careful with her! She doesn't move her head around too much with the stiff bandage which is also good. I did see more perkiness and "Sophie" as of yesterday, she barked for me to hurry with her food (which I gently stopped) and she also tried to reach way around to groom herself which she was able to but again for now I gently redirected her from that too. Appetite is great which is amazing also! She goes in for her first recheck tomorrow, it will be 6 days post surgery.

I couldn't be happier with this prognosis I really thought of letting her go a month ago! Thank you God everything happened at the right time. And you guys helped make this happen I am so grateful for the prayers and donations, you guys are the best!

UPDATE Friday, November 14, 2025:

Sophie came home yesterday. She has a long road ahead of her as her body heals from major spine surgery in her neck. Sophie will be on strict crate rest for several weeks. Her mom/person is absolutely elated over having her girl Sophie on the mend. We are humbled by the show of support and prayers. Please continue to support Sophie’s recovery needs. You guys are amazing. Thank you! ❤️

My name is Patty and I am posting this for a dear friend whose dog, Sophie, needs major surgery.

Here is Sophie's story from her person/mom:

Sophie was injured two summers ago when she was chasing a toy and slammed hard into a metal pole. In the next few weeks she started dropping poop balls, tail cranked to the side and down, hunched, shaking etc. She had an X-Ray and ultrasound, which didn’t show much. She was diagnosed with gut pain for the first 1.5 years but kept declining to where she didn't want to walk. I kept taking her to vets, but nothing was ever found.

We went to a neurologist who said her case looked classic for disk herniation, possibly at L4-L5. He recommended partial confinement for three weeks along with light meds. Three weeks turned into 3.5 months of strict crate rest with minimal improvement. Pain meds were increased, but still with minimal improvement. The neurologist cleared Sophie for rehab as her muscles had gotten very weak, which could make them spasm, with tightness and more pain. The exercises made things worse. Something was very wrong. We went to another neurologist in Nov 2025 and I was shocked to find out that the MRI showed a perfectly healthy back, he said she never had herniations.

The neurologist took x-rays of the rest of her body from mid back up to head and he finally found the culprit and right diagnosis. Her neck was TRASHED! I was beyond shocked as she has not shown any significant neck pain. The images showed that her neck bones were misaligned, lapping over itself, and chips.

She had two things happen from the blow to the metal pole. First she has a congenital defect in her neck called hypoplasia of dens, meaning it's malformed and never would have bothered her if she hadn’t gotten injured. What it did do is it was not able to protect things below it. Her main injury is that her spinal canal looks fine until it reaches a point in her neck then it pinches down really small impinging nerves that run from her neck clear down to her tail. The impingement decided to pinch mainly the nerves that run down and supply the sacral and lower lumbar area, (low back and upper tail) which is why she has so much pain there despite having a very healthy spine.

Sophie has had pain for some time now that meds have been able to alleviate only so much. I’ve had thoughts of letting her go. But after the new MRI the neurologist said we had two options….keep increasing her meds, or surgery, which has a 90% success rate.

He would go in through her neck, put two screws into the messed-up bones to stabilize them. Then pull the bottom of the spinal canal down to open it back up. When that happens, dogs can get immediate relief and can have a great improvement often, often 100%, and no longer needing pain meds. Six weeks of crate rest to get the healing process going would follow.

However, because this was not diagnosed for so long, she now has some scar tissue in her spinal canal. He can't know until he gets in there, but it's possible that will prevent him from pulling down that area to open up the spinal canal to free the pinched nerves. If that happens, he can't help her, and I will be going home without her because I won't let her suffer. But he also said she has a 70-80% chance of a successful surgery, and the improvements she would get would be life long, barring a new injury. Those odds are too good for me not to try! So, I HAVE to give her a chance at a pain free and happy life especially after all she's been through. She could have many good years left she's so healthy otherwise. She is my world, and never out of my sight or by my side.

The total dollar amount for the MRI and surgery is approximately $16,000. Sophie has insurance that will pay part of it. We will not take a penny more than what is needed out of pocket. Thank you all for any help you can give Sophie.