To Help Dougals IVDD rehabilitation

We are writing this because some of our lovely friends on the Dachshund subreddit suggested we do it.

Dougal has had a really hard year. In July '24 he suddenly became paralysed due to IVDD which is a genetic condition. We did what we could to keep him healthy but he was unlucky. He was in severe, uncontrollable pain so he had spinal surgery . He thankfully regained his mobility. We have spent the year doing everything we could to rehabilitate him and keep him safe and healthy, but unfortunately in April this year he developed a flare of IVDD in a different set of disks. This is painful, but manageable with crate rest. He has been on crate rest for the last few weeks.

It cost £500 just for a consultation with a Neurologist.

Dougal also lost his older brother last August and this affected his confidence so we have had a trainer to help us with this.

As a result of the IVDD Dougal has some neurological problems with his back legs and has also developed muscle wasting in his right shoulder due to over compensation. His medical team has recommended he see an Accredited Veterinary Physio to help with rehabilitation. This will involve a mix of treatments including gait analysis, exercises, hydrotherapy, red light therapy and PEMF. This will cost around £65 a week for the foreseeable future until he is stronger. This will also help prevent further relapses. His needs are above what we can do at home and he needs professional care at this point. We've done as much as we can do including at home physio and PROM.

We would also really like to give Dougal the opportunity to try acupuncture to help relieve the spasms and tension in his shoulders too. This is also £65 a session each week . I myself had a spinal injury and found acupuncture helpful. I hope the same for Dougal.

Dougal does have insurance but unfortunately we have exceeded the amount of treatment and therapies they will cover for this condition for the time being.

Unfortunately I am seriously ill myself and whilst I am determined to do everything I can to improve his outlook and quality of life this treatment is above what we can pay out of pocket by ourselves. We have an abundance of love, but not money, especially following this series of unfortunate events over the last year.

If you'd like to help with Dougal's rehabilitation costs and helping to prevent future problems for him we would be extremely grateful. We would love to give him the best chances of recovery and rehabilitation possible. And we'll keep you up to date with how he's getting on.

Thank you so much, with love and gratitude, from us and Mr Dougal.