Sloopy Update #2

It's been four weeks since our dog Sloopy's emergency surgery to fix the herniated disk in her back.  Unfortunately, we don't have any good news to report.  We met with the vet yesterday for a follow up and our poor doggy has still not regained deep pain sensation in her hind quarters.  What this means is that she is very unlikely to ever regain it.  We now have a permanently paralyzed dog.  

Personally, I am struggling with processing all of it.  I am totally okay with putting my dog in a wheelchair.  She will adapt, she will be able to get around again, we'll build little ramps around the house, and she will return to the (somewhat) active dog she was.  But, it's everything else that goes along with this that I'm struggling with.  Let's talk about the obvious.  She has no ability to go to the bathroom on her own.  We have to express (squeeze) her bladder to get her to pee.  She will have a bowel movement on her own but it happens whenever it happens which usually in the middle of the night or during the day while we're at work.  She now stays in her crate during those times which makes for an easy clean up, I guess, but I literally wash her blankets every.single.day.  Supposedly you can put a handicapped dog on a schedule but we haven't figured it out yet.  We also need to worry about things like bladder infections and bed sores.  Plus, we travel A LOT.  Our usual kennel does not take care of special needs dogs.  I'm not even sure if this is an option.  And if we do find someplace/someone, what the heck is that going to cost?  And we have to get her measured for a personalized wheelchair.  Holy hell!  This is costing us a fortune and has really changed our way of life.

But can I bring myself to put her down or take her to a shelter or adopt her out.  I love this dog.  She was my first baby and for Dave, it is his first pet ever.  She's the same dog; she doesn't have use of her back legs.  

For now we're taking it a little bit at a time.  We are scheduling her for a therapy appointment where she will be evaluated further and then measured for a wheelchair.  We borrowed a wheelchair from someone at Dave's office that doesn't quite fit her but we've been using to help train her.  We will do research on getting her on a bathroom schedule.  And we will have to look and ask around for pet sitting options as we're traveling a couple times in March. 

If you have any good advice, please help a sister out!  Keep our little doggy (and our family) in your thoughts and prayers.  It's been a difficult road.