Lenore had unexpected IVDD surgery in May after a routine neurology checkup to confirm an earlier diagnosis from her vet sent her straight to surgery. It's been a little less than six months since that surgery and she's doing great!
To recap, Lenore was diagnosed with Pug Myelopathy by her usual vet. We were told there was really nothing we could do and her condition would worsen. After seeing improvement with cold laser and PEMF pad, and generally feeling like a terrible pug mom for months, we scheduled a routine appointment with a neurologist. Surprise, it was an healing injury that was flattening her spinal cord and IVDD--she had a lot of scar tissue and had clearly been suffering for a while, so prognosis was not great.
Apparently had our original vet prescribed Prednisone or other steroids when we first took her in, Lenore may have healed from the original injury without surgery. We were told that Lenore may never walk better than she did at that moment. We did the IVDD surgery anyway. Giving her a pain free life was the best option, really our only option. So in just a few hours after we took her in for a diagnosis confirmation, we were told that diagnosis was incorrect, Lenore was rushed to an MRI, and she had IVDD surgery. What a difference a day makes!
In the days directly after surgery, Lenore was walking better than she had in months. She was ready to run. We kept her on cage rest and followed the vet's orders for rest. She was incontinent for a long while as well. When we finally weaned her off all the drugs, she wasn't walking as well as she had been, but still walking pretty good. The prednisone seemed to take away some of the aches. But once off all the pills, her incontinence disappeared, which means she could sleep in the bed again. That made all of us happier, as she was tried of her recovery crate.
Since then, we've continued to use the cold laser and PEMF pad daily. We also have Lenore swimming once a week. While we were doing passive PT for a long while, we don't do much of that anymore, because she's building strength on her own.
How is Lenore now?
Lenore is definitely not back to what she was before that fateful evening at Mariners Bark at the Park when she first dragged her back legs, but she's close. She uses the soft stairs to get on and off the couch. Occasionally, she'll even use the stairs to get off the bed. She also goes out the dog door and stands next to the stairs to the yard when she needs to go out. All amazing improvements. All things she has stopped doing in the months after (wrong) diagnosis but before surgery. From climbing pillow piles to jumping across gaps, Lenore is now brave and confidant. Her tail now happily curls as she walks.
I don't know if she'll get any "better" but she's in an amazing place now. She's clearly not in pain and happy to wander around. Occasionally she even sits, rather than just stand there looking sad. For us, and Lenore, IVDD surgery was the best option and worked amazingly well. The only thing I would change is taking her to the neurologist and doing the surgery sooner.
Would I recommend IVDD Surgery?
Would I recommend the surgery to other pet parents? YES! If it is something you can afford, I firmly believe giving your furry companion a pain-free life. I scoured Reddit and basically the whole internet, so know what's out there, a lot of negative experiences, paranoia, and general displeasure with IVDD Surgery.
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