I breed miniature Dachshunds so of course I am familiar with IVDD (intervertebral disk disease- more commonly referred to as Dachshund disk disease). I know what types of things can lead to it and what types of things to do to help prevent it. I know that it can be genetic that is most often caused by injury. I know that it is a horrible condition and that dogs can even recover from it. But until IVDD affected one of my dogs, I was in no way prepared.
I did everything the way you’re supposed to. I had ramps at beds and the couch- not stairs, RAMPS. Because even stairs can tweak that extra disk and cause injury. I fed scientifically formulated dog food made specifically for my Dachshunds to improve their back health. I lifted with support under their bottoms. But I can’t stop a dog from being a dog any more than you can stop a sunset from ending a day. Bullet still sat pretty when he wanted picked up. He still leaped off the couch beside the ramp when he was in a big hurry. He still jumped in and out of a vehicle before I could lift and set him. And sure enough, Wednesday, September 4, 2019, a mere 19 days before his 4th birthday, Bullet lost the use of his back legs due to IVDD.
But before I get into our journey with dachshund disk disease, I want to give a little background leading up to his diagnosis. Bullet was neutered on November 25, 2018. I chose to neuter him because I have dapple females in my home that were going to be coming of age for their heat cycles, and I didn’t want to take a chance of an accidental breeding of double dapple. As a bonus, this meant I only had one unaltered male living in my home and if there ever were any accidents, I’d know who the father was. I took Bullet in to the spay and neuter clinic and the very next day I noticed that he walked funnier than any neutered male I’d ever seen. He walked with his right back leg as if there was something pulling on it hurting him. At first, we thought it was just a stitch stitched too tight. It got better, and we assumed we had been correct in thinking so. A few months later, the hitch was back and we thought it was from scar tissue pulling. I massaged it regularly, and again, it improved. By the end of February his leg was acting up again, but additionally, he wasn’t eating well, was leaking urine, and on February 24, he vomited blood. I took him in to see the vet and he tested positive for a UTI as well as pancreatitis. He was treated and the leg went back to normal use. In August he started leaking urine again and wasn’t eating well and I suspected a flair up like February and immediately took him in to the vet again. He tested positive for pancreatitis and a UTI again and was treated and put on a low-fat diet. With the change in food, Bullet seemed to be feeling better than he ever had and had more of an appetite than I’d ever seen him have! But by the end of August, he was leaking urine again. I immediately made him another vet appointment and on September 3, I took him in. He tested negative for a UTI, showed no signs of kidney problems, and pancreatitis wasn’t a concern as he was not only still eating well, but was in great spirits. My concern was the leaking urine and the leg that he was favoring. The vet then said that it was possible there was something pinching a nerve that was causing it as well as potentially causing the leaking and we would keep an eye on things. He prescribed a medication to help tighten his sphincter and we went home. Our day concluded as usual and we went to bed. My husband came home from traveling at 1:30 in the morning and Bullet woke up and ran to greet him. When he came back to bed, he ran up the ramp and stopped and just sat at the top of it. My husband picked him up and put him on the bed where he then came to me and curled up to sleep. The next morning, I woke up and as I got up called Bullet to join me. Bullet wouldn’t move but instead just sat there and looked at me. I went to get him and noticed he was dragging his legs. I immediately picked him up and took him outside. He was able to stand on his legs if I put them under him but was unable to make them move. I took him to my mom’s house for a treatment on her pulse electromagnetic therapy machine. As soon as 9:00 AM arrived, I was on the phone to the vet. They asked me to drop him off to get x-rays around his schedule so I sent him with my oldest daughter who had the day off. At 10:20 the call came that would change my life.
The vet and I discussed the pros and cons of surgery and he told me that if that was something I wanted to do, we would need to travel to Great Falls or Washington State in order to get the surgery. He cautioned that there were no guarantees that it would fix anything and with it would come separate risks. Additionally, even if it did fix the problem, he cautioned me that this could be something that could reoccur with a different disk. He started him on a treatment of Prednisone, Tramadol, and Methocarbamol and an appointment was set up to see him the following Monday for a follow-up. I immediately started making phone calls and managed to get a 12:30 appointment for him to go to a different vet clinic for acupuncture and a laser treatment. During that first appointment, Bullet would attempt to pull his feet away when they would pinch between his toes or when the needles were being inserted. The vet answered all my questions about moving forward including his ability to urinate and defecate and what I should and shouldn’t do. We discussed the possibility of surgery again, where she cautioned not only the same cautions my regular vet had cautioned, but that additionally, there would be significant recovery time needed to recover muscle strength from the surgery as well as the surgical procedure. She recommended a harness and showed me how to give him rehab and therapy to keep his muscles from atrophying.
After his treatment, he ate some chicken and we went to the chiropractor where, after viewing Bullet’s xrays, he was treated using the Toftness technique. I special ordered a “Help ‘Em Up” harness for him from Helpmeup.com and had it shipped overnight. On the way home, he started crying from the backseat with his “I need to potty cry” and I pulled over to let him relieve himself. I had to squeeze his bladder to help him empty it as the vet had taught me. I was very encouraged because he was still feeling sensation if he was feeling that he needed to potty. I took him to my mom’s house for another treatment and after a long day, he finally was able to relax and get some needed sleep.
Thursday morning began with helping Bullet urinate. I immediately noticed that he was no longer able to put weight on his legs and in fact, seemed much worse. He ate a little bit for breakfast, and after his medication regime, his harness arrived. I fitted him for it and we gave it a trial run and he happily walked a little bit with me helping support his back legs. I put him in his small pen and began preparations for our family dinner night. At the end of the day, Bullet refused to eat and was no longer wanting to drink water. He did defecate just as the vet had stated he would be able to, but he had no awareness of what was happening. The smell from it was unlike anything I’ve ever smelled and I wish someone had prepared me for that. It was the most heart-breaking thing I’ve experienced. I gave him a bath of which he, again, felt nothing, and we went to bed where I cried myself to sleep while praying for him.
Bullet was the first Dachshund I ever owned. I wanted one for more than 15 years before I finally got him. He was what made me fall in love with the breed. He is my most beloved. He spends every night sleeping in my armpit with his little face tucked up next to me or curled in a ball at my belly if he needs a change of position. Every time I’ve brought a new puppy into our home, Bullet, though butt-hurt, has known that he was still my beloved and that he didn’t have anything to worry about. My unaltered male adores Bullet and throws himself at Bullet’s feet belly up where Bullet will growl and act tough then lick him and they’ll run off to play together. It breaks my heart so much to see him suffer like this. I am so afraid that I am being selfish and adding to his suffering because I don’t want to lose him. I am afraid that his personality will be so changed that he’ll never be happy again. It breaks my heart to think that he may never wag his tail again. I know that I can’t give up on him. I know that he deserves a chance to fight and overcome this. I know that MANY Dachshunds have overcome this and though they may never run completely unaffected, have a quality of life that is above and beyond what one would ever think. I have hope. But I have fears. And I have so much heartache. I have decided that I’m going to document this journey with Dachshund disk disease because while we all may or may not be aware of the devastation of IVDD, there is so many things that give it a face and that help others to know that they are not alone and what they can expect should they choose to make this journey.