Saturday, February 16, 2013

Poor Little Livy

We've been occupied as of late with our poor little Dachshund Olivia (fondly known as Livy).  Nearly a month ago we noticed that she seemed to be hurting and not wanting to move around much.  Sometimes she would yelp for no reason and just wasn't up to par.  We noticed a spot about 3 inches above her tail that had started to swell.  We took her in to the vet and they said it was degenerative disc disease.  Dachshunds are the poster child for this disease and about 10% of them have it.  :-(

About 4 months old
2009
She has green eyes and a brown nose.
I had never seen a dog with green eyes before Livy.

They gave her a steroid shot, some meds to take home and strict orders for us to keep her in a crate/kennel.  She did great for almost a week and then hurt herself in her crate.  It's a small crate and there wasn't enough room for her to move around and get comfortable.  This time though she was in a lot of pain and her back legs became paralyzed.  It was horrible!!!

Another trip to the vet and another steroid shot!!  Sigh.  We got her a clear storage bucket that was larger than her crate and put a heating pad and a stuffed toy to keep her company and she's been doing a lot better.  It's been almost 2 weeks since the last vet visit and she has regained much of the use of her back legs though she's still very wobbly.  We're hoping that in another month she will be fully recovered.  The vet says that if she heals up she may not have any more problems but we have to keep her off steps and from jumping.  Thankfully she's been good about that kind of stuff and it's a mystery how she got hurt in the first place.  The vet said that some dogs don't do anything--the disc just goes bad. 
Such a beautiful girl!!

Doing what weiner dogs do best!
Top: Uno
Center: Livy
Bottom: Oliver

We hope she makes a full recovery and gets back to her old adorible self.  She's such a sweet doggie and we love her a bunch!!  DH says she's the best dog we've ever had.