Wrong Spelling...

The spelling is DaCHshund not Daschund....I googled it too, there are a lot of typos out there! So, the address to follow Winkies progress is now:

http://littledachshund.blogspot.com/

I won't be updating this one and will eventually delete it!

:-)

Sleepies

Winkie was in a great deal of pain when we arrived for our visit. He was moaning and shaking quite a bit, I had to ask for his pain medication and thankfully they brought it quite quickly. Within 1/2 hour Winston was much more comfortable and calm. Within an hour he was sleeping peacefully in my arms... soon I was napping too! I woke up here and there and would forget that we were in the hospital for a split second. Having the little bear snuggled up to me was so warm and comforting for us both. It was wonderful...

Update: still feels deep pain, took him outside with his sling and harness and he seemed happy to sniff around but we were unproductive in both departments. No tail waggin anymore (?), but apparently has not got worse. He is topped up on his meds and hopefully having restful puppy dreams right now. :-)

Winkie report: He's in there somewhere.

Hoppies in Action

Here is some vintage Winston at supper time, his favourite time of the day, I can't wait until he is back to his old self!

Stable

Well, just returned from our visit with the little man. He is heavily medicated right now with an anti-inflammatory and with pain medication. I had a chance to snuggle with him for a couple of hours until the waiting room chairs got to be too uncomfortable. It was heartbreaking leaving him... he started whining and frantically moving about his cage. The girls in that ward said it can take about 10 minutes for patients to settle down. :-(

I had a chance to briefly discuss what is happening to my sweet boy with the intern neurologist who makes the rounds on weekends. What is most frustrating is that I still really don't have much of an idea of what is going to happen or what to expect in the future -nor do I know how much longer Winston will be staying at the clinic. I appear to be having communication issues with the doctors I have seen so far. Let me start by saying that yes, I am a concerned winkie mummy, and I brought him to this hospital because they are the best, and because my vet felt it enough of an emergency to send me four hours away to them.

I was warned that the staff can be a certain way, but I really had no idea I would be left feeling like my boy was not that important, and that they would not take the time to explain the situation to me better - what I am about to write only came to me after I prodded and poked to get answers. The intern neurologist phoned and said to me "....Hi there, I have checked Winston, he is stable and still feels deep pain, ...he will possibly see the neurologist on Monday, OK?" But wait!! What is wrong with my little dog? "He is not an emergency." Yes, but, something is not right... he is not working like he should, his legs are like rubber for goodness sakes! I need more information, I didn't drive all this way, rearrange my work, prepare to go through all this expense for you to tell me that my dog is stable! Not computing, not computing! Can you please take the time to explain to me what may be going on? "Oh, well, OK, I am sorry no one has gone over that with you..." The doctor we saw when we first arrived was no better... grrrrrrr!

So, the gist of what I know so far is that he is.. you guessed it - stable, he is not paralyzed ,(although he can't walk either and his legs just hang beneath him like limp noodles!) he can still feel 'deep pain' (which is a good thing I guess) so he may not necessarily be a candidate for surgery, (but because Winston is not an emergency, I don't get to know that for sure until Monday, but as of right now, surgery on him would be considered 'elective'). It is a wait and see situation, the nurses test his pain threshold hourly to see if there are any changes, if the sensation goes from feeling deep pain to not feeling any pain then that would be the point of him being considered an emergency and surgery would be urgently required should he ever hope to regain the use of his legs. OR should he not get to that point, he may just heal on his own! I am told to possibly expect to have him confined to a crate for the next three months, only to come out to potty and eat!!

So... either way in my books, it is not going to be a fun time for my little pooh bear over the next few months!

While I am waiting to go back to the clinic (I reserved the family room this time in hopes of some comfy visiting :-) I am trying to get a little work done. I sure do miss the little booger at my feet - and snuggled in bed with me!

On top of all that, I get a 6am phone call from the alarm company that my store's alarm has been triggered... thankfully it was a false alarm! Sigh...

Winkie report: Spreading his cuteness all over the hospital!

Daschund Down - Calcified Disc in Back

Winkie Down! Winkie Down! I write this from Vancouver where Winston was rushed (4 hours from where we live) to be seen at a critical care hospital after his back legs gave out on him. This clinic has two Neurologists on staff and is truly the best place for him right now despite the lack of 'customer service'. More on that later...

It started about a week ago, I took him to the vet but his symptoms at the time let us to believe it was internal tummy problems, well, it turns out it is his back. My poor Bear!

Doxies are adorable, but cursed...with a long back - yup dog and a half long by just half a dog high!

Winston stopped being himself - you know... naughty, jumping on and off the couch, licking the floors, being generally needy just over a week ago (August 12th or 13th), he just kept to himself and even stopped getting excited about his food, in fact, one evening HE LEFT FOOD in his bowl. So an enormous amount of pain, an emergency visit, a misdiagnosis of colitis (he had diarrhea, and an extremely tight hard abdomen), another vet visit, xrays and blood work (came back just fine) and we determine we have a back problem! OK... I could handle that, I would just give him lots of rest. We gave him Metacam for the pain and inflammation (he seemed on the mend... almost a new dog on Thursday), then Friday morning, wobbly legs, and couldn't stand on his own, couldn't even go potty!!!!

So, that brings us to Saturday... we are waiting for word from the intern neurologist after she makes her rounds. We are heading out for a visit now.

Winkie report: Brave little soldier with rear end issues