Disabled schnauzers

Feeding, training and healthcare for our older furry bearded friends.
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zeta1454
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Disabled schnauzers

Post by zeta1454 »

Having just posted details of our experiences with Kaska our mini who became disabled through spinal cord damage, I thought I would add a little about our dear Maisie (who passed away last year) and who also suffered disability although through a different cause.

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Maisie was 10 years old when she was first affected. She got up from her bed one morning and then sat down, unable to move her back legs. By the time we had got her to the vet, she had lost the use of her front legs also and rapidly became paralysed. She was admitted to the veterinary hospital and over the next 4 days underwent numerous tests which ruled out slipped discs, stroke and apparently all known causes at the time. After being fed through a drip she was gradually able to take some food normally at the hospital and they began to try and get her to stand unaided. The diagnosis was that something had damaged part of her brain - whether through viral infection or something else - and that her only hope was to awaken other parts of the brain to do the job of the bit that was destroyed - and to get her back walking again. Once the nurses had got Maisie to eat normally and stand unaided for a minute, they allowed us to take her home and basically just keep on trying to hold her in a stand for longer periods and then to get her legs working. We had always done plenty of training classes with Maisie which she loved so she was used to overcoming obstacles and meeting challenges! As with Kaska later, we were often faced with people who said we should have had her euthanased but we could tell Maisie was fighting with all she had to get back to normal. She was on no medication, she was not in pain, she was eating all she could get and she was happy with her family - I do believe in quality of life and not quantity of years but why cut short a dog's life because they need a bit more support from you than you might have expected? Maisie did recover her walking completely but always walked bizarrely as if she had been out on the town the night before! Her front legs worked together and the back legs but without total co-ordination between the two - her best movement was actually running - and she could go fast when she wanted to! She enjoyed another three and a half years with us and went back to her training classes. She was a memorable character and is greatly missed. She passed away after suffering a major stroke last year.

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Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. ~Roger Caras

Magic - Silversocks Sharade at Darksprite
Trilby - Darksprite Rosa Bud


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august23
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Re: Disabled schnauzers

Post by august23 »

She is the most gorgeous p&s I've seen in ages. So pretty. Good on you for not giving up, plenty would.
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BeeBee
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Re: Disabled schnauzers

Post by BeeBee »

Our little old lady Jasmine (we lost her Dec last yr) had a healthy fairly uneventful life till she was 10 when she suffered cruciate ligament tears & underwent a TPLO op (http://www.fitzpatrickreferrals.co.uk/s ... e-ligament with the "Bionic vet" himself.

She was good after recovery but slower and over the rest of her life, another 4 years, gradually got slower & more infirm with her mobility as she also had hip dysplasia and arthritis in her lumbar spine. BUT, we know she enjoyed a very good quality of life, we did all we could with supplements, homeopathic remedies and eventually pain killers. More than once people looked pityingly at her in her last year as she plodded to the park, but we knew she was still the same old Jasmine, just a slower one. Looking at your picture of the wheels for your dog, that would have suited Jasmine down to the ground. Wish we'd had one for her.

It was sad to see her decline, but we never allowed ourselves to dwell on it, we kept her life comfortable, adapted to it, and gave her a peaceful old age.
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Dianep
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Re: Disabled schnauzers

Post by Dianep »

I know it's not sad, but hearing stories like these always choke me up. What characters Maisie and Jasmine must have been, this is a great encouragement to owners who might experience similar problems, Maisie was a stunning looking girlie too.
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Re: Disabled schnauzers

Post by Bluebell »

Good on you.

Our previous one had her back leg amputated (tumour). And so many people said they wouldn't have done it - would have had her put to sleep. She lived another 4 years- and certainly appeared to be happy. We figured we had to give her every chance.

No one else knows the dog like their owners. When the time did come we knew.
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Re: Disabled schnauzers

Post by BeeBee »

Bluebell wrote: Our previous one had her back leg amputated (tumour). And so many people said they wouldn't have done it - .
Our cat Rosie had her front leg amputated following an accident that happened when we went on holiday the first time after we had rehomed her (guilt-trip-city that was) and she's been totally fine hopping around on 3 legs. We tend to humanise it too much I think and instead of trusting that the animals will just get on & adapt, the tendency is for us to project what we might feel like in their shoes (so to speak!!).

Here's a pic of Jasmine in the autumn having acupuncture, you can just make out the pink handles on the needles down her spine - and yes, she was asleep, she used to love having it done and it did help loads with her mobility & pain.
(bed)
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Last edited by Caramomo on 25 May 2011, 14:54, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Disabled schnauzers

Post by Caramomo »

Thats a beautiful story, so heartwarming to hear of owners prepared to put in that kind of fight to ensure a dogs comfort and happiness, instead of so many of the horror stories.
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zeta1454
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Born: 15 Mar 2012
Dog #3: Pip
Born: 21 Feb 2014
is a: P/S Mini Bitch
Location: North Yorkshire
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Re: Disabled schnauzers

Post by zeta1454 »

Thank you for sharing your stories. The picture of Jasmine having acupuncture is so peaceful. Really lovely. And good to know of other treatments that work to relieve pain. It's so true that animals do adapt to their disabilities with such courage and acceptance that can be quite inspiring.
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. ~Roger Caras

Magic - Silversocks Sharade at Darksprite
Trilby - Darksprite Rosa Bud


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