http://windyacresnaturalfarm.blogspot.com/2010/04/dogs-and-cats.html
It is about our dog, Sally, and how she "found" us, possibly with help from our cat, Isabelle. Since that time, Sally has been my constant companion when I am here at home. Last fall I noticed her stumble a couple of times, became worried about her and took her to the vet. Unfortunately, she had a ruptured disc in her back that required surgery. We had to take her to the Oklahoma State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital small animal clinic for this and she had to stay there for about a week.
Needless to say, it was very expensive. If Sally had been an older dog or had other health problems, I supposed I might have considered having her put to sleep. They could not guarantee 100% success and there would be a long recovery period during which we would have to give her medication and follow strict instructions on taking care of her. But, I couldn't bear to have her put to sleep and decided to go ahead with the surgery. I had money I had been saving to remodel our upstairs bathroom and decided that project could wait. So, the money was used to help pay for Sally's back surgery.
The surgery went well and she has recovered very well. Here is a picture of her incision and stitches.
While she was at the vet school hospital, they helped her regain strength in her legs by putting her on a "water treadmill", like below.
She also had this funny little harness that fit over her back end and had a handle on it. We used it to help her get up after she had been laying down. She needed the extra help for a couple of weeks, but she gained strength quickly and was able to get up on her own after a week or so. After we got her home, we had to keep her inside and crated when she was not being fed or walked. A friend loaned me a huge metal dog cage in which she had plenty of room to turn around for this purpose.
As the weeks went by, she made great progress and was given a clean bill of health after 8 weeks by the vet school to return to her normal activities. However, it took many weeks for her hair to start growing back over the area they shaved. Of course, it was winter during most of her recovery time so I know her back must have gotten cold when she had to go outside. When the hair did start growing back, it did so in odd patterns, like this.
At this point, she seems to have made a full recovery and is back to her old self. One of her self-appointed duties is to keep watch while we are outside. Here she is on guard duty.
She is a wonderful dog and I don't regret for one minute the money I spent on her surgery. It just means my bathroom remodeling project will have to wait a few more months.
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