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I've just now read through all of this. So very sorry to hear this about your little one....

Hope he's doing better sending hopes n prayers.

Update on Emmie

Sorry it's been a while since I have updated you all - works been crazy busy!

Emmie is doing really well !!!

We have started to cut down on his medications and he appears to be coping really well with that.

He is now wanting to play with his toys and with his brother Tonks all the time and it spending less time lying down/sleeping. He is now able to move his head/neck in all directions by himself without screaming in pain which is such a relief!

He hasn't had any major side effects from the meds other than a slow hair regrowth from the Pred - but once he is off the Pred his hair should eventually grow back at a normal rate. Right now he's looking cold with his shaved neck lol.

His walking in all 4 legs is improving day-by-day thank God! He still can't run, and when he gets excited (about dinner time) his back legs still get a bit out of control but I'm hoping this goes away completely in the future.

He is still primarily on bed rest - so he comes to work with me every day and is inside on his bed when I'm at home. I'm not allowing much play between him and the other two dogs at this stage for fear that he will injure himself.

I will update with some more photos this week

Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts everyone

What a relief to read this!!

I am so happy he is doing so well! I cannot wait to see pictures!

Yay! I am so happy to hear he is feeling better. It's a good sign if he is wants to play again. I am glad he does not seem to be in as much pain now. Best wishes for a quick and full recovery!

Woot terrific news! Yes keep him as quiet as you can but that's great he's improved to want to play, that's when cage rest gets interesting I think. Try doing brainiac games with him where he doesn't need to get exerted!

I'm so happy to hear this!! I was wondering how he was doing and I'm overjoyed for you that he's doing so well!!

I'm so happy to hear he is doing good!!

Great news! Hope he continues to do so.

Wonderful!!

Glad to hear some positive news!

Fantastic news!

How are you guys doing?

It's been a bit so-so lately. Overall he is doing well. He is eating/drinking happily without any issues with pain or moving his neck etc. He is toileting relatively well - still with an awkward stance but not too many issues there. He did have a severe bout of diarrhoea though for 3.5 days late last week after he had a pigs ear. (Which he normally eats fine once a week without issue ... so not sure why it set him off this time). So that was a few hellish days with poor Emmie having explosive diarrhoea = often needing to stop the car on my way to work to let him out for more 'squirts.' I'm very relieved that his digestive system has recovered now and he's all back to normal in that respect.

We have started to wean him off his meds now too (pain relief, anti-inflammatories and steroids). Today was the first day without having the high-strength pain relief and he did seem a bit 'out-of-sorts' for the first part of today - but this afternoon he has been really happy.

My work mate (who is a Vet) has recommended that I start taking Emmie on short 5-10min walks now (on-lead of course). This is in the hopes of helping him to get his joints moving more and help build up more of his muscle etc. He has lost a lot of muscle mass and condition since the op. He has also lost about 4kg's.

Emmie's demeanour has been really good over the past week or so - he is very happy and wanting to interact more and seeking out toys to play with etc - and wanting to play/rough-house with Tonks too. (Which I have been having to stop lol - as I don't want him accidentally hurting himself).

The biggest thing that is bothering me at the moment is that he is still quite ataxic (his legs still don't work properly). Often he will walk almost 80% normally - then other times he will start to scuff his back feet or trip over, etc. He is still really bad when walking on slippery surfaces - often slipping over and falling really hard on the ground

I'm not sure if this is happening because he is still healing - or if this is going to be normal for him from now on ... I haven't asked the specialist surgeon yet - as he did say that we can't really tell what Emmie's prognosis will be like until we reach the 6 week post-op mark. (At the moment its been 3 weeks since the op).

I just hope that he will be able to walk and run like a normal dog. I fear that he will always be disabled

I've had a really rough day today - so I'm not in the best of spirits myself, but I'm still holding on to hope that Emmie will one day be able to run alongside his brother without any issues. xxx

That was me ^^^ posting an update from my Chaos and Havoc kennel by the way

Dalkeith

As long as you have that hope, you will be all right in the end. It sounds like he's making progress, though. I will keep you and your pup in my thoughts and prayers

~Lauren

I agree - as long as you are seeing progress, even if there is an occasional back slide along the way, I wouldn't worry too much yet.

Some of the movement issues might be related to the muscle mass, so I would second the brief walks and perhaps some other exercises if the surgeon has no objections.

And, perhaps that was just a bad pigs ear.

If he is having trouble with traction on slippery floors, have you tried Toe Grips? They are rubber rings that you put on the dog's toenails, they really help them grip on slippery surfaces...really helped my older dog when he started to slip. I also got a Help Em Up harness, which really helped me get his back end under control-was much safer for him and easier for all of us. Might help while he is recovering!

Update on Emmie



Running! on the beach in Dromana




Enjoying the sand



Not very impressed with being in the water lol!



Exploring Daylesford on a sunny afternoon



Sitting by the lake



On one of our many road trips



Waiting for ice cream !!



Relaxing in the sun after a day at work.




And having a 'special moment' with his brother Tonks:

As you can see by the pics Emmie is doing really well

He is 100% happy and back to his normal self in terms of his demeanour

He is able to walk fairly well - he still 'scuffs' his nails and often stumbles.

He is able to 'run' as best as he can - he is still very ataxic and has a very 'bouncy' gait especially in the hind legs.

He falls over if he tries to turn too quickly when running, and will often take a tumble when playing.

His surgeon is fairly happy with his progress - he thinks that Emmie really needs to get out and about and re-learn how to run and walk with his new 'disability' rather than keeping him cooped up.

He was on a full 7 weeks of crate rest - so he is really happy to be left outside now with Tonks and my housemates Heeler when I'm at work.

I'm still really worried that he will hurt himself when playing or running - but if the surgeon is happy for him to be wrestling and running, then I have to learn to accept that too

Emmie is much happier now and I think that a lot of the next phase will be getting me to accept that he will probably never walk or run like a normal dog ever again. I knew that the surgery probably wasn't going to 'cure' him - but I'm still sad that he still seems to have lots of issues with tiled floors etc.

His hair is taking FOREVER to grow back - lol - his leg hair has grown back quickly, but his neck is still pretty bald lol poor bugger.

But overall he is doing well