Milo the miracle Maltipoo…

Milo is a Maltese/Poodle mix who was diagnosed with IVDD this February of 2019.  I had started a new shift working from 3:00-11:00 pm.  When I’d get home late at night, Milo would jump from our very high king size bed to come greet me at the door.  I always had a feeling that he probably shouldn’t be jumping from the bed.  I never could have imagined how bad it could truly be. 

The early symptoms…

The first thing I noticed was in the morning on February 14th after taking Milo outside for a walk.  He usually did a trick where he’d give you a high five and stand up on his back legs to get a treat. But this morning he refused to do it.  Slowly throughout the day I noticed that he was walking funny and staggering his back legs.  The following day he seemed to be in even more pain and refused to walk.  I decided to let him rest and see if he would improve on his own.  The third day after his initial presentation of symptoms, Milo refused to walk outside altogether.  That is when we took him to the vet.  They knew right away what the problem most likely was given his ataxic walk, painful back, and delayed flipping his paws over.  That was the first time we ever heard of IVDD.

An attempt at conservative treatment…

We first started with strict crate rest and pain medication, Gabapentin and Tramadol.  That didn’t seem to work because his pain seemed to be getting worse each day.  He was crying out a lot in his crate and his back was hunched or “kyphotic”.  His breathing was really fast and his appetite had decreased.  After a couple days of no improvement we decided to take him back to the vet where they kept him overnight to watch and make sure his symptoms weren’t getting worse.  They also increased his pain medications to Gabapentin, codeine, and steroids.  

Going ahead with surgery…

We took him home and he did ok for a couple of days.  But then the morning of Friday, February 22nd he was crying out in his crate.  He was breathing so heavy and vomiting so we took him back the the vet again.  That’s when we decided it would be best to do an MRI and see if he needed surgery, since medical management did not seem to be working.  The MRI showed that he had a ruptured disc that was compressing his spinal cord at T11-12.  The vet recommended surgery where they removed the piece of disc that was compressing on the spinal cord.  We nervously agreed to the surgery because we knew it was the best option to get him pain free.

Struggle after surgery…

We took Milo home three days after the surgery and everything was going as well as it could.  He was pain free and able to walk, just a little unsteady.  He was on strict crate rest and could only be carried outside for a quick bathroom break.  We used a sling to support him while he walked and kept him on the same medications.  A week after surgery Milo started to act very painful yet again, so I called the vet and they told me to make sure I gave him his pain medications as scheduled.  I did, and he fell asleep and seemed ok for the rest of the night.

The next morning was when everything went horribly wrong.  I picked him up to take him outside and his back legs had no muscle tone at all.  He wasn’t able to hold himself up or move his hind legs, nor could he go to the bathroom.  So off to the vet we went again.  Milo was now completely paralyzed from the waist down.  He was unable to urinate, but still had bowel control.   luckily he also still had deep pain sensation in his paws.  The vet explained that after surgery sometimes dogs will either re-rupture the disc from the other side, or herniate a different disc adjacent to the treated area.  Unfortunately, there was no way of knowing unless we did another MRI.  We didn’t have pet insurance and had already spent so much money, we just couldn’t do it again.  We had to say no.

The first sign of improvement…

We put him on even more medications.  Gabapentin three times a day, codeine three times a day, an antibiotic, a medication to help him urinate twice a day, and a steroid taper.  Milo wasn’t peeing on his own, even with the medication.  We couldn’t express his bladder because he is so small and his belly was tense from being in pain.  I had to straight catheterize him twice a day.  We had a scheduled visit with the surgeon the next week, and that morning was the first time that he finally peed on his own.  I was never so happy to see a dog pee!  

Finally on the road to recovery…

Little by little after that we started to see small improvements.  He’d kick his legs sometimes, and his tone started coming back.  If we picked him up he could stand on his back legs for a few seconds.  Then about a week later he started standing on his own!  We started going to rehab two weeks after becoming completely paralyzed.  During his physical therapy sessions we worked on his core strength.  We did the underwater treadmill, laser therapy, and they prescribed some home exercises that I could do with him.  He started walking independently three weeks after he was completely paralyzed.  We completed eight treatment sessions of rehab and during that time we saw his gait improve significantly!  He truly is a miracle!

Jocelyn’s advice for IVDD…

The chances of this happening again to Milo are very high, and we are trying to stay cautiously optimistic that he won’t relapse.  We know that Milo will never be the dog that he was before, and that can be hard to think about sometimes.  But we are so grateful to have him in our life.  Milo was a very active dog that loved going for hikes.  For now his hiking days are over, but he is still happy with walks around the block.  I’d say the biggest and most important thing is keeping Milo in a crate when we’re not home so he doesn’t jump on and off the couch.  He also doesn’t sleep with us in bed anymore, but in his own doggie bed on the floor to prevent him from jumping off our bed.  

My best advice, if your dog goes through something like this, is not to give up hope.  A lot of people may have thought we were crazy, but if you really love your dog and believe in them, miracles can happen.

Follo Milo and Jocelyn @jocelynann125