Daisy Mae's Snuggle Sacks

On 1/7/2008 we noticed Daisy was not feeling well. She was a bit lethargic. Her symptoms went along with an upset stomach or back back. She went to see her vet that day. He did an exam on her back and did not get any reaction from her. Still , we decided to put her on prednisone as well as a muscle relaxer. She was to be confined and carried any where she needed to go for ten days. We did this and she seemed better for a couple of days. On day ten we noticed she was actually getting worse. Very lethargic and doing the drunk walk. So that afternoon we got her back to her vet. During the exam, our vet gave me the look. I know the look. ?It's the "This isn't good and time to get her fixed" look. She was now losing feeling in her back legs, time for a talk with the neurosurgeon. 

The photos are in order of how they were taken.

 The first photo is Daisy the day after her surgery. She had surgery at 7:00 pm on 1/16 / 2008 which was a Wednesday. This first and second photo were taken on Thursday the 17th at 4:00 pm. She was groggy from the pain medications and confused. She had a hard time keeping her eyes open and let her bladder go while on my lap. She had eaten some dinner but not much. She was not using her left leg at all.

The third and fourth photo were taken on Friday the 18th at 5:00 pm. This is two days after her surgery. She saw us as she came down the hall and her tail began to wag! She even let out some cries of excitement! She was happy to see us and we were thrilled. She sat in Shannon's lap for a while and then in mine. She was now eating like a champ and starting to use her left leg. She even gave us a sad pout look when we left.

The 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th photo are from her first day home. This was Saturday the 19th at 9:30 am. Friday they had told us we could come get her Saturday because she was recovering so well. We were thrilled to get her home as we knew in our hearts that she would recover more comfortably here with us and her housemates.

For the first two weeks of her recovery Daisy was on a pain medication as well as antibiotics. She was to remain in her expen where she could move a little bit but was not to be allowed to roam or walk freely. In her Expen she has a firm pillow, two blankets, a few of her favorite toys as well as a rug and bowl of water. She also ate in her with assistance. We took Daisy out to go potty about once every two hours for her first two weeks at home. We wanted to make sure she pottied often in order to prevent a bladder infection.We used a sling each and every time she had to go out to help her stand.

We are now in week three of her recovery and she amazes us each day with her strength, will and even her patience. We are now giving her five minutes of assisted walk time each day. We will add five minutes each week. She is no longer on meds but remains in her expen. She has received toys from dear friends and a stroller from a kind person who still has not revealed them self to me! This stroller is wonderful as we now get to take family walks again and I think Daisy is enjoying her time outside. The daisy doll was made by a friend just for her! She loves it and so do I ! Thanks Maureen! And her pink outfit was sent to us from Beatrix and The Fun Loving Family. They are pals we met on Dogster and one of the kindest groups of dogs you might ever meet! We let Daisy wear her new outfit on a very big day. What day was that? Remove the 20 staples day!! We had to take her to our wonderful vet Dr. Neeman for that. And he allowed us to take photos and video because he knows we are odd about stuff like that! And, her staples are now in her surgery scrapbook!

Daisy's scar seems to be healing well. She has not tried to scratch it at all. Her hair started to grow back in very fast. We hope her hair will cover the scar but in all honesty we don't care a whole lot. We're just glad to have her in our lives still. She has 3 and a half weeks of cage time left. This was a break in the sun.

2/11~ Last night was a big night for us!! We got to take Daisy on a 5 minute walk with her brothers! She was thrilled! We stopped a bit short because she was making me nervous. She wasn't doing anything wrong, I was just being protective of her back! Today she shows no signs of being tired. So we will do it again today. It was a wonderful and scary sight seeing her walk again on leash, even in a harness.

2/16~ Daisy continues to do well with her stability in her walk. It has been cold here so we did not take a walk yesterday and also will not today. We are letting her walk around the house a bit more to help continue her exercise. She loves it for sure! She seems to be checking out all the rooms to be sure they are the same. Last night she was sitting on the bed with Shannon (remember the bed is now on the floor). Nugget and Duke were rough horsing and got close to her and she let them have it. A very stern bark at them. This was slightly concerning as she has never in her life told them off. I imagine she is being cautious about how close they can get to her when they are being wild like that. I do hope that in the weeks and months to come she will once again find a comfort level with them and begin to once again play.

I do look at her, and the boys several times a day and know how lucky I am to have them. I am so glad she is still here and with the passing of a friends dog, Gracie Jane, I know they can be gone as fast as they came.

2/22~ Daisy has one week and one day left of confinement. She does get a bit more of free roam in the house while I am home to follow her. The new photos are of her sleeping with her brothers in the kitchen and then one of her scar a couple of days ago. Her hair is growing back very nicely and her walk is amazing.
There is new video of her walking on the home page.

2/24~ The count down is really on. She now has 6 more days left until her free day!! She spent the last few days as well as Nugget and Duke guarding and tending to me. I had the flu and it knocked me down good! She was a total doll. She slept on my pillow all day long and flipped sides each time I flipped sides. Today she took a reprieve knowing I am feeling better she is back to her own pillow and confinement. She looks at me with her baby brown eyes and I almost melt. She is walking fairly well, I can still tell it was her left leg that had a problem. I am pretty sure no one else would notice. Next week she will get a bath.

 2/29~ There is one night left on Daisy's restrictions. We've been calling tomorrow a number of things. Day of Freedom, Party Day, Daisy's day....... the list goes on. We are thrilled with her progress and nervous about her future all at the same time. Very full of emotions. It is hard to believe that the time has gone by already. It seemed like we'd never make it through the 6 weeks!! And that is where I take a moment to thank you. Our old friends and new friends, family and message board family. It was with your support that we made it through the surgery and recovery time. And it will be with you that we get through her less then perfect days and the perfect ones also!! Thanks to all of you for your continued support and love.

3/3~ Daisy i now off of restrictions all of the way. We watch her like a hawk still, but try to allow her to find her own way. And she's doing great! We drove to Waco for a special Meetup event and brought all three of the dogs. They all had such a great time! It was so neat to meet some people we had only known online. They all were amazed at how well Daisy Mae is doing. By the end of summer I imagine you would not know she ever had a problem!! Then, we will never forget will we?!

3/4~ Daisy is having an off day today. We are hoping it had something to do with the cold. She was fussy and unable to get comfortable for part of the day. We took our evening walk, she was only able to go half way before she got a wobble. I carried her home with worry. She has slept this evening and is in bed now. We will keep her relaxed tomorrow and hope this is just an off day.

3/20~ Daisy is doing just wonderful! Her balance is nearly perfect again and she has begun to play for a normal period of time.She is better just in time for Spring which I am pretty sure is her favorite season. As I type this she is laying in the sun and soaking it all up. She is back to sleeping with us which we are very pleased about! I missed her stepping on my face in the middle of the night!! LOL She is back to her normal routine and loving it.

3/25~ Daisy continues to have more up days then down days. However, the down days really play a toll on all of us with worry and concern. On the night before Easter she decided to jump on some company and became painful afterwards. We confined her, carried her, and gave her a pain pill at bedtime. It took a couple of days but she seems much better today. I have sent an email to a vet who works at a local clinic doing acupuncture to see if this will help her have a smoother recovery. I am anxiously waiting for a reply. And at the same time I try to keep Daisy calm with out taking away her rights as a dog.

4/15 ~ It has now been three months. It is amazing how fast it went. I can remember the days after surgery where we were so afraid of what the future would bring for Daisy Mae and now it seems like she is totally back to her normal. She still wobbles on her left leg every now and then, a little reminder for us all. This past week has been great. She has played daily with Nugget or Duke. We have two house guests for two weeks and she has even tried to play with them a little bit. She runs and growls and rolls around. The rolling around makes me the most nervous but I have learned to keep my mouth shut and allow her to be a dog.

5/19 ~ Daisy Mae continues to show improvement! We thought she had hit a place where she would just be, however we continue to see a little more bounce in her step! She started going to an vet named Dr. Aves who does acupuncture on May 13th. She was put on one more herb as well as some nightly exercises. Also we changed her diet to a fish based food. She doesn't love it but is doing fine on it. She will go back for her second appointment on the 27th and that day she will also have some filming done for the tv show Natural Companions. She's excited, I'm nervous! It's a good thing it's about her and not me!! LOL We are moving to Fort Worth from Dallas in three weeks. We hope this will not be stressful for her or her housemates. We also hope at this time to start a "All 4 on the Floor" rule. This means we are going to take away the step to the couch and love seat and see if we can get them all to remain on the floor in their dog beds. I Will spend time with them on the floor as well, to try and make it a happy change! Wish us luck!!

5/28 ~ Daisy had a busy day yesterday and is sleeping it off today with Duke and Nugget close to her side. She had a day full of a camera crew in our home for the taping of a new show called Natural Companions. It will air in the fall on the Dish Network. The came to our home first to get some every day footage and then went with us to our acupuncture appointment. Daisy did great for it all and is sleeping it off today! We continue to see more mobility in her as well as energy! It's a thrill to have her feeling even better then she did before she hurt her back!

7/30 ~ Wow it has been a while. We have been in our new home now for 6 weeks and all of the dogs are adjusting well. WE had to deal with Nugget who fell off of the patio the night we moved in and came up limping. What a scare. He sprained his shoulder and is back to 100%.

We continue to take Daisy to her acupuncture vet named Dr. Ave. She is a wonderful person and vet. Daisy is loving her even when she gives her vitamin b injections. Daisy has now lost 2 pounds, not bad for her size at all. We would like to get her down one more pound and go from there. We take a walk every night. Daisy makes the small hills a bit slower then the boys but completes the walk with them by running to catch up at the top of each hill!! We continue to love her, snuggle her and give her way too many kisses! While her hair has grown out I decided not lo let mine! lol. Thanks for your continued support. Please be sure to look at our links page to learn more about Frankie and her Wheels. Also check out the Giving to Others page for some great rescues.

8/23 ~ The following is a post I posted on dachshund message baords. This horrible day was 8-19

As if she hasn't had enough!!
Tuesday morning she tried to vomit, nothing came out she went back to bed.
She was very restless, I thought maybe she was having a bladder problem (she has many times in the past)
We got up.
She ate but not with as much vigor as usual.
I showered, she sat in the bathroom while I did. While I Was getting ready she went in the closet, a spot she goes if she doesn't feel well.
We then went to the office and she kept scratching her face.
When I told her to stop I noticed it was swelling up!!
Oh no!
I called my husband to come home. He works a few blocks away.
So I got her some benadryl. Right after I gave it to her she started having laboured breathing and so I called my husband again screaming and crying! We're going to lose her!
He got home and I gave her an injection IM of her steroid shock meds.
See she had gone into anaphylactic shock once before after stepping on a bee and so my vet knowing this sent me home with it.
Anyway.
We then got in the car and headed to the EAC which is a 15 minute drive, fast!
Along the way she couldn't breath and kept passing out. When she would pass out I would pinch her tail, feet and bounce her to wake her up. She would gulp for air and then pass out again.
Thing was it was not like dramatic. Just like she was falling asleep.
I thought, is this it? Is this how and when she is going to die?
Nope.
Not her time! our friends say she hasn't used her bionic back enough yet to go!
Bouncing her around helped to get the meds in her and her heart rate came back up, and she began to breath on her own.
We got to the EAC and when the vet saw what we had given her she seemed unpleased or confused as to why we had the injections and then told us it is the same thing they would have given and said we should leave her there 12 hours to be watched in case she had a problem when the meds wore off.
We left her there, I hated to.
We went and gave her dinner later that evening and were thrilled that she ate.
We got to pick her up at midnight. He face was still swollen but only about half of what it was earlier.
She's rested a few days and is doing well now.
So we were trying to figure out what it was that got her.
A snake would have left a wound we would have seen.
I looked all over her little body for it, none.
Then I noticed on the edge of her nose a tiny pen tip sized scratch.
Scorpion!
The bug must have pinched her on her nose!
Now I am posting here because with dachshunds, you all know how determined they are to get what ever they are after!
And since we live in new construction they are here. I killed one the second night in our house!
So just be aware, be careful and love your wonderful doxies each and every day that you are lucky enough to have them!!
I know I am!!

11/25 ~ Tomorrow Daisy Mae will be 7 years old! Oh my goodness we are so grateful for that!! She is doing really well and continues to go to acupuncture once a month. We will continue to take her until she shows us it no longer helps! We will spend tommorrow getting an extra treat, an extra belly rub and an extra walk!