08.29.08

Monkey Harris needs your help! Sweet little shih tzu boy with a long standing chronic back problem

Posted in Monkey Harris at 8:25 am by Lone Star Shih Tzu and Lhasa Apso Rescue

Little Monkey Harris was dropped off in the drop box at the county pound one night in July.  He had a cute little red rhinestone collar on but when the shelter worker pulled him out of the box, she noticed a huge problem.  He could not move his back legs.  Not at all.  They thought he had been hit by car.

The poor little boy had to sit at the shelter for three days for his stray hold, then his only option if we didn’t get him was to be humanely euthanized.  Of course, Lone Star took this little boy.

I was hyperventillating.  Why?  We have had so many very, very expensive dogs these past few months and are still recovering from Gianna Montgomery, Alamo Bexar and Weise Arkana.  So how can we take in yet another very expensive dog?  Well, as a friend once said, you’ve got to have faith.  So we sent someone after him.

Unfortunately, at about the same time, we were struggling with what/how/when to get the NC Breeder’s Dogs – you know, those mangy little poots.  

Typically, we do not do an expensive surgery until after the funds are available and ready for when the bill comes in, but this was one of those “you need to do it NOW!” situations.  Monkey had been down for a long, long time – the muscles in his back legs and on his back had already atrophied.  The surgeon at GCVS told me that IF he recovers, it will take a long, long, long time before he could walk.  He did have some deep pain response and he was not incontinent, but with a chronic problem like that, it was probable that part of his spinal cord had been deprived of blood flow and the tissue might have died.

This was a hard one.  We typically get these dogs to the surgeon soon after the injury and they have a wonderful prognosis.  This one was going to be a roll of the dice.  But…we rolled.

Monkey had surgery.  They called me right after the surgery and said his disc had been ruptured for quite some time.  It took them hours to slowly “tease” the material off the spinal cord.  In removing the hardened disc material, they actually do damage to the outer layer of the spinal cord thus requiring even longer recovery time.

The surgeon kept him for several days until they were sure he was continent and then released him.  But, Monkey still couldn’t hold himself up on his back legs.  This is unusual.  Typically, they regain a great portion of their functionality right after surgery, so it wasn’t looking good for our little Monkey Man.

They wanted to start his rehab immediately to start building the muscles back up so he could support himself.  We got him from the surgery center on Monday and he started his rehab on Tuesday.  For several days, they did flexibility excerises and an excerise to build up the muscles that stabilize his back end.  But, he was so weak in the back end that he couldn’t go into the water treadmill.

We had to carry him outside six-eight times a day and just hold him up while he went to the bathroom.  He was quick so we started getting excited that he might have good control over most of the muscles in the back end.  Then, on Sunday, while we were supporting his back end, he took a step forward with his back legs.  I just about cried.

That was just a few weeks ago.  Now, Monkey can easily take a few steps and he can even pull himself up from a sitting position.  He still falls over after a few steps, but he now has a great prognosis.  The surgeon was even overwhelmed that he was healing so well.

Now the problem….

His surgery bill was $4507.  GULP!!  I love those surgeons at Gulf Coast, because this includes a 20% discount.  But this is one of the most expensive surgeries we’ve done.  It was because it took so unbelievably long to remove the fragments of disc material from where they were lodged in his spinal column.  Frankly, I wouldn’t want them to try to work fast there!! 

Now the worse news…

He also has to go to rehab twice a week for about 12 weeks to the tune of another $1440.  GULP, GULP, GULP.

So, now that the NC six are on their way to a healthy status, we desperately need to raise funds to pay off Monkey’s surgery and rehab.

If you think you might be able to help little Monkey, and can contribute to his fund, please CLICK HERE for paypal.  If you are able to send a check, our mailing address is P O Box 1346, Pinehurst, TX  77362.  Please complete a PLEDGE FORM so that we count your donation immediately. 

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