Welsh Corgi Back Surgery Help

[kaj3]

Hello All. It has been a year for me like it has for many of us. In April of last year my hours were cut at work from 40 to 24 due to downsizing. I wasn't at all worried because I was graduating with my MBA in June of last year as well and thought I would have no problem getting a new job. Unfortunately, I live in one of the worst states for employment -- Michigan and one of the worst counties for employment. We thought about moving, but we own our home and the housing market is a bust. I applied for employment up to nearly 2 hours away with the willingness to drive to no avail. Then, as the financial burden of downsizing would have it, we received another blow.

In November of last year, our 7 year old Welsh Corgi was taken to our local vet with walking issues. She had always loved going on walks with me and playing in the yard, but she started to wobble around and refused to move too much. Upon review from the vet, we learned that she has a herniated disk. The vet believed the first course of action was to place her on the steroid medication Prednisone 20 mg for two rounds with accompanying pain medication Tramadol 50 mg. I had great concern about the usage of steroids considering I have an autoimmune disorder myself and knew the potential effects. On my urging the vet agreed to try to give her a round of anti-inflammatory medication Novox 75 mg.

I had very high hopes within the first 5 days of the Novox and Tramadol she seemed to be walking around, granted not her usually peppy self, but I assumed that she would just have to take it easy now. Then on the 6th day, she wouldn't move at all. I made an appointment with the Vet immediately who seen her the 7th day. At this point she had stopped eating, drinking, and going potty. I was devastated to see her in such a condition.
After that visit in April, the vet placed her back on steroids and when she walked again for the first time 3 days later it was like watching a child walk for the first time. I have never felt like that before. She is back to her peppy self with some side effects. She is thirsty and hungry all the time. She wakes up in the middle of the night to go potty about every 3 hours and pants like it's 90 degrees outside. She has had some mild control problems with her bladder this time around.

We spoke to the vet about other options and he shared that at the state she is in he believes spinal decompression surgery would be the best alternative to continued steroid use. The steroids will eventually cause liver, kidney, and overall adrenal failure, shortening her life span quite a bit. He shared the decompression surgery would cost roughly about $4,500 + and is working on getting a quote for us within the week. I have looked at alternative pet insurances etc, however, with our current income situation and the hit that our credit has taken due to the reduction in hours, no one will touch us.

I really don't know what to do. As the issue progresses we get farther away from having multiple options open to us, but we just can't afford the bill and she is too young and full of life for us to let her go. We have had her as a part of our family since she was 9 months old. We have no children, she is our child.

Suggestions, thoughts, and prayers,


Sincerely,

kaj3

[LaceyB19]

I have a three year old welsh corgi and yesterday night I came home to find that he wasn't using his back legs properly. He couldn't really stand and cried when I tried to pick him up. Finally at about 5am I took him to the veterinary hospital in our area and was told pretty much the same thing you were. That it sounds like it's a disc problem, we have to do a milogram or something like that to find out for sure, then if it's confirmed it's probably surgery. Now my Poncho is on the Prednisone as of this morning and Tramadol but so far there hasn't been a change. My regular vet is going to call me today about his options and if I find anything else out I'll definitely let you know.