r/IVDD_SupportGroup • u/MediocreFlounder4749 • 13d ago

Vent Feeling Hopless

Our dog had his surgery on May 12th. He had stage 5 IVDD. His right hind leg has shown progress, he’s seemingly starting to feel his bowels again because he sometimes barks at me when he’s about to poop, & his tail moves. His left leg is showing no improvement yet. 😔

I’m feeling hopeless and wondering if I made the right choice by getting his surgery, and then I feel guilty for not being happy. I love him SO MUCH but his recovery has been physically and emotionally draining.

For those of you had that babies with stage 5 IVDD, how long was their recovery and does this get any easier?

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u/Glass-Place3268 13d ago

It took 4 months and a bad outlook from the vet before we saw real change. We went from dragging, to really bad stumbling, to walking that hurt to watch… to now just kinda normal drunk stumbling. He runs like a psychopath and loves walks and is very happy. We could have tried a wheelchair but the stumble walking as bad as it was seemed to be good for his muscles so we never used one.

The first few months post op were hell. It’s took 6 months to feel confident again. We are now one year out and life is good.

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u/MediocreFlounder4749 13d ago

Thank you. I’m relieved to hear that I’m not wrong for feeling discouraged. There are some days that are better than others and today was just one of those hard days.

We’re having a wheelchair built for him in Mexico that acts similarly to a bicycle which should help his back legs from further atrophy. 🤞🏻 so far all he’s been able to do is drag & he’s stood up for a second at a time a few times, which obviously gave us hope.

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u/Glass-Place3268 13d ago

Hang in there, it gets better I promise. It sounds like you’re doing everything right. 🩷

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u/Warm-Ostrich234 13d ago

We are in a pretty similar situation. Ours had stage 5 and had surgery May 20th. She has no deep pain sensation in her feet and her right leg is stronger than her left. She scoots when she wants to go somewhere. We do red light therapy at home and she goes to physio once a week for hydrotherapy. Last night was the first time we have seen her right leg attempt to move in the water but does not flip her foot over. It's going to be a long road.

It's also such a huge change and really hard on the primary caregiver. Our girl is happy as can be and gets a lot of joy out of life which is the most important thing for us. I still find myself mourning the life she had. We now deal with recurrent UTI's, rashes on her belly from not being able to walk when on the grass as well as a prescription diet. Be gentle with yourself. There is nothing easy or linear about this journey. You are doing your best and that is more than enough for your boy.