Posted

Aug 4th 2008

Henry slipped a disc on Saturday night... it's a common problem w/ dachshunds because of their elongated backs. He doesn't seem to be in much pain but his hind legs are paralyzed so he can't get himself around so well, when he tries to walk he just drags his little back end behind him. Unfortunately there's not much to do about it. There's a surgery that could remove the disc entirely but it's really only successful in younger dogs, and Henry's an old gent. The good thing is that he's wagging his tail/eating/drinking/peeing/pooping okay... so we're just keeping him comfortable for now, and will take him to the vet tomorrow... but if he gets any worse, he's probably going to be put down.

We only had him for about 4, maybe 5 months, and we knew when we got him that he was old and we were just giving him a good home for his 'last months' of life... but... he was doing so well, his Cushings was under control and aside from that he was as healthy & playful & goofy as ever and I just didn't expect anything like this to happen... And even though it was less than half a year, and it seemed like everyone had some reason to dislike him in some way (cause he stinks, or he's gross, or he's itchy to touch... my dad can't hold him w/o getting hives on his arms..) he grew on us. Or at least my mom and I; he was my little baby, and my mom warmed up to him from dealing w/ him in the mornings when I get to sleep in, and him cuddling/watching TV with her every night before bed. We were talking about putting him to sleep last night... I had talked to Julia earlier that day about his options and I was concerned, but I guess it didn't really sink in until last night. I sat there on the couch with my mother, crying and holding Henry and scratching around his ears like he likes it, and I still just cant believe he's this close to being gone. I love the little guy.