Off to the park.

I took Max to East Park today, for the first time in a long while. He was so excited to be there that when I set him on the ground while I was getting his cart out of the car, he went tearing off, dragging his hind legs behind him. Fortunately he's not nearly as speedy or agile as he used to be, and I was able to catch him easily.

Once I got his cart onto him, we spent quite a while exploring. Max likes the bridge that carries Carolina Avenue over the Winnebago river on the west edge of the park, so he sniffed around there for a bit, before heading east into the park itself. I suppose we were there for an hour or so while Max reacquainted himself with everything. Not a bad way to spend the middle of the morning, and good for both of us.

Also, it seemed to me that Max was moving his hind legs a little bit as he wandered around. Not very far, but back and forth, like he was walking. That's something I hadn't noticed in the past. Hopefully it is a sign of things to come.

Max's new wheels

The cart/wheelchair I ordered for max showed up yesterday. It's pretty neat, weighing in at less than two pounds, with some ability to be adjusted.

Most important of all, Max doesn't seem to mind it one bit. We took it for a short walk yesterday, and a much longer walk today (around the block). Max didn't move very fast, probably because he's still getting used to this new way of getting around, but he made it the whole way on his own power.

Now all I have to do is make a ramp for the front porch, and Max will be able to go in and out on his own, at least in the summertime.

Max Update

Just to let you all know, Max is doing much better now. He still can't move his hind legs, but he's eating his usual dry dog food. He no longer dribbles urine (at least not often), but still needs me to squeeze his bladder empty several times a day. His stools have firmed up, and I've learned to recognize the signs that he needs to go: he whimpers a bit, and his tail starts bobbing up and down. Speaking of Max's tail, he can wag it bit now. He also gets around by dragging himself with his front legs. This morning when I asked him if he wanted to go out, he scooted from his bed to the front door in no time flat. Also, the doggy wheel chair I ordered for him arrived today. Somewhat to my suprise, Max took to it right away, without any fuss. We even went for a short walk to try it out. I don't know if Max will ever be able to walk normally again, but he should enjoy a reasonable quality of life despite his handicap. That's pretty cool, and a great relief to me.

Max Update

Just letting everyone know how Max is doing. Saturday he hurt his back again, this time by jumping off the couch. At least that's what I think. I didn't actually see what happened. Seeing that he was in pain I gave him a little baby aspirin, and that seemed to help. He was at least able to rest that night.

Sunday morning he was hobbling around, again in pain but able to eat, drink, and go outside and relieve himself. By noon, though, he was unable to move his hind legs. I medicated him the best I could, with aspirin for his pain and benadryl to calm him down (it works as a mild sedative in dogs), and Monday morning I took him to the vet. There, Max got a shot of steroids and tranquillizers, and I got prescription pills to dose him with at home. Once home he commenced resting again, zonked from the drugs, and spend the night in relative comfort.

I say relative because he's having trouble urinating on his own. I tried to "express his bladder" as they say, but I was squeezing in the wrong place. So today I had to take him back to the vet to learn how to do it right. The Doc had Max peeing like a racehorse in no time, and from the volume I'm sure max was in plenty of discomfort. One good sign is that once the Doc got him going, Max was able to assist in the process to some degree.

The Doc also wants me to flex Max's hind legs on a regular basis, which leads to another good sign: while I was doing so today Max resisted a little. I could feel it as I moved his legs back and forth. This all makes me more optimistic that Max will pull through this. He might end up needing one of those doggy wheelchairs, but that's far from the worst that could happen.