I received a wonderful email (below) from a dachshund parent facing the potential of her doxie being paralyzed. She granted me permission to reprint her email. As I read the note I held my breath and then cried tears of joy when I read the outcome. This all hit home for me. I was also uneducated in disk disease when Frankie went down. I almost made the fatal mistake of thinking the only option was euthanization. Writing Frankie's book and sharing her story I hope will educate others about animals with disabilities. Getting this note made my heart sing. I talked with Diana on Saturday. She will now continue the message by sharing Vienna's story with her Sunday school class… and in turn others will be educated… and more and more will know the options… and more animals will be saved. What a beautiful thing.
"My name is Diana. My husband is Aaron. We have a 5 yr old dachshund named Vienna. We've had her since she was 5 weeks old and has brought us many laughs and smiles.
About 2 weeks ago she suffered a ruptured disc. We were devastated as we know first hand what can happen. We've had it happen to 2 other doxies. Unfortunately we weren't too knowledgeable about the condition and did what the vet recommended, putting them to sleep.
With Vienna, we are trying an aggressive steroid treatment. We can't afford surgery so this was our only option really. We are very dedicated in her care and both me and my husband work together to make it better for her.
We went to the vet this past Saturday and they weren't impressed with her progress at all. I cried that day so much. My husband always said we wouldn't get a cart or do anything else passed the aggressive steroid treatment because it wouldn't be the "same" Vienna. It'd be robbing her of life. And we both agreed to give her 4 more weeks of the treatment and if nothing then we'd euthanize her.
I came across some articles today along with your web page. I cried and cried while sitting at my desk at work! Your Frankie gave me hope and totally renewed my mind. I thought that a cart would be so sad, so devastating for her but the more I read information and see videos, the more I'm convinced that Vienna would still be our vibrant, loud, hyper dog!
I'm pleased to announce that literally just 10 minutes ago I showed your video and website to my husband and it changed his heart. We are no longer going to even THINK of putting Vienna down. Instead we are going to do everything we can such as therapy here at home, to bring her legs back. If it's impossible, then we will use the cart for her.
My heart has been literally broken these last few days and now I can smile again!!
Thank you so much for your story and all the information you have on your website. You just saved my Vienna.
Sincerely
Diana, a previously uneducated doxie owner"