We have an update on Lexi. Through out her journey, her family always wanted nothing but the best solution for her, and while they were looking they continued her PT and rehab. Lexi started regaining movement and control of her bladder and soon found herself sporting around town in a doggie wheelchair. Once her bladder issues improved, her family was able to make accommodations for her and keep her. Check out this video of her in her wheelchair adapting and loving her people.
Lexi is 3 a year old spaniel and she has LOTS of love to give. She truly loves ALL people, dogs, even cats and especially children. But she has come to have some special needs.
Lexi was diagnosed with Intervertebral disk disease. This is a common spinal cord disease in dogs that can cause pain, difficulty walking, or inability to feel the back legs. Diagnosis is based on examination and advanced imaging such as MRI. Surgery often offers the best chances for long-term success. Lexi’s family loves her very much and opted for Lexi to have surgery to try to repair her spine.
Rehabilitation of animals post-surgery is important to help dogs regain function and have a speedy recovery. Despite this high level or care and rehabilitation, some dogs still need a special cart (like a wheelchair for pets) made for them to be mobile and active again.
Sweet Lexi had the spinal surgery for IVDD on Jan 15th to correct the slipped disc problem . The surgeon checked all the discs and the prognosis was that they were fine, so she should not need additional surgery in the future. Lexi is currently in rehab and doing well but the likelihood of walking again on all four of her legs is low. Her reflexes in her paralyzed legs have gotten much stronger in the last week. Her front legs are very strong and she runs when her family gets her outside and holds up her back end. The Doctors have suggested looking into ‘wheels’ to help her get around and her family is looking into doggie wheels now.
Here comes the hitch in Lexi’s story. At this time, Lexi is incontinent and needs to have her bladder expressed manually at least 3 times a day. Her people work an hour and a half from home and just do not have the option to care for her special needs. Their option was to put her to sleep, but they could not bring themselves to put such a loved, young dog to sleep without looking at some alternatives for her. The thought of rehoming her is breaking her family’s hearts, but they want to do what is best for Lexi and they want to give her a chance.
We are looking for someone who has a lifestyle that can help Lexi as she takes on a life in a doggie wheel chair and as she may need temporary or forever care with her bladder. Lexi is 23 pound spaniel and is otherwise a healthy 3 year old dog.
We have a similar success story with a little guy we helped pull from under a shed back in December. Through the help of a rescuse group and several great fosters, Scooter has gone on to have a great life with a forever family in his doggie wheelchair. He had a line of people who were prepared to help him after seeing his story on the news.
Our hope is to find Lexi the same kind of hope, support, and a new forever home. Please share her story and help get her exposure to her forever home or rescue group.
You would not have made it to the end of this post if you didn’t have a loving, caring, open heart. Thank you for caring about animals, and especially special needs animals.
Lexi currently lives in North Carolina. We would like to try to keep her in the general area, but if you don’t live in NC and are interested in helping her, we will work with a transfer partner to get her to you! If you are interested in helping Lexi, please give us a shout and we’ll put you in touch with her people. Thank you!