We have a precious little Miniature Pinscher that is 12 years old. Three weeks ago, she started having trouble with her hind legs. Things like falling over and not being able to get back up by herself. If I picked her up, she would be able to stay up. She kept getting a little worse each day, so by that Friday, I took her to the vet.

After a couple of hours, the vet called me and told me something was wrong with Gretchen's spine/neck and that it was out of his league, so I needed to take her to LSU Vet school to be seen by the professor/veterinarians there. Thank God, we have LSU Vet school nearby.

I took her there that same day and the kept her until the following Monday. The Doc called me and said they would have to do a Mylogram on her to see exactly what was going on. They did that, then had to do immediate surgery to remove a herniated disc from Gretchen's neck. That was two weeks ago. They kept her at LSU for another week and in intensive care for several days.

We have had her at home now for 7 days and she is better, but still paralyzed. She can move her hind legs now, but not her front legs. Tom and I have to do everything for her. We have to hold her up to walk around the yard, hold her up so she can drink water and eat, and clean up behind her. She is unable to potty standing up, so she does it laying on the pad.

They say she WILL get better and she actually has progressed within the last two weeks, but she has a very long way to go. LSU said it may take 6 to 8 weeks before she recovers and maybe even longer. We are doing physical therapy on this little dog on a daily basis. She has to be able to get control of her front legs before she will be able to walk or even stand up again.

It is so sad to see her just lay there looking at us as if to say "Help me walk!" Tom and I both are very worried about loosing her. She is part of our family. If you are a pet lover, or not, please keep her in your prayers.