The last few weeks have involved a whole lot of awful. Â My 10-year-old Cardigan Welsh Corgi suffered a herniated disk and went âdown in the backâ, showing diminished motor control and a loss of some reflexes. Â We initially thought that heâd respond to conservative management (three weeks of strict crate rest to allow the torn disk to heal and give the spinal cord some time to recover from swelling and trauma, followed by a slow return to activity) but his condition quickly deteriorated to the point where it was no longer a viable option. Â We were very fortunate to have a veterinary school nearby and enough savings to cover a doggy MRI and hemilaminectomy to remove the disk material from the spinal canal and decompress the cord (most expensive vet bill EVER) but there was a while when we really werenât certain what was going to happen or whether it was time to consider euthanasia. Â
The staff at the vet school did a fantastic job of explaining the risks and potential outcomes, working with me to find the right decision, and itâs clear they took awesome care of him. He was walking again (not perfectly, but walking!) two days after he came home from the hospital and is making a little more progress every day, and otherwise seems to be back to his normal, annoyingly bark-y self  (Maybe more vocal than normal.  Crate rest is booooring and thereâs a kid with food and he canât get over there to steal it!). Heâs got an appointment later this week to have the surgical staples removed, and I wanted to have a thank-you card to give to the vets and techs to let them know how much I appreciate everything they did to get him fixed up and return the wag to his tail.  Weâre hoping heâs got another 4 or 5 years left in him!Â
Quick little picture painted this afternoon while my kid supervised- Approx. 4âł x 6âł, ink, pencil, gel pen and watercolor. Â