From Paralyzed to Walking, Bella’s Miracle at Black Dog Rehab
Posted 1 April, 2016
"Our dog Bella is one of the family. When she was five years
old, while taking a walk, Bella started picking up her back leg. We thought she
stepped on something that hurt her paw but couldn't find anything wrong. Then
she started dragging her legs so I carried all 50 pounds of her home and called
the vet," recalls Elaine Herranen, "By
then she couldn't even wag her tail."
They took Bella their veterinarian, had X rays taken, and the diagnosis was fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE); a blockage in a blood vessel in the spinal cord. When such a blockage occurs, an area of the spinal cord dies. An FCE typically results from an injury to the spinal cord caused by jumping or landing awkwardly.
"The vet said we'd have to wait and see if she got better,
but if she didn't, we would have to put her to sleep," says Herranen, "She
didn't get better on her own, and we were giving up hope, when a friend told us
about Darcy at Black Dog Rehab. On our first appointment, we carried her in,
and she was super scared. But Darcy was able to calm her down, give her
physical therapy, and in no time at all she was able to wag her tail! This was
a huge improvement; it may not sound like much progress, but when you have a
paralytic dog, small achievements are huge."
To Herranen's amazement, after a few weeks of treatment, Darcy had Bella fully walking. "Oh, Bella has a different gait now, but she's walking on her own without any help," reflects Herranen, "It's hard to believe that our dog went from being paralyzed to walking. She went from the verge of being euthanized to living again. The therapy costs at Black Dog Rehab are a small price to pay for a hero. Darcy gave us back our dog!"
Bella just turned 7 years old and, as a productive member of the handicapped department, is expected to live a full and normal life.
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