Ringo's Road to Recovery

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Ringo's Road to Recovery

This page was created to not only chronicle Ringo's Road to Recovery but to educate others about IVDD He became paralyzed very quickly.

Mission Statement

Ringo's Road to Recovery is dedicated to providing financial aid, humane education, equipment, and recommendations for veterinary care to owners whose dogs are suffering from Intervertebral Disc Disease and other related issues. Ringo's Story
At the time of Ringo's accident, I wasn't in the position to pay for an expensive surgery. But so many family and friends stepped up to h

elp with what he needed. It is the goal of Ringo's Road to Recovery to Pay It Forward and help others in need just as he was helped during that unfortunate and difficult time.In a freak accident on Sunday December 21, 2014, while chasing a squirrel, Ringo sustained ruptured discs in his mid back. Ringo required emergency surgery at Long Island Veterinary Specialists in Plainview in order to repair the damage. The surgery went well but his spinal cord has an extreme amount of swelling. Ringo will be on the following medication diet through January 5, 2015:
Prednisone 2Xs a day
Tramadol 3Xs a day
Bethanechol 3Xs a day
Phenoxybenzamine 2Xs a day
Gabapentin 3Xs a day
Cefadroxil 3Xs a day

He will have a long road to recovery and his prognosis is uncertain. Ringo will require months of physical therapy to keep his muscles from going into atrophy while his spinal cord heals. This page will chronicle Ringo's progress in his recovery. I hope that it is inspiring to some and comforting to others who may have a pet with a spinal cord injury. January 31, 2015 Ringo is officially at 50% mobility. Starting Monday, Ringo's new treatment plan will include Physcial Therapy 4 days a week at Crawford Dog and Cat Hospital in Garden City Park, NY, Laser, Acupuncture and Electro-acupuncture and Swim Therapy. Ringo is making an impressive recovery. Thank you all for your continued love and support!! May 7, 2015, 19 weeks post surgery. Ringo has made tremendous progress. He is able to walk on different floor textures ranging from grass to ceramic flooring. Wood flooring and certain linoleum flooring is still quite slippery for him. Ringo can climb into and out of his crate on his own and can walk on uneven flooring such as sidewalks and curbs. Ringo can lay on his back and scratch it, scratch his ears with his hind legs and is able to p**p standing up with some support. Ringo is learning to make figure 8s which will help with turning left, right and around. Ringo can walk through Cavaletti bars which helps remind him that he has back feet and must pick them up. Ringo's PT at Crawford Dog and Cat Hospital has decreased to 3 days a week. He receives acupuncture once a week and swim therapy 3 days a week. Ringo continues to take Rimadyl and Amantadine daily injunction with Vitamin B complex, Cell Advance and a joint/bone supplement. September 19, 2015 Monday will mark 9 months since Ringo's accident. To date, He swims 3 times a week and receives I-Therm at Village Animal Hospital in Jericho. He also continues to go to physical therapy at Crawford Dog and Cat hospital in Garden City Park. In August, Ringo had his annual check up at Crawford. I was so excited to hear that Ringo had gained 1 lb, that is 1 lb of muscle to be exact. After his accident, Ringo had lost a pound and a half, which put him at 7.5 lbs and under weight. So this gained pound was big news. In the past month, Ringo has begun to practice going up a small set of stairs. This is a difficult task as it throws him off balance. He also needs to continue to build the muscles in his hamstrings. Ringo is also now able to to a full body stretch. He will stretch in downward dog and the stretch each hind leg individually, balancing on only 3 legs. Ringo suffers from Ataxia which is a neurological disorder due to his spinal cord injury. Ataxia is defined as a neurological sign consisting of lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements that includes gait abnormality. It is with your love and support that Ringo continues to make great strides. Thank you
xoxo

Suggested Links on IVDD

http://sevneurology.com/articles/intervertebral-disk-disease-ivdd-in-dogs/

http://www.dodgerslist.com/

06/04/2024

It is taking me a week to be able to bring myself to read all of the beautiful messages that everyone wrote about Ringo.
So many people in my world got to experience his beautiful little heart.

First, I want to thank everyone for your kindness and prayers.

Second, I want to think every single person who is part of Ringo’s road to recovery when he was injured 10 years ago.
Every single one of you supported us in so many different ways. It is because of you that I had the opportunity to have Ringo in my life for 10 more years.
December 21, 2014 what is the day that Ringo ruptured discs in his back and was rushed into emergency surgery.
That is also the day that Ringo became not just my dog, but everyone’s dog as well.
I’ve been so blessed to have the most amazing people in my life that I’ve met along the way, in the dog community, and in my family, that supported myself and Ringo in so many different ways.

I’m eternally grateful for each and everyone of you.
Of all the posts that I read, the one word that stood out was “legend.”
Thank you Dori Scofield for calling him that. He truly was a legend.

3/1/2007-3/30/2024

💔🐾

05/10/2023

05/09/2023

Update: Ringo was diagnosed with the beginning stages of congestive heart failure. He was put on several medications to help with the excess fluid buildup. This boy is such a fighter.
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Ringo could use some extra loving and prayers tonight.
Two years ago he was diagnosed with a heart murmur, and in the spring it was recorded as a grade 4 and was put on Vetmedin.

He had an idiopathic vestibular episode in July.

This weekend he began coughing and drinking a lot of water. The coughing has gotten progressively worse over the weekend.
Congestive heart failure is a bit concerned at this moment.

We will be seeing the vet tomorrow for a diagnosis. 🙏🏼❤️🐾🙏🏼❤️🐾

19/07/2023

Update-
We are at the vet now and it’s confirmed idiopathic vestibular disease. He’s getting fluids under the skin, appetite stimulant, and anti-nausea injection.

“Old Dog Disease”.
I only heard of this term recently. On Friday, July 14, I dropped Ringo at the vet for overnight boarding as I was heading for a very long weekend of agility with Lennon. My plan was to pick him up Saturday morning and bring him out to the agility site with me for only one day and let him hang out at home Sunday since that was the shorter of the three days.

When I dropped him off at the vet Friday morning, he had his medication, but did not eat breakfast. Not eating breakfast is common for him.
When I called Saturday to let them know, I was on my way to get him. That’s when I was informed that he at an eaten Friday nights dinner or Saturday morning breakfast. On top of all that he missed two doses of his heart medication. The person in Boarding did not communicate this information to the vet at the time. Only when I called to let them know, I was on my way, was the vet then informed. Immediately his file was flagged for the future.
When I picked him up from the vet, he was handed to me by the vet tech and I carried him into the car, putting him in his basket. I headed out to the agility site, picked him up, put him in his crate and immediately saw some thing was wrong.
His head was tilted to the right and twitching. He also looked as though he was bracing himself, so that he didn’t fall over when he did walk, he was circling to the right.
Multiple people I knew, saw him and automatically picked up on the same symptoms that I noticed.
This is when I learned about “Old Dog” disease also known as idiopathic vestibular disease.

He rested comfortably that day, and even ate some chicken. But by the time we got home that night, and he started walking again, he vomited all of the chicken up.

he slept most of Sunday, only getting up to drink water and then going back to bed. Later that night, he ate some more chicken, but when he decided to walk from my bedroom into my living room, he vomited on the floor.

I ran out and got baby food and Pedialyte and began squirting them in his mouth, every couple of hours. luckily, he has kept the baby food and Pedialyte down and the symptoms of all dog disease are dissipating.
Monday I called the vet and he was put on anti-nausea medication. In that phone call, I found out that the person taking care of him in boarding noticed that his gate was different from his normal “wonky walk”. Unfortunately, there really isn’t much the vet could do except for monitor him. Luckily I am home this week so I am able to make sure he’s drinking and still keeping the baby food in his system.
But he is still not out of the woods.
The last time he had a good meal and kept that down was Thursday night.

Old dog disease can take days to weeks for a dog to recover. But it’s essentially concerning when a 16-year-old dog hasn’t regain their appetite back yet even with anti-nausea medication.

I mentioned this, so that those with senior dogs, and those are dogs with neurological impairment, take extra caution and have heightened awareness to things that might seem mildly out of the ordinary with their dog. It’s important that people who are interacting with your dog, provide all information whether or not, they feel it’s important.

21/04/2023

Update:
So Ringo decided to pull the hair off his leg around his knee and biting/licking the area. I have been treating it at home but as soon as it started to get better, it would get worse again because he starting licking it again.
Now it’s infected. He is also demonstrating more arthritic behavior than usual.

So now Ringo is on Clavamox, a topical steroid, and gabapentin.
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My mom made me goto the vet.
I didn’t want to but I had to
Signed-Ringo 🐾🐾

12/02/2023

Caption this!!
😂😂😂

04/11/2022

Just popping in to say Happy Fall ❤️ Ringo

11/10/2022

After almost 7 years, I have decided to take down the Ringo's Road to Recovery website. Before doing so, I made sure that all of the important content was available here on the his page.

Thank you for all your support past, present and future.
Ringo continues to thrive as a sweet little senior pup of 15 1/2 yrs.

10/10/2022

Ringo comes full circle at an agility trial.

10/10/2022

Ringo combines a few obstacles.

10/10/2022

Ringo runs through the tunnel

10/10/2022

Ringo moves the seesaw on his own.

10/10/2022

Ringo goes over an unstable board.

10/10/2022

Ringo goes over an unstable ground.

10/10/2022

Ringo goes up the A-frame all by himself.

10/10/2022

Ringo jumps through a tire.

10/10/2022

Ringo is practice walking outside.

10/10/2022

Ringo is walking outside with some support.

10/10/2022

Ringo is walking on a treadmill while harnessed.

10/10/2022

Ringo is learning to balance on a disc.

10/10/2022

Ringo walking up an A-Frame while harnessed.

10/10/2022

Ringo practicing figure 8's.

10/10/2022

Ringo is making progress in walking up the A-Frame.

10/10/2022

Ringo goes over Cavaletti bars by himself.

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