Hi,
We have just lost our second dachshund to disc prolapse and the grief is hard to come to terms with.
Alfie, our first was a standard and he did not survive the surgery, he was 9. Cino was small, agile, very fit 8 yo and we thought she would be spared this horrible condition and we cannot believe she is gone at only 8yrs.
It is too soon to consider our next dachshunds but we have great fear that when we do get them, that this will happen again. Another breed is out of the question, (a sentiment I know will need no explaining here), but we need some help.
Both dogs leapt up and down on furniture and we have a lot of stairs. Neither of them were overweight. We have already determined that next time we will get furniture ramps, or use training to have them stay off beds etc, but cannot imagine carrying them up and down stairs each trip.
Neither of our dogs was purchased from a breeder. I have read that dogs can be bred and tested for spinal disease, yet the specialist vet surgeon tells us, that is not the case. He said that all dachshunds if x-rayed at 1yr, will have evidence of at least one disc under pressure.
I have also read other owners have had many dachies over years and years, they have used stairs and jumped on sofas regularly with no problems.
I would be most grateful for any advice.
Jenny
Brisbane Australia
PS the profile pic is Cino. I have a holiday home business and she used to hide in the car amongst the linen whenever we went out. I took her to each home for changeovers, but it was a lot harder when we would find her when we went to town for a meeting or on one occasion, we got to the rugby to find she had stowed away again. I miss them terribly.
We have just lost our second dachshund to disc prolapse and the grief is hard to come to terms with.
Alfie, our first was a standard and he did not survive the surgery, he was 9. Cino was small, agile, very fit 8 yo and we thought she would be spared this horrible condition and we cannot believe she is gone at only 8yrs.
It is too soon to consider our next dachshunds but we have great fear that when we do get them, that this will happen again. Another breed is out of the question, (a sentiment I know will need no explaining here), but we need some help.
Both dogs leapt up and down on furniture and we have a lot of stairs. Neither of them were overweight. We have already determined that next time we will get furniture ramps, or use training to have them stay off beds etc, but cannot imagine carrying them up and down stairs each trip.
Neither of our dogs was purchased from a breeder. I have read that dogs can be bred and tested for spinal disease, yet the specialist vet surgeon tells us, that is not the case. He said that all dachshunds if x-rayed at 1yr, will have evidence of at least one disc under pressure.
I have also read other owners have had many dachies over years and years, they have used stairs and jumped on sofas regularly with no problems.
I would be most grateful for any advice.
Jenny
Brisbane Australia
PS the profile pic is Cino. I have a holiday home business and she used to hide in the car amongst the linen whenever we went out. I took her to each home for changeovers, but it was a lot harder when we would find her when we went to town for a meeting or on one occasion, we got to the rugby to find she had stowed away again. I miss them terribly.