A family feared their dog was going to die after he became paralysed overnight.
Janet Jones, from Aigburth, first realised something was wrong with her dog Fletcher when she got some cheese out of the fridge and he didn't move. The four-year-old Cavapoochon was completely unable to move his back legs when he was referred to Linnaeus-owned Northwest Veterinary Specialists (NWVS) in Runcorn.
Dog owner Janet said: “Overnight, Fletcher lost the use of both back legs and our own vet indicated a spinal problem. We were devastated as Fletcher is our first family pet and we are all besotted with him as he’s such a lovely, sweet boy.”
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Specialists at NWVS diagnosed that Fletcher had suffered a spinal injury, causing him to completely lose sensation and movement in both of his back limbs, with emergency surgery required. The chances of him being able to walk again were 50/50, however, the first sign he was going to make a recovery came with a little tail wag he gave to his owner when he saw her for the first time after his surgery.
Janet said: “Fletcher took a few days to show any signs of improvement after the surgery and we had resigned ourselves to losing him. Quality of life for Fletcher wasn’t looking good and we cried a lot.
“However, Fletcher then started to regain some feeling, which gave us hope. His quality of life is now far better than we had hoped and is still improving. He is walking and running again and the difficulty now is actually holding him back.
“He clearly thinks he is fully recovered and while there is still room for continued improvement, we are delighted with where he is compared to where we thought he might be.”
NVWS took a multidisciplinary approach to Fletcher's treatment, including surgery, neurology, physiotherapy and dedicated inpatient care teams, which the vets believe was crucial to his recovery.
He was operated on by resident in small animal surgery Dylan Payne, alongside European specialist in veterinary neurology Neringa Alisauskaite. His physiotherapy has been led by Lauren Bate.
Lauren said: “The fact Fletcher lost complete sensation in both his back limbs made his prognosis guarded, as only around 50 per cent of dogs at this stage will improve after surgery. He received daily physio treatment while here as an inpatient and was sent home with a bespoke care plan for his owners.
“He still has a way to go with his recovery, but he has done really well so far with the help of his dedicated
owners. We are hopeful Fletcher will keep getting stronger.”
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