[Magdalen] Prayers for Milo - update

[Sally Davies]

Milo holding on this morning...after he settled and stopped crying (Maddies
Golden Hammock doing it's thing again!!) he had a quiet night, drank a
litte water, even got out of the basket for a drink. Now he's in his
favourite spot, albeit in unaccustomed luxury, basking in the sun. For
Milo, a sunny day without wind IS "quality of life"...

He seems to be able to get around, back leg is noticeably weak but he can
bear some weight on it. Front leg that side also looks odd but it could be
compensation.

He showed some commitment to cleaning up a plate of plain cream yoghurt and
even ate a couple of his Teckel dog biscuits - but I don't want to give him
those because they'll make him thirsty.

Chippy managed a night outside without too much fuss. Evan's come up with a
solution: let's get another dog to be with Chipo outside and then keep Milo
inside as a "chilled inside dog". It's not a terrible idea...Milo always
was an "inside dog" until we got Chippy who couldn't be socialised to
indoor living (I haven't space to list her crimes but will just mention a
strong preference for secret puddles under beds and on bath mats).

He loves to be outside, as long as it's not cold, but I'm worried he might
fall into the swimming pool. I'm also wondering if my wonderful OT
colleagues could help him - I can just see them setting out to make him a
miniature splint (we don't have any OT's on this list, worse luck, but they
are truly wonderful beings IMO).

The diagnosis is puzzling: from what I can read up, Dachshunds are not
prone to spinal stroke because their discs tend to harden. It tends to be
larger, younger dogs. Probably a diagnosis of exclusion at this stage,
because we don't have access to an MRI. It could be a small brain stroke?
Must ask vet to check his blood sugar as well, and his teeth for an
abscess, his teeth aren't great and he's already lost a couple to decay.

What to do if he doesn't recover function but seems to continue basically
OK...? Prayers for wise advice and for kind wisdom on our part
are appreciated.

Sally D

On Saturday, 29 November 2014, Scott Knitter <scottknitter at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Fri, Nov 28, 2014 at 8:51 PM, Christopher Hart <cervus51 at gmail.com
> <javascript:;>> wrote:
> > Holding back tears as I share in your prayers for Milo.
>
> I was very sad as I read about Milo's distress as well. I'm adding my
> prayers.
>
>
> --
> Scott R. Knitter
> Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois USA
>