Aw.. Ann, as I was reading through all the posts, I was practically holding my breathe waiting to see when you were going to say Marcel has fully recovered. I'm so sorry you're still figuring it all out. I do really hope you are able to find a solution soon...
I just want to share my experience with you about my past dog (though not really the same as your situation). Back then, we never really did tests on our dog. I am so very intrigued by the number of things specialists actually do for pets! Anyway, our vet had told us that at her old age of 16-17 years her degenerative spine/disc issues was unavoidable. She was prescribed some pain meds, we gave her joint supplements, but she eventually lost both legs. But she was still completely healthy otherwise and was eating and potty-ing as usual. I bought her a doggy wheel chair and she lived for another two years.
Not that my dog and Marcel has the same issue, but through my experience, the one thing I would have done differently was to introduce the doggy wheelchair earlier. After she lost both legs, she was in so much shock. I felt the immense pain in her desperate cries and understood her helplessness, sadness and frustration on why she couldn't stand up anymore. It took some time for her to adjust on the wheelchair. After she got used to it, she was much better - I could see in her eyes that she was happier again. Had I gotten her the wheelchair ahead of time, while her hind legs were still weak, but when she could still walk, the transition would have been significantly less traumatic.
I don't know anything about dog health issues and I really don't want to imagine that Marcel would get to the stage of losing his legs. But this was just a thought and possible measure for you to consider under a worst case situation...
Keeping you guys in my thoughts. *hugs*
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