You're right, if we hadn't started therapy, she would probably not even have the muscle mass to hold herself up, let alone start walking! I think starting so soon gives her a good chance of recovery, and we will take whatever we can get :) I feel like I'm doing everything possible, so the rest is up to God and Layla herself! The most important thing is that she's not in pain anymore.

I'm so happy to hear she likes her stroller! You're doing an amazing job, hang in there! I think and pray for all of you every day. I even give the hubs the "Layla update". :)

You are awesome! Thank you

I just wanted to check back and see how Layla was doing. I keep thinking about her and hoping she is doing better each and every day.

Yesterday, Layla wagged her tail for Scott as he was bringing her a treat, but I couldn't get her to wag again for the whole day. This morning I tried giving her a treat, still no wag. But while we were sitting in the waiting room for rehab, she wagged twice! I'm going to mention this to her rehab vet when she calls. She still seems to have no feeling in her back.

I'll update later this afternoon when I hear from the vet!

I'm so happy to hear that she is wagging her tail....she seems to be getting movement back little by little....this has to be a good sign! :animal-pa

I hope so! I'm confused as to why she can do it sometimes, and not others though. I will ask the vet about that. I haven't heard from her yet so maybe we'll be seeing her when we pick Layla up.

That's great news about her tail wagging:D

I was a little worried yesterday when Layla's rehab vet didn't call me all day. When we went to pick her up, her vet was there waiting for us. She said she is sorry she didn't call but she really wanted to talk to us in person. Layla improved TREMENDOUSLY and she didn't know what the difference was between two days! She had really good movement in her legs, she walked on the underwater treadmill for an extra 3 minutes so she is now walking for 7 minutes straight. Her back legs were spinal walking quite a bit during that time. She said she also gets a good walking movement on the exercise ball, and she found something really cool, that she will do walking motions when you massage a muscle on her inner thigh! '

I told her about Layla's tail wags and she said that's very exciting! But for now she doesn't want to say it's anything but reflex because she still has no deep pain and still has no sensation down her back. And after saying that she said "But, Layla hasn't read the text books! She doesn't know what she is 'supposed' to be doing!" so it kept our hopes up a little.

Her front end has gotten REALLY strong, and we're supposed to start taking her on sling walks more frequently... for about 5 minutes a couple of times a day. When we do, her back feet just drag, but I guess it will help her continue to exercise her front end.

I am stuck in my office working all weekend to catch up on a pile of projects, and it's my birthday tomorrow, and I don't even care that I am not doing anything more exciting because my baby is giving me hope for her recovery and that is the best gift I could have gotten from anyone!

I am so glad Layla is showing improvement. I will keep her in my prayers. Have a great birthday.

This is such great news, any improvement should be celebrated. You have one strong little girl their, she gave you a great Birthday gift. Have a Happy Birthday.

Been on vacation and have surely missed the Layla updates. It looks very good so far! I'm so glad to see the progress that she has made!:)

Happy Birthday, Lindsey!

:bigbdaypa

Wow, Lindsey, Layla's story is so inspiring! I truly believe that future Yorkies are going to benefit from your keeping a YT diary (kind of) on her progress. I love reading about how she is doing. I'm a cup half full kind of person and I just can't help but feel she is really going to recover. Keep the faith!

:birthday2:Birthday3:bigbdaypa:cheer:Happy Birthday Lindsey!

Great News and Happy Birthday!

Thanks for the birthday wishes! We let Layla lay in the grass, supervised, today. She didn't move for hours! I think she missed it! It was a beautiful day and we got some flowers planted outside, and now I'm slaving away at work for the night with Layla loudly snoring behind me! It's not the greatest way to spend a birthday, especially on a SUNDAY, but Layla's with me so I'll take it :)

I'm so glad to read that Layla is improving! I pray for a full recovery for that little sweetheart, and wish you a very Happy Birthday!

I have followed this thread from the beginning. You and Scott are such wonderful parents for your little Layla. I keep hoping and praying that she gets well. Your demonstration of courage and love is an inspiration. I understand the love you feel for her. There is nothing I wouldn't have done to help my little baby girls, and they were always our life. Please give her an extra kiss from my husband and me.

Lisa and John

Thank you!

We just got more great news from the vet! Layla walked on the treadmill for 8 minutes today... 5 minutes on her own! And when the treadmill was off, she still wandered around with all 4 legs going. Her vet wants us to try walking her in the bath tub and see if she'll use all 4 legs there too! She said Layla is the same with no deep pain sensation and the same reflexes, but she requested that we TRY to get a tail wag on video because both she and Layla's surgeon really want to see it. She was like "Like I said last week, Layla hasn't read the books!" So they're hopeful some healing might be happening, just not in the way the text books say it's supposed to come back :) When I told Scott that, he told me she had a big tail wag this morning, 10 seconds! He forgot to tell me earlier but it happened when he was bringing her food.

Please keep the prayers coming! And pray that we can get a tail wag on video too! They are so few and far between that when they happen they catch us off guard, and usually don't last long enough to grab something to record it! I really want the vets to see it though.

That really is wonderful news! :)

It sounds like you need to have a camera ready every time you take her food and treats. If the wag only lasts a few seconds you're gonna have to be faster than me to get it on film. :p

Still praying for her complete recovery.

Bonny

I am wondering if we can set up a webcam with a recording function or something on her tail end every morning, so if it doesn't happen we can just erase it, but if it does, we'll have it! I'll have to ask Scott about that, he's the computer geek :D

Hi Lindsey, I missed your birthday yesterday, so I hope you had a wonderful birthday!:p Also, I was so happy to read that she is walking on the treadmill and even kept walking afterward. How exciting!:D I think Scott knows how to get those tail wags out of her!:D

Thanks! I was at work until almost midnight :eek: But I figured I deserved a couple of hours off this morning so I slept in while Scott took her to rehab :D

It makes me feel SO hopeful that they want to see it. Before it was just "It's probably just reflex, there's no feeling back yet" and it was kind of discouraging. But now that they are interested enough to want to see it, it really makes it feel like it CAN be something, and the specialists are willing to acknowledge that there might be more there than just a reflex movement!

I am excited to see that she is improving. I'm certain your heart doesn't feel quite as heavy right now. I'll bet she did love to lay in the grass again. She would have to get bored with just a crate everyday, so I'm sure she felt like it was one of life's greatest pleasures!:D

I'm so glad to see that Layla is improving! Way to go, Layla! You're a trooper!

I am happy to read this!

Such wonderful news! Go Layla, go! :)

Last night I worked late again, but I had my Layla bean snoring behind me the whole time :) When I was feeling pretty stressed, I got on the floor in front of her crate and she woke up. I scratched her ears and went to kiss her face and her little tail wagged very slowly about 4 or 5 times. This morning, Scott had taken her downstairs and was trying hard to get a tail wag out of her! He had his camera perched on the edge of the kitchen counter, pointing down to her crate. When I looked closer, I saw he had positioned her perfectly to zoom right in on her cute little butt :p We got an hour of video this morning, but no wags!

I'm glad you at least got to see the wag!:D You'll get it on video before long, I'm sure. They seem to be coming more frequently. Hugs and lots of smooches to Layla!:p