Help My Service Dog Gervais Regain Mobility after Paralysis!

Anyone who knows me, knows that Gervais is much more than a pet to me. I celebrate his birthday every year with a day of exciting activities, I make him a steak dinner and make him wear a silly hat and pose for pictures with balloons and get him ice cream. He even has his own Instagram (@gervaisthegreat). He is the light of my life and has helped me through many years of chronic illness. As my service dog he has helped me through every treatment, been with me at every doctors appointment and comforted me during the trials that come with new medications. The thought of losing him is honestly indescribable. Gervais and I met in the summer of 2020, during the height of the pandemic. I was his foster mom and he came to me after being attacked by another dog. He had deep puncture wounds in his neck/back and was in deplorable condition. Slowly he regained his health and his spunk began to shine. And after that I couldn’t give him to another family. He was mine and I was his. We have been through so much together over the years, and I have always told Gervais I would do everything in my power to make sure he was taken care of for the rest of his long life. And now I need help taking care of him.

The morning of September 23 2024 started as an any normal day and quickly became an horrific nightmare for Gervais and I. Gervais attempted to jump on to our living room couch like he does everyday. Except this time he slipped and fell on the floor. He yelped and was immediately unable to use his back legs and started dragging himself around the living room using his front legs. My dad initially thought he broke his leg. But I knew something horrible had occurred. I rushed him to the urgent care clinic. Within minutes of seeing the vet they told me I needed to leave and go to the emergency vet clinic. I called on my frantic drive over to the VCA in Weymouth and they told me this was a serious emergency and I needed to be seen by an emergency triage vet and neurologist.

Shortly after arriving they confirmed my suspicions. Gervais was completely paralyzed, having lost complete motor function in his hind legs. They diagnosed him with IVDD (Intravertebral disc disease). They ranked him a stage 4 out of 5 (5 being the worst) and told me I would need serious medical intervention given the catastrophic condition he was in. I felt so helpless. My sweet baby was fine just earlier today and now he’s paralyzed….

I was told we had two options (1) the conservative option; he would potentially regain only 50% of his functioning with meds and confinement. The neurologist said given how catastrophic his injuries were and the extent of his loss of function that he wasn’t optimistic of his outcome. And it was likely further damage to his spinal cord could cause more severe injuries or death. (2) a more aggressive route; with an 80% to 90% recovery rate but very costly. He would need an MRI to assess the extent to the damage on his spinal cord and likely would need spinal surgery.

The estimate for just the MRI, and surgery was quoted at $10,000 to $13,000 usd. This doesn’t include the post-surgery rehab. I included the copy of the estimate for the hospitalization.

I chose to go aggressive treatment because I told Gervais I would do everything in my power to take care of him. I want the best quality of life for him. And to give him the best chance to live a long and healthy life, he just turned 5 last month. Prior to this he has had no major health problems and is very healthy.

The MRI showed he has completely ruptured the vertebral disc (T12-13). The neurosurgeon explain to me that the discs in a dog’s spine are composed of a hard capsule filled with pulp, or like a tire filled with a toothpaste. When he fell, the tire blew out and the toothpaste rushed into the space of the nerves. Resulting in compression of the spinal cord. This is putting pressure on the nerves, causing bruising and loss of function. I was told he would need to have an emergency hemilaminectomy surgery to remove the ruptured disc and the pulp to decompress his spine. This all in the hopes that he will regain his ability to walk again.

He underwent the emergency procedure that same night and is currently is in the ICU recovering from the surgery now. These two days without him have been some of the longest days of my life. They have called a few times, he is doing well and the neurosurgeon is optimistic but we likely won’t know if he’s going to walk again for 1-3 weeks. I’m told I can pick him up tomorrow (9/26).

He will be on a plethora of medications to control inflammation, pain and other symptoms. He needs to stay confined to a crate 24/7 for 6-8 weeks, undergo physiotherapy/rehab to learn to walk again. He cannot walk or use the bathroom on his own so I will need to express his bladder. He will need constant care. It will be a long road ahead. But I will do everything I can to make sure my boy walks again (and hopefully runs) !

Your donation will be used to help pay for his diagnostic tests, surgery, post-op rehab, medications and other expenses that arise from his treatment!

Thank you for helping me and Gervais.